Many UXers are having difficulty fitting into an Agile environment, despite the fact that the Agile methodology is now the most popular approach to developing new software.
The Agile Manifesto has its advantages as demonstrated by the ability to change direction according to customer feedback, along with issuing shorter timeframes (called Sprints) to help teams stay on track. Agile effectively outlines how to troubleshoot pain points during large-scale software projects.
But there is one problem: Agile principles exclude the people behind UX, failing to take into account the amount of time and resources spent by UX professionals on delivering a stellar user design.
What is missing from the Agile Manifesto?
The Agile paradigm imposes restrictions on the entire team, ensuring they work on the same project elements in 2-week bursts instead of transferring responsibilities over from one team to the next. There simply isn’t enough time to do additional testing or even finalize the product features that would create a better user experience.
Generally speaking, Agile is implemented using rigid methods like Scrum, in turn, forcing UX designers to focus solely on a specific feature of the user story that they inevitably overlook large-scale product implications such as omnichannel consistency or UI layout. It’s no wonder UX people are struggling to adopt an Agile workflow.
The thing is, user-centered designs depend on UXers who understand the big picture as opposed to being concerned with getting it done as fast as possible. And only through the combined efforts of cross-functional teams and end-users, will there be a model maximized for usability.
What about the UXers who learned to adopt the Agile workflow?
There were a number of key factors that led them to excel: For one, those companies recognized the value of UX in providing them with a competitive edge: UX encompasses every feature, interaction, structure, and aesthetic used to market new applications to consumers.
Managers should have a vision of long-term goals and be willing to take a lean approach to test their hypothesis based on the usability tests conducted. They cannot overlook the importance of qualitative user data if they want to gain insights into user preferences.
UX designers characterized by their leadership skills are more likely to thrive in Agile environments.–They can carry the team through pressing deadlines without breaking a sweat. They are also not afraid to call out assumptions about user behavior, and will actively support their colleagues in addressing principles in the UX process.
Flexible Agile Methodologies Emphasizes Accepting Unpredictable Outcomes
Agile can be modified to be more versatile guide software teams towards managing and responding to sudden changes around them. This includes balancing stakeholder expectations with an evolving market outlook, enabling UXers to consider unpredictable inputs and adjust them to meet goals set in place.
In practice, organizations should not follow the Scrum framework just because it is a widespread form of Agile methodology; although it offers users abundant resources and explains complex terms about connections between elements, Scrum is actually incompatible with UX due to its strong focus on individual units being defined by user stories.
Designing a user experience goes well beyond decorating the front-end with colorful pixels. UX teams have different priorities than software devs in testing and validating their outputs. As such, companies must let UX teams work at their own pace, instead of being dictated by the speed at which programs and apps are released.
Communication between UX Professionals and Core Developers is a Recipe for Success
The most productive teams are the ones where the core-team members ask for the input of UX professionals and will incorporate their suggestions into the next product release. It also means not treating them as another department or the go-to consultants between team members.
There has to be trust between programmers and UX designers in order for design concepts to improve. And yet, combining UX design with Agile proves to be a daunting task, as it continues to underestimate the scope involved in creating user-friendly devices.
The good news is, they are capable of co-existing as long as UX practitioners continue reporting to their colleagues and are given a workable schedule, they will surely overcome any problems caused by Agile.
UX and Agile are Compatible Under Certain Conditions
Agile values individual interactions over tools and processes, stating that working software is prioritized higher than the comprehensive documentation of its functions. The guidelines value more direct collaboration with end-users over negotiating contracts with stakeholders. The same is true for increasing UX adaptability while placing less importance on structural planning.
From a user standpoint, most of them will use a product (app or device) to accomplish certain goals so they are actually interacting with the sum of its components. Therefore, a broad interpretation of Agile would ultimately fare better among UX developers than a strict one.
