self-organized, autonomous ux | socal ux camp | may 31, 2014
DESCRIPTION
In an agile environment, establishing usability and user experience as the responsibility of the UX team is destined for conflict and frustration. Learn how transferring this ownership onto the cross-functional team ultimately responsible for delivering the experience builds trust and empowerment and ultimately provides an environment that fosters collaboration, growth and innovation. This presentation will discuss the evolution of incorporating UX into agile at AppFolio, the roles and makeup of our development teams as they exist today, and some examples of how those teams collaborate around design solutions when tackling big feature enhancements on our mature product.TRANSCRIPT
J.J. Kercher | Director, User Experience @jjkercher
SELF-ORGANIZED, AUTONOMOUS UX
UXM A G I C
ABOUT ME
DESIGNER TO ENGINEER, A DIALOGUEImages shamelessly stolen from Allie Brosh, Hyperbole and a Half hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com
“Hey Engineer, wanna collaborate??!!”
…too busy …wrong timezone …why do you care?
Sooooo
Three months later…
…yes but it’s what you asked me to build! but, but…it’s broken!
Which makes me all….
X
A portfolio of SaaS applications to help small and mid-sized businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money.
ABOUT APPFOLIO
UNDERSTANDING THE APPFOLIO CULTURE
✦ Founded by technology leaders
✦ Engineering-centric culture
✦ Agile shop since the beginning
✦ Adopters of the Four Steps to Epiphany and Lean Startup ideology
✦ Ease of use already a core value and the #1 competitive advantage
THE PRE-UX APPFOLIO LANDSCAPE
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
!
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Working software over comprehensive documentation
THE AGILE MANIFESTO
Psst…this conf licts with traditional UX!
1. Drive: UX practitioners are part of the customer or product owner team
2. Research, model, and design up front - but only just enough
3. Chunk your design work
4. Use parallel track development to work ahead, and follow behind
5. Buy design time with complex engineering stories
6. Cultivate a user validation group for use for continuous user validation
7. Schedule continuous user research in a separate track from development
8. Leverage user time for multiple activities
9. Use RITE to iterate UI before development
10.Prototype in low fidelity
11. Treat prototype as specification
12.Become a design facilitator
http://agileproductdesign.com/blog/emerging_best_agile_ux_practice.html
COMMON “AGILE UX” PRACTICES
User Story
User Story
User Story
User Story
Product Owner
Feature
Developers (includes QA)
Develop Test
Release
UX Team (includes front end dev)
Research Design Validate Iterate Stakeholder Approval
COMMON “AGILE UX” PRACTICES
User Story
User Story
User Story
User Story
Product Owner
Feature
Developers (includes QA)
Develop Test
Release
UX Team (includes front end dev)
Research Design Validate Iterate Stakeholder Approval
PUTTING IT ALL INTO PRACTICE
Research
ResearchCollaboration
Rite Method Usability Testing
+Mob Designpaper prototype prototype prototype prototype5 users 3 users 2 users 4 users
Research+Rite Method Usability Testing
Contextual Inquiries
Research
Rite Method Usability TestingContextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”What is User Research Friday?UR Friday is a monthly meeting designed to expose the engineering team at AppFolio to user research. We aim to:
promote empathy for our customers
foster ownership of usability
Each meeting focuses on one broad topic to encourage participation and engagement across the different product teams. User Research Friday harnesses the natural tendency of engineers to analyze, interpret, and derive their own insights from available data.
MotivationThe user experience team at AppFolio continually seeks new, agile ways to communicate customer insights and empower developers to make design decisions informed by research.
In addition to usability testing, how else can we engage developers in the ongoing discussion about our customers’ evolving needs?
The idea of a ‘User Research Day’ has been suggested to us via different conferences, blog posts, and books. The usual suggestion is to show usability tests on a weekly basis. At AppFolio, we are experimenting with different formats to showcase different types of user research that can help inform development decisions.
This poster describes the purpose, structure, and outcomes of our first 3 User Research Fridays at AppFolio, Inc.
User Research FridaysA UX Ritual to Engage Agile Teams in
Peripheral Customer Insights
Custom Reports
Summary Reports
Other Reports
Help
Help center
Overview
APM Customers - Technology
Listings (no apply) - Techno…
Apply Only - Technology
Tenant Portal - Technology
Owner's Portal - Technology
Apply Conversion
Apply Conversion (Test)
Apply Only - Technology
Advanced Segments Edit Email Export Add to Dashboard Shortcut
vs.
