The document discusses agile UX design practices for situations where time and budget are limited. It recommends summarizing user goals and requirements into functional chunks. Design the workflow by arranging these chunks. Then design in layers, starting with basic requirements (cake), then enhancements (frosting), and finally extra features (sprinkles). This allows designing the simplest version that works and adding complexity later if needed.

1. Hold the Sprinkles!
Cupcakes, Layers, and
Agile UX design
Carissa Demetris Helene Gidley
Principal User Experience Designer, ProQuest, LLC Owner, HSG Consulting
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

2. What’s the Problem?
• Simply put, there isn’t enough
time (or budget) to do
everything that we want to
do, both for design and
development.
• Agile design practices can help
meet basic requirements, and
provide opportunity to iterate
design.
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

3. What’s the Solution?
• Summarize and Organize
• Work Out the Workflow
• Design in Layers
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

4. Summarize and Organize
• What’s the Use Case?
– Summarize the user goal.
What is the user trying to
accomplish?
• What are the Functional
Chunks?
– Break down the requirements
into functional chunks that
feed into the user workflow.
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

5. Summarize and Organize Example
• User goal
“As a system administrator, I want to be able to view and manage users.”
• Functional Chunks
• Admin area
• Assign Admins
• Create/Edit/Delete Users
• Create/Edit/Delete Settings
• Apply Settings to Users
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

6. What’s the Solution?
• Summarize and Organize
• Work Out the Workflow
• Design in Layers
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

7. Work Out the Workflow
• Break down and arrange functional chunks to
establish workflow
– What should come first? What happens next? Then
what?
– Where is the user most likely to lose the ‘happy path’
(error conditions)?
Happy path
Error flow
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

8. Workflow Example
Primary workflow
Secondary workflow
Error workflow
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

9. Story Mapping Example
“As a system administrator, I want to be able to view and manage users.”
Username/ Manually One by one
password
Facebook Bulk upload
Permissions
Auth. model
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

10. 7th Inning Stretch
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

11. What’s the Solution?
• Summarize and Organize
• Work Out the Workflow
• Design in Layers
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

12. Mary’s Cupcake
• Birthday party with 12 guests
• Need to make 1 cupcake per guest
• Have 1 hour to make all of the
cupcakes
• Mary is the first person on the
guest list
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

13. Design in Layers
Uh-oh, not the best idea
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

14. Design in Layers
Yes, that’s more like it!
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

15. Design in Layers
“Do the simplest thing that could possibly work.”
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

16. Layering Example
(Access Admin Area)
Requirements (Cake)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

17. Layering Example
(Access Admin Area)
Enhancements (Frosting)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

18. Layering Example
(Access Admin Area)
Embellishments (Sprinkles)
?
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

19. Layering Example (Assign Admin)
Requirements (Cake)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

20. Layering Example (Assign Admin)
Enhancements (Frosting)
?
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

21. Layering Example (Assign Admin)
Enhancements (Frosting)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

22. Layering Example (Create Users)
Requirements (Cake)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

23. Layering Example (Create Users)
Enhancements (Frosting)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

24. Layering Example (Create Users)
Embellishments (Sprinkles)
?
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

25. Layering Example
(Create/Assign Settings)
Requirements (Cake)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

26. Layering Example
(Create/Assign Settings)
Enhancements (Frosting)
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

27. Frosting
Cake
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

28. Embrace the Cake
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29. Frost with Care
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

30. Hold the Sprinkles!
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC

31. Thank you!
Carissa Demetris, Principal User Experience Designer
ProQuest , LLC
carissa.demetris@proquest.com
Helene Gidley, Owner
HSG Consulting, LLC
helene.gidley@hsgconsultingllc.com
Copyright © Carissa Demetris, ProQuest LLC