This is the talk I gave at Agile 2010 detailing how TheLadders.com UX team has been integrating UX practice into a new Agile environment.

1. Beyond staggered sprints How TheLadders.com integrated UX into Agile

2. Who is this guy? With a hat like that, he must know his shit. Jeff Gothelf Currently: Director of UX at TheLadders.com Previously: Publicis Modem, Webtrends, AOL, Fidelity and an assortment of startups Blog: www.jeffgothelf.com/blog Twitter: @jboogie Email: jgothelf@theladders.com

3. Job site for professionals earning $100k or more and the recruiters/employers looking to hire them.

4. Execution team made up of product managers, developers and user experience folks.

5. UX team made up of Interaction Designers, Visual Designers and Copywriters. Work spans both pre-paywall acquisition and conversion marketing as well as post-paywall product design.

6. User Experience is a shared service Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line

8. Thick functional specs

9. In-depth wireframe decks

10. Long visual design cycles

11. Late-stage user validation and testing

12. Explicit hand-offshttp://www.niagarafallscanadapics.net/Niagara-falls-Canada-rainbow-pdam2.jpg

14. No heads-up or discussion with UXhttp://www.fieldmuseum.org/museum_info/press/images/nature1_lg.jpg

16. Faster!

17. Tighter!

18. Nimbler (is that a word?)http://membres.multimania.fr/frodon9/hpbimg/oliphant.jpg

20. No existing experience

21. No clear path to success

22. But The Precious was out there….we were sure of ithttp://quizilla.teennick.com/user_images/T/tohrupenguin/1112394240_ryfrodosam.jpg

23. So we set out on a quest to find the unicorn! And this was no ordinary unicorn. Preliminary research made it clear that no one had really nailed this problem. http://www.boingboing.net/gimages/patrick.jpg

25. How do you maintain focus on a bigger vision?

26. Can we maintain product quality?

27. How do you produce creative work faster?

28. How do you keep the engineering teams busy each iteration?

29. Will lighter product iterations be accepted by the business?

30. Will we be blamed if they don’t?http://www.africandreamadventuresafaris.com/thornbush-arusha-national-park.JPG

31. The journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. Our first step was research. Agile and user experience http://www.africandreamadventuresafaris.com/thornbush-arusha-national-park.JPG

32. And more research… This time with humans.

33. We even sought out The Oracle… He was very oracle-ish. http://www.xqa.com.ar/visualmanagement/wp-content/uploads/XQA_9437.JPG

34. Add up all the research to get…..ideas! An idea and $.75 and you’re on your way to that cup of coffee. http://legacy.lclark.edu/faculty/jsmiller/objects/idea_bulb.jpg

35. Our first attempt: Just get it all done in 2 weeks.

36. We took our 9-month waterfall process… Which was mighty and massive http://www.julia-mathewson.com/photos/usa_2005_photos/8niagara1.jpg

37. And jammed it into a 2-week timeframe. We kept all the pieces and processes the same. http://www6.worldisround.com/photos/29/323/524_o.jpg

38. We became chairmen of the boards. It got a little silly, actually. “The whiteboards do not help organize the UX team’s work at all. Instead, they block out natural light from the windows and create a harsh and uncreative visual environment.” - Internal survey respondent

39. Functional specs were now banned. The story card had taken the spec’s place. And it multiplied.

40. The boards took on multiple purposes. Functional spec. Project plan. Resource allocation. And status indication.

41. The boards took on multiple purposes. Functional spec. Project plan. Resource allocation. And status indication.

42. But, hey, the UX team got its own board. Which is nice.

43. Wireframes picked up the heavy lifting specs had left behind. Annotations galore!

44. Dreams of a “vision” document never materialized. You can dream in one hand and poop in the other. See which one fills first.