Sort Type:
Operating System Browser Screen Resolution Screen Colors Content Viewed
Usage
Primary Dimension: Operating System
All Visits % of visits: 1.48%
All Desktop % of visits: 0.97%
Phone % of visits: 0.40%
Tablet % of visits: 0.11%
Visits Select a metric
Visits ( )All Visits Visits ( )All Desktop Visits ( )Phone Visits ( )TabletJan 8Jan 15Jan 22Jan 291,0001,0002,0002,000Tuesday, January 22, 2013Visits (All Visits):1,363Visits (All Desktop):929Visits (Phone):359Visit
Visits Unique Pageviews
38,456 % of Total: 1.48% (2,604,638)
72,076 % of Total: 0.42% (17,180,209)
25,338 % of Total: 0.97% (2,604,638)
52,927 % of Total: 0.31% (17,180,209)
10,383 % of Total: 0.40% (2,604,638)
14,512 % of Total: 0.08% (17,180,209)
2,736 % of Total: 0.11% (2,604,638)
4,637 % of Total: 0.03% (17,180,209)
All Visits
All Desktop
Phone
Tablet
Secondary dimension Default
Reporting CustomizationAPM - -Filtered View (Excludes Most Employee Data)
Edit Custom Report
General Information
Title
Report Content
Filters - optional
and
and
and
+ add filter
Profiles - optional
Current Profile 'Filtered View (Excludes Most Employee Data)'
Additional Profiles
Save Cancel
Operating System Browser Screen Resolution Screen Colors Content Viewed
Name
Type Explorer Flat Table Map Overlay
Metric Groups
+ Add metric group
Dimension Drilldowns
+ add metric
Visits Unique Pageviews Avg. Visit Duration
Pages / Visit
+ add dimension
Page
Page
Destination Page
Destination Page
Destination Page
Include Regex
Exclude Regex
Exclude Regex
None
Problem StatementHow do we use analytics to gain insights into our products? The best way to understand is to use an example: Our web analytics tell us that 30% of people access our online rental application from a mobile device. We wondered:
Which mobile devices do people use (phones, tablets)?
What are some ways to optimize the online application for a better mobile experience?
StructureWe demonstrated to the team how to create custom segments using Google Analytics. Customer segments show the percentages of people using tablets, smart phones, and desktops to view the online application.
GoalsDevelopers understand how to derive customer insights from analytics data, and how these insights can inform product development.
Outcome
Developers learned how we use analytics data to identify opportunities for improving our products
Developers understand how to read and evaluate the monthly analytics reports we generate
Google Analytics Segmentation Demo
ConclusionUR Friday has given our developers the chance to:
Observe user behavior through tools like ClickTale and Usertesting.com
Analyze customer behavior via Google Analytics
Listen to customers speak about their experiences
Regardless of personal preferences for different types of data or modes of communication, the developers now know how each type of data drives insights into the customer experience. Meanwhile, the UX team discovered that if we remove ourselves as interpreters/gatekeepers of customer insights and instead put the data in front of the development team, we could better facilitate a direct flow of information from customers. After all, the most compelling insights are the ones you discover for yourself.
Applicant General Info Payment Info Verify Confirmation
*Name
*Email Address
Phone
Note: Please provide at least 3 years of residential history.
*Address
Rental Application Echo Properties 949-555-5555
Contact Information
Current Address
First name M Last name
Home Phone Work Phone
Cell Phone
Address 1 Address 2
City State ψ Zip ψ
Applicant General Info Payment Info Verify Confirm
Feature-Specific User Research HighlightsProblem Statement Our web analytics indicate that only 20% of people who view our online rental application actually complete and submit the application. We can also see that 1 out of 4 people get an error message on the first page of the application. We wondered:
What errors are people making?
How can we increase conversions?
StructureWe recorded users completing the online rental application using two tools: ClickTale and Usertesting.com. The team watched highlight reels from both tools then compared and discussed their observations.
GoalsDevelopers witness customer behavior and frustration with the online application.
Outcome Developers:
Learned about two new data-gathering tools available to the team
Identified opportunities for improving the online application
Gained understanding of the problem space
Can make informed updates the next time they are touching the online application
Poster AuthorsKate MacCorkle, Usability AnalystJ.J. Kercher, Senior Interaction Designer
Problem statementOur app is complex, and our support queue is increasingly overwhelmed by customer support requests.
