Fitting a square peg in a round hole

Fitting a square peg into a round holeA tale of usability testing in the agile process

Iteration and user involvement in Agile (what we know about Agile):

Introducing the Round Hole

3 Integrating UX into Agile

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Agile Manifesto values


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A better match

Since Agile methods appear to more closely match the way people solve problems, they can be helpful in solving the types of complex, interrelated problems organizations increasingly call upon UX designers to address.

Peter HornsbyCan UX be Agile?

UX Matters 10-2009


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One UX pro gets excited about AgileFirst, it’s people oriented.

Second, it is based on the idea or iteration.

Third and most important it’s based on the idea what on every iteration you get real customer feedback and change you direction based on that feedback.

Hugh Beyer, in an interview with Jared SpoolUIE Brainsparks, 03/16/2012

What is user experience (UX) and why should I care?

Describing the square peg


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A definition of UX according to GE UX Central

User Experience (or UX) is the response a person has when interacting with a product or service:

the tactile, visual, and auditory impressions,

the conceptual model he or she constructs to make sense of features and functionality,

and the human emotions evoked by a product's use (e.g., frustration or delight).


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A GREAT user experience

Great user experiences are powered by customer- and user-centric thinking in all aspects of design and development.


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User experiences that merit design attention occur at every stage of interaction with a GE product, including• Product awareness

• Selection and purchase

• Delivery and packaging

• Installation and configuration

• Training and ramp up

• Operation via the user interfaces

• Support and services

• Maintenance and upgrade

• De-installation and disposal

A Model for integrating UX into Agile

Integrating UX and development

Work out the interface for a story before development starts (Sprint 0)

Detailed UI design

Final iteration with users

Work with development during the iteration

Communicate design to developer

Consult on detailed behavior

Test implementation with users in the following iteration

UX team consults

on story 1

UX team designs story 1

Dev team builds story 1

UX team tests

story 1

UX team designs story 2



UX team tests

story 2

UX team consults

on story 2

UX team designs story 3 UX team

consults on story 3

Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4


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Agile-Usability Breaking it DownProject Definition:

• Strategic design• Initial user research - study of work practice

• Methods: for example, Contextual Inquiry, Observation, Task Analysis, Workflow discussion, Collaboration workgroup

• Activities: Interpretation Sessions and Affinity Diagrams

• Deliverables:• Understand/document the use environment• Develop personas• Develop storyboards and prototypes

• Concept testing – paper prototyping testing (high level)• Methods: Cognitive Walk-throughs & prototype usability

testing (remote)• Usually two rounds for confidence in vision and user

stories are realistic

Sprint 0


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Agile-Usability Breaking it Down

Project Definition:• Planning for Sprint #1

• Develop use stories (based on task cards)• Develop prototypes for what will be coded in sprint #1• Test prototypes for sprint #1 development

• Methods: usability testing, cognitive walk through, heuristic analysis, SUS

• Tools: Morae, WebEx

Sprint 0


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Sprint #1

• Implement UI tested prototypes at Phase 0 for coding in sprint #1

• Planning for Sprint #2• Develop use stories• Develop prototypes for what will be coded in

sprint #2• Test prototypes for sprint #2 development

• Methods: usability testing, cognitive walk through, heuristic analysis, SUS


• Sprint # 1

Input for Sprint #2


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Sprint #2

• Implement UI tested prototypes at Sprint #1 for coding in Sprint #2

• Usability Test completed UI from Sprint #1 to ensure nothing was lost in the translation

• Methods: remote usability testing, cognitive walk through, SUS,


• Planning for Sprint #3• Develop use stories (based on task cards)• Develop prototypes for what will be coded in Sprint #3• Test prototypes for sprint #3 development

• Sprint #2

Testing Sprint #1

Input for Sprint #3


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Involving customers from Sprint 0 on

Collaboration workgroups, comprising customers from a variety if practices meet every other week.

They review sketches and prototypes and share how they see their office workflow in relation to the prototype.

The UX rep and Systems Engineers revise the prototypes and review again (iterating).

Case Study: Integrating usability testing into the CPS agile process


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Centricity Practice Solutions:PM & EMR

Project: multiple fixes and upgrades to the CPS product.

Users: • PM (practice management) – Billing

office management & personnel• EMR (electronic medical records) –

Providers (medical staff)


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CPS 11: project information

Nine Scrum teams – five on EMR projects and four on PM projects.

• Sprint Reviews on Thursday mornings

• Sprint planning on Thursday afternoons


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Basic usability test cycle


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Weeks one & two: detailed


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Weeks three & four detailed


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Usability test plan

• Identify doctors, nurses and other clinical help to participate

• Find a convenient time for their sessions

• Create the usability tasks• Pre-test with internal folks• Conduct the test

Scrum teams iteration


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Sprint Planning

Scrum teams take the results of the usability test and review.

Create user stories from the results.

Prioritize – integrate into next Sprint or place in backlog?


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Issues Encountered

• Scrum teams not recognizing the value of the results and not prioritizing the stories with the fixes.

• Lack of clarity or, in some cases, lack of anything to test.


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Making it work

Cooperation from Scrum teams.

Prototypes from systems engineers.

Participation from customers.


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Other UX techniques involving users

Cognitive walk-through

Contextual inquiry

Face to face usability testing (typically conducted during the biannual user conference).

Site visits.


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ReferencesBeyer, High (2012) Contextual Design Workshop for GE

Carmichael, Sean (2012) Hugh Beyer—Getting Started with UX Inside Agile Development (www.uie.com)

Hornsby, Peter (2009) Can UX be Agile? UX Matters (www.uxmatters.com) Nodder, Chris & Jakob Nielsen (2009) Agile Usability: Best practices for User Experience on Agile Development Projects. Nielsen Norman Group (www.nngroup.com)

Spool, Jared M (2012) UX and Agile Development: 2012’s Challenged and Opportunities (www.uie.com)

http://www.uie.com/

http://www.uxmatters.com/

http://www.nngroup.com/

http://www.uie.com/

Fitting a square peg in a round hole

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