46. Learnings from our first attempt: UX morale in the crapper Feeling of “going for the bronze” Perceived quality of work was much lower No time to design No ownership or pride in the work Summary: FAIL

47. Our second attempt: Introduce two secret weapons

49. Housed in centralized, accessible KM system

50. Asset library for designers and developers

51. Reduced number of design cycles

53. Secret weapon #1: Style guides The cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.

54. Secret weapon #1: Style guides The cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.

55. Secret weapon #1: Style guides The cause of, and solution to, all of UX’s problems.

56. Secret weapon #1: Style guides Now, everyone’s a designer. Yay? http://iyokobat.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/village-of-the-damned.jpg

57. Secret weapon #2: Prototyping Show me. Don’t tell me.

58. Secret weapon #2: Prototyping Show me. Don’t tell me.

59. Learnings from our second attempt: Style guides make life easier Re-usable components FTW! “Everyone is a designer” buys more UX time Prototyping reduces the need for most documentation Summary: We’re making progress

60. Our third attempt: Put everything in-line.

62. Mid-way through the sprint

63. Enough time to reach

64. Show whatever you have ready

65. No more than 3 participants

66. Clear the boulders

67. Validate and iteratehttp://stevejencks.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/usability.jpg

69. 2 reviews per iteration

70. Initial review mid-way in the sprint, directional alignment

71. Second review is final – 95% done

72. Ad hoc reviews in between

73. Decision at second review is made to move forward or spend another iteration designinghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/

74. Great, the customer likes it. What about the product owner? Opinions are like belly buttons. Belly buttons on cats. “Design reviews have made the biggest difference. Having all the decision makers in one room has been crucial to getting projects approved on time.” - Internal survey respondent “Design reviews have helped reduce the “endless email thread” reviews we used to have.” - Another internal survey respondent http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/

75. Learnings from our third attempt: In-sprint user testing provides continuous user feedback in advance of coding Lightweight and cost-effective testing Formal, fixed design reviews provide mileposts for everyone to strive toward Unified approval processes buy more UX time Summary: Win!

76. Our fourth attempt: Bring everyone together and then separate

77. Can you guess who sketched this? The answer will shock you! http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/

78. Can you guess who sketched this? The answer will shock you! http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/

79. Can you guess who sketched this? The answer will shock you! http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler/4677093058/sizes/l/

81. Everybody draws, presents and critiques

82. Refine ideas through 3 rounds

83. Generate tons of raw ideas

84. Huge headstart for UX

85. Early team-wide alignment

87. Refine to 3 or 4 better ideas. Add detail.

88. And once more to one, final, detailed idea. Let your one best idea shine.

89. User Experience is a shared service Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line

90. UX UX UX UX Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line Biz Line

91. Learnings from our fourth attempt: Collaboration works Anyone can contribute ideas Focusing teams on one workstream proves effective Camaraderie, communication benefit from aligned teams Summary: Win! (that’s two, but I’m not counting)

92. Where we are today: We’re changing our mind. Slowly.

93. Designers love ritual. Trying to pull them out of established ruts is a Herculean task. http://www.strongcopssavelives.com/images/Air%20Plane%20Pull%202009.jpg

94. Designers are used to being heroes. Agile is distinctly, anti-hero. http://www.abegoodman.com/Images/greatest-american-hero.jpg

95. What about estimates? Deadlines or points? http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FfetiF7C9vo/SEeOU0ew8KI/AAAAAAAAILU/CE_tq46wDYM/S600/Washington+DC+auto+mechanic,+1942.JPG

96. Is it viable? Yes, but does anybody actually want it? Minimally viable Minimally desirable

97. Evolution continues through the breaking of old norms. Moving towards parallel pathing development and design. http://www.greatoutdoors.com/files/imagecache/display/files/images/articles/Wong%20leading%20a%20Powder%208%20win%20%20photo%20-%20Wong%20Collection.jpg

98. Thanks! Ask me some questions. Here. Now. Or later: jgothelf@theladders.com / @jboogie