Why Sprint Zero Sucks

1. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Why Sprint Zero Sucks Stacy Merrill Surla UXDC :: 4.15.17

2. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks 1. What you do matters a lot UX is needed for excellence

3. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Benchmarking U.S. Government Websites, ITIF, March 2017, https://itif.org

4. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks

7. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks 2. Agile is not user centered

8. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Thomas Hawk

9. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks ladyb

10. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Thomas Hawk

11. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks 3. Try other ways The Lean Volte approach

12. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Lean Volte

14. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks icfcreative.com/lvb/

15. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks 4. Research says: We live in interesting times

16. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Bringing UX into Agile using Sprint Zero produces less excellent results than integrating UX into the work of the whole team. = Sprint Zero sucks. Hypothesis:

17. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Surveyed 516 people 59 responses BA, PM, Tech, Visual, UX UX and Agile Research Respondents by role Who does UX tasks? How well did the project go for: Users, Client, Team, Overall?

18. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks When was UX done? When should UX have been done? UX and Agile Research How does the timing of UX involvement affect the outcomes of Agile projects?

19. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Agile teams don't want to wait for [UX] results because they are often focused on getting things done Early and frequent UX iterations mean less time spent by developers getting to done. UX frequently needs to come behind functionality and is often dictated by the solution platform. [We need to do our work] without being encumbered by visual prejudices UX is the driving force behind the user's interaction with the product. Designing early while developing features is essential, however being able to respond to user feedback during sprint cycles is a great case for the Agile approach. There doesn't seem to be a real understanding of how to integrate UX into the process. Working a problem, from research to possible design solution, before AND during the sprints… typically yields a better product. "Sprint zero”... is important, but so is working and iterating through a design problem with the developers. We try to make our user stories as robust as possible, but there's no way to cover everything. Working alongside the developers closes those gaps. We need the time and creative trust/buy-in to make any real difference. [T]he devs and PM look more for UX on demand, or even [as] a blessing after the fact If the UX team would have been involved prior to development, the project would have been successful… it was too late. We were recently ordered a stop-work order [There are] too many other items that can surface that take time away from UX [UX] causes developers to have to undo and redo work as UX folks and the clients change their minds I've tried the "let's do design and dev in one two- week sprint" approach, and it was painful, and led to poor outcomes. I have seen many teams try to run UX in parallel with dev and have never seen it succeed. UX is the driving force behind the user's interaction with the product. Designing early while developing features is essential, however being able to respond to user feedback during sprint cycles is a great case for the Agile approach. There doesn't seem to be a real understanding of how to integrate UX into the process. Working a problem, from research to possible design solution, before AND during the sprints… typically yields a better product. "Sprint zero”... is important, but so is working and iterating through a design problem with the developers. We try to make our user stories as robust as possible, but there's no way to cover everything. Working alongside the developers closes those gaps. We need the time and creative trust/buy-in to make any real difference. [T]he devs and PM look more for UX on demand, or even [as] a blessing after the fact If the UX team would have been involved prior to development, the project would have been successful… it was too late. We were recently ordered a stop-work order [There are] too many other items that can surface that take time away from UX [UX] causes developers to have to undo and redo work as UX folks and the clients change their minds I've tried the "let's do design and dev in one two- week sprint" approach, and it was painful, and led to poor outcomes. I have seen many teams try to run UX in parallel with dev and have never seen it succeed. Agile teams don't want to wait for [UX] results because they are often focused on getting things done Early and frequent UX iterations mean less time spent by developers getting to done. UX frequently needs to come behind functionality and is often dictated by the solution platform. [We need to do our work] without being encumbered by visual prejudices Before During NeverBefore During Never I've tried the "let's do design and dev in one two-week sprint" approach, and it was painful, and led to poor outcomes. Early and frequent UX iterations mean less time spent by developers getting to done. I have seen many teams try to run UX in parallel with dev and have never seen it succeed. Designing early while developing features is essential... [It’s] a great case for the Agile approach.

20. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks 5. Experiment Figure it out

21. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Never give up, never surrender

22. @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks References Benchmarking U.S. Government Websites, ITIF, March 2017, https://itif.org Digital in 2017: Global Overview, We Are Social, January 2017, https://wearesocial.com/blog/2017/01/digital-in-2017-global-overview ICF Perspectives, “The Lean Volte Approach,” ICF, October 2016, https://www.icf.com/perspectives/case-studies/2016/the-lean-volte-approach ICF Lean Volte, March 2017, ICF, http://icfcreative.com/lvb/ @stacysurla #sprintzerosucks Stacy Merrill Surla stacy.surla@icf.com