Process: Lean UX

The adoption of iterative product development has required teams to make time-boxed decisions, iterate quickly, and pivot as necessary. At Rockwell Automation, where I work, we transitioned some of our product-development projects to SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) agile development about three years ago, and we’re continually trying to improve the efficiency and quality of design and engineering across teams. Within the context of our adoption of agile, we’ve piloted a collaborative approach to UX design.

Lean UX

Rockwell’s next-generation products leverage common user-interface (UI) components across products. However, some level of design revision is necessary for each feature that ships. So User Experience supports product teams from an early, evaluation stage. Read More

Wearables are becoming increasingly pervasive devices with a growing array of apps—yet, somehow, the user experience for many of these devices is lacking. What is the best way to design for this new class of devices? In Part 2 of my interview with Greg Nudelman—who is a mobile and tablet experience strategist and a leader in the emerging arena of UX design for wearables—we’ll continue our conversation about a better approach to UX design for wearables. If you missed Part 1, you might want to read it first.

Applying Lean UX to Wearables

Janet: How does Lean UX for wearables differ from Lean UX in other contexts?

Greg: That is a great question. Basically, you follow the same principles. You need a measurable experiment and to spend as little time and money as possible in creating something people can actually put to use. The idea that I find compelling is the minimum viable prototype, or MVP. While most people interpret MVP as minimum viable product, thinking about a minimum viable prototype lets you focus on creating the cheapest, crudest, yet plausible prototype that lets you communicate your idea to a customer. Read More

This is a sample chapter from the new Two Waves book Blind Spot: Illuminating the Hidden Value of Business, by Steve Diller, Nathan Shedroff, and Sean Sauber. 2016 Rosenfeld Media.

Chapter 10: Design

At this point in your journey, it’s time to start making touchpoints. Let’s face it—this can be a little scary. All of the work you’ve done so far has been preparation for that big blank sheet of paper—or nowadays, more likely, a screen—that you’ll use to create ideas and concepts, and develop them into something new. Needless to say, many find this a disorienting and difficult moment. Many businesspeople treat this phase as just another check box on the to-do list.

It’s not.

Designing the offering is the most complex phase, the most critical, and although incredibly ambiguous and anxiety-producing for those who feel safe with a set recipe, the most fun. Read More