Blog
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Sarah Tricha
Usability & Agile Development: Tips for Integrating User Experience into the Process
January 26th, 2012
“Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection.”
~Khalil Gibran
Time, budget, and competing business priorities make it challenging to factor usability testing into project plans. Sometimes getting a product to market quickly is the “right” business priority for the client. With agile development projects, we add another obstacle to usability testing: release quick and release often. How does a user advocate fit into rapid release cycles that often focus on complex technical fixes?
First, before development begins, hopefully the team has conducted foundational user research to root out any false assumptions or deeper problems on the design and development path. Once the ball starts rolling on rapid releases, it will be difficult to uncover any major issues.
Iterative usability methodologies are a starting point for usability testing on agile development projects. For example, Microsoft’s Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) Method and usability guru Jakob Neilson’s discount usability are good places to start. Both of these methods share similar features:
- Focus on qualitative not quantitative results. Small test groups of 3-5 users are enough to reveal most errors.
- Use simple prototypes and scenarios. Use paper prototypes to test simple use cases. Focus on ten usability heuristics instead of complex interaction designs.
- Keep the sessions simple. Having a note taker present is enough. No need for the expense and added time of video recordings.
Fitting usability into an agile development process requires a mindset change. Recognizing the truth of Voltaire’s observation that “the best is the enemy of the good,” keep usability moving forward by:
- Using the users you have. Informal tests using the team on its own project make scheduling work easier. Remember, an imperfect methodology can be worthwhile if it uncovers problems and results in timely improvements.
- Simplify requirements documentation. Frequent conversations with the development team and low-fidelity prototypes replace more formal requirements documentation.
- Parallel tracks for user experience and development. Let user experience work continue ahead on a separate track while complex back-end fixes are implemented.
A user experience professional bridges the gap between various stakeholders, technical requirements and user needs. As a project owner, user experience is the force that can herd the cats and focus priorities on user acceptance and adoption – the final determination of project success. Making usability a part of agile development requires a change in mindset, but leaving usability out of agile development is too costly to be worthwhile.
Do you have experience integrating user experience into an agile development project? How did it go for your project team? Please share a comment.
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Tags: agile development, Usability, User Research
2 Responses 
We had great success integrating UX practices with agile development. As you mention in the article, we had a had an extensive formal usability test with our product as well our major competitors. We were able to use this in conjunction with our ongoing forms of user research as a base for our agile projects.
I had the unique role of product developer/UX architect within our organization. I’ve spent many months of my life working alongside both front and back-end developers in a conference room turned project office. Working in such close proximity made a huge difference. We’d encounter an issue, I could quickly ping a few of my testers and get immediate feedback. If needed, I’d arrange for an after-hours meet up where I would bring along my laptop/ipad/whatever device we were working on. In most situations I could report back to the team the following morning with results and we would then collaborate as a team the best solution. We’d ping-pong a bit with solutions that would be the most time efficient from the dev point of view, and I could then give them tell them how that would be received from the user view.
We didn’t have any respect issues prior to switching to agile, but I noticed a positive shift in perception of user experience. Many people agree with UX in theory, but as you allude to, many think it is too costly or time consuming to really “do” on a regular basis. Having my team work literally next to me and having them see the video, read quotes, etc. of their work played a significant role in the mentality change in our organization. I think it was the immediate feedback that really sold UX in agile. Nobody wants to pour themselves into a project (if only for a week or two) and have it fail. Knowing prior to launch how something will be received is a huge advantage. You can move on to your next project without having to put out a fire or addressing issues from your last one.
Hi Erin. Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s great you’ve managed to keep your team so collaborative! Sharing immediate user feedback with the team is essential. Too often user feedback gets locked in a document that is delivered to stakeholders to show ROI and not shared immediately with the team that’s making the UX wins happen. You’re experience shows how usability can be an integrated part of the development process, not a separate, static deliverable.