Agile and scrum processes rely on constant communication between product, design and development teams. But what happens when your team is spread across three time zones, with three different cultures and two different languages? When a team is not working well together, the product suffers and the users suffer as a result. We’ll present our own case study and share parallels from other companies, then share with you what worked and what didn’t as we navigated the wilds of distributed agile. Most importantly, we’ll share the key shift to our approach that made the pivotal difference.

1. UX In a Distributed Agile Environment:
Making it Work
Krys Blackwood and Lea Cuniberti-Duran!

2. Times, they’re a-changin’
• 46% companies report they have teams distributed
across 2 or more locations!
• 3.2 million teleworkers in US!
• Projections: 4.9 million by 2016!
• 77% of companies >2500 allow telecommuting!
How about your company?!

3. Picture of a Modern Team
• 3 locations: West Coast US, East Coast US, China!
• PMs in CA & China, Engineers in MA & China,
Designers in CA & MA!
• 2 languages - English and Mandarin!
• 3 cultures - West Coast, East Coast and Chinese !

4. It’s Complicated
• Company acquisition led to some defensiveness,
divided loyalties and insecurity!
• Culture of blame and CYA!
• Engineers and QA new to Agile, still uncomfortable!
Does this sound familiar? !

5. This Was Not Our First Rodeo
Photo Source: http://mypetgroundhog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-selfish-rodeo-clown-learns-lesson.html

6. Transparency!
Collaboration!
Communication!
The Elements of
Successful Agile Teams
Clear
definition !
of success!

7. Starting to Climb
• Our first approach:
communication!
• Tried reaching out: this was
seen as too aggressive!
• Engineers were uncomfortable
having phone conversations !
• Emphasized video chat to let
them get to know us as people,
time zones got in the way!
• Preferred method: Email!

8. Scrum Master is Your Bestie
• Scrum master had a great relationship with the devs
and QA!
• We spoke with the scrum master 2-3 times per day!
• Bribery is valid: Baked cookies and brought treats
from the garden!
• When we weren’t getting responses and time was
the issue, had him act as a go-between !

9. How about Instant Messaging?
• It’s instantaneous!
• They were already comfortable
using it amongst themselves!
• They were reluctant to “let us in”
to their circles!

10. Us Them&

11. Lesson 1
Relationship building takes time
• Attend every scrum!
• Remind engineers that we’re here, and what we’re
working on!
• Afterward, proactively reach out to engineers or qa via
email!
• Agreed to core hours for IM and email, plus reachable
24/7!
• Cell phones in email signatures!

12. Gentle and Supportive
• Relentlessly nonjudgmental!
• Constantly reminding that blame doesn’t matter!
• Encouraged alternative proposals!
• Solicited and accepted criticism!

13. Slowly but Surely
• No surprise: Each person had
their own communication
preferences!
• Ended up customizing protocol
for each of 15 people!
• But not enough: Progress and
projects were slow!
Photo credit:
http://embodyheartandmind.com/balance/wp-content/
uploads/2014/03/turtle.jpg!

14. Lesson 2
Ask for Help
• After months of hard work, we asked our leadership
for help!
• Senior VPs provided support & guidance!
• Summit with all locations in one place!

15. • Workshop Kickoff & Goal agreement!
• “5 Dysfunctions of a Team”!
http://www.tablegroup.com/books/dysfunctions!
• Team Communication!
• Puts & Takes!
• Prioritization!
• Roadmap Methods!
Team Summit Agenda: Day 1

16. 5 Dysfunctions

17. • “Servant Leadership”!
https://greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/!
• Holding Efficient Meetings!
• Why Agile: purpose and value of things in scrum!
• Roles in the Scrum team!
• Writing user stories!
• Team Metrics!
Team Summit Agenda: Day 2

19. Working Agreement
• No blame!
• Hierarchy of communication methods!
• Involve all team roles in all stages - even if it’s just to see what’s coming!
• Celebrate wins!
• Provide context for all requests!
• Plan collectively, as a team!
• Switch to Kanban!
• 24 hour service agreement!
Team Summit Agenda: Day 3

20. Sea Change
Photo credit: http://apps.seattletimes.com/reports/sea-change/2013/sep/11/pacific-ocean-perilous-turn-overview/!

21. Lesson 3
It’s About the Users
• Involved engineers & QA in test design!
• Invited engineers & QA to observe usability
sessions!
• Showed them quant & qual results of their work !
• Persona empathy workshops!
• Customer journey mapping!

22. • Popularized by Cooper Design Blog !
http://www.cooper.com/journal/2014/05/persona-empathy-mapping!
• Engages the team in user-centric thinking!
• Shows the motivations behind the user actions!
• Helps internalize the user experience!
• Builds understanding and empathy toward the user!
Persona Empathy Mapping

23. • Jen had baby Jonah 4 months ago and didn’t
realized that her and her husband had to add him
to their medical plan. Now it is too late and the baby
is without insurance.!
• Baby Jonah develops a fever. Jen doesn’t know if it
is because of teething or something more serious
and she should take him to urgent care.!
Sample Scenarios

24. http://www.cooper.com/journal/2014/05/persona-empathy-mapping!

26. • Visual representation of the end to end steps
involved in a customer experience: from first
contact to purchasing and customer after-care!
• Mapped on a timeline!
• Tracks feelings, thoughts, emotions, actions &
goals + channels & touch points!
• The goal is for the team to share the experience of
our users. !
Customer Journey Mapping

27. • Jen worries about her mom’s finances. She has
been delaying a visit and Jen learns that the reason
is about money. Jen learns, her mom is spending
over $200 in Rx drugs copay each month a sizable
chunk of her social security check. Jen decides to
help her mom and start researching plans that offer
better coverage.!
Sample Scenario

28. Actions
Environment
Goals
Thoughts and Feelings
Touch Points and Channels
!
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5

29. Photo credit: http://pvop.org/event/2014/8/11/it-gets-better!

30. The Moral of The Story
• Lesson 1: Relationship building
takes time!
Be persistent, be supportive,
be transparent!
• Lesson 2: Ask for help!
It’s not a failure, it’s getting the
whole company aligned!
• Lesson 3: Make it about the
users!
They’re the one thing we’re
guaranteed to have in common! Photo credit:
http://www.uneed2knowthis.uk/blog-uneed2knowthis-uk/
help-to-climb-mountain/!

31. Questions?

32. T H A N K Y O U !
@lea_designer
lea.posta@gmail.com
@shodoshan
shodoshan@gmail.com