How are customers using the existing Help & Training Materials?
What are the opportunities for improving the Help & Training experience?
StructureWe hosted a GoToMeeting with 3 remote users to discuss their experience with Help & Training. In addition to developers, we invited representatives from our services team and our training guru. Everyone had the opportunity to talk directly to the customers and ask questions.
GoalsDevelopers and customer service reps talk directly with customers about their workflow, highlights and pain points.
Outcome:
Developers learned what help & training we offer and how users access the resources
Customer service reps gained ideas for optimizing the voicemail system and insight into why some users submit multiple support requests
Training guru realized the importance of “searchability” of help topics
Live Customer Panelwith Developers
3 Methods We’ve Tried...
What would you try?
Research
Rite Method Usability TestingContextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
ResearchCollaboration+
Rite Method Usability TestingContextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
ResearchCollaboration+
Rite Method Usability Testing
Customer Interviews
Contextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
Usage Analytics
Design Studios
ResearchCollaboration+
Rite Method Usability TestingContextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
Design Studios Prototype Validation
ResearchCollaboration+
Rite Method Usability TestingContextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
Design Studios
UX/Engineer Design Pairing
Prototype Validation
ResearchCollaboration+
Rite Method Usability TestingContextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
Design Studios
UX/Engineer Design Pairing
Prototype Validation
ResearchCollaboration+
Rite Method Usability Testing
Customer Interviews
Contextual Inquiries
“User Research Friday”
Usage Analytics
Design Studios
UX/Engineer Design Pairing
Mob Design
Design Patterns Team
Prototype Validation
Sketching/Wireframes
Support Requests
User Forums
Competitive Analysis
“UX Award”
Lean Experiments
OUR UX VALUES Adapted from Agile Experience Design, Ratcliffe & McNeill 2013
! Inclusiverather than Elitist
"
# ◎
Emergent with directionrather than up front
Integrated and collaborativerather than handed over the fence
Considerate of customer, business, and technology needsrather than biased towards a single factor
2014 winner!design for experience awards | union of design and engineering
Facilitation Exercise
FUN Break!
HOW OUR TEAMS WORK TODAYCase Study: Mobile Inspections
Scrum Team Scrum Team
ProductManager
AgileCoach
UXDesigner
SoftwareEngineer
QAEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
QAEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
Engineering “College”
EngineeringDirector
UX ResearchFacilitator
Scrum Team Scrum Team
ProductManager
AgileCoach
UXDesigner
SoftwareEngineer
QAEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
QAEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
Scrum Team Scrum Team
ProductManager
AgileCoach
UXDesigner
SoftwareEngineer
QAEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
QAEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
SoftwareEngineer
The dedicated UX lead on a small, cross functional scrum team responsible for prototyping and validating design solutions made in collaboration with Software Engineers, QA Engineers and the Product Manager. !
!
!
The UX support lead responsible for inspiring user-centered design on the scrum teams through exposure to user insights and facilitation of collaborative design activities
UX ROLES
UXDesigner
UX ResearchFacilitator
PROCESS (BIG FEATURE RELEASES)
Adapted from “The Product Design Sprint” http://robots.thoughtbot.com/the-product-design-sprint
iterate iterate iterate iterate
PROCESS (BIG FEATURE RELEASES)
!Project Kickoff Competitive Analysis Review Feedback Contextual Inquiries Audience Profile
!Competitive Analysis Review Feedback Individual Sketching
!Design Studio Identify Themes Prototype Sketch
!UX Prototype Test Plan Recruiting
!Prototype Testing Dev Prototype Iterate Pair/Mob Designing Increased Fidelity Alpha/Beta
Customer Interviews
Adapted from “The Product Design Sprint” http://robots.thoughtbot.com/the-product-design-sprint
Backend Planning and Research: Architecture, Frameworks, Etc.
Our Values • User Empathy • Collaboration • Facilitation • Empowerment • Education
What we are NOT • Product Owners • Deliverers of Polished Designs • The Sole Owners of Product Usability
IN CONCLUSION
J.J. Kercher | Director, User Experience @jjkercher
GOOD TALK :)
pssst…we’re hiring! ux.appfolio.com/jobs