Address the whole experience, from start to finish.
"We need to understand the different ways people will interact with our services, including the actions they take online, through a mobile application, on a phone, or in person. Every encounter — whether it's online or offline — should move the user closer towards their goal." - CIO PlaybookContinuing my series on the USDS Digital Playbook:
playbook.cio.gov
Play 2: Address the whole experience, from start to finish
I recently had the opportunity to work with the most amazing user experience professionals on an abbreviated project (a 36-hour "code fest"). We designed, deployed and submitted three applications for consideration by the GSA in pursuit of a coveted spot on their new Agile Services Delivery BPA.
Together with two of our key capability partners Three Wire Systems and Fermata Creative, I am very proud to report that we won a spot on this innovative new delivery contract! I think a key factor of our win was that we embraced the playbook, and rule two in particular. See this press release for more information on this important project:
https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/08/28/announcing-the-agile-BPA-awards/
What I found particularly impressive about this team was the enthusiasm with which they embraced user feedback - even late in this abbreviated development cycle. Given the short turnaround of these projects, it would have been easy to neglect user assessment in the design and testing phases and/or dismiss the need for user feedback altogether. Given the restraints of this particular project, we certainly could have taken a substance over form approach. But something worth building, is worth designing with the user in mind!
During our short development cycle, we made time to have three people who had nothing to do with the design of our software, use our applications. Watching them struggle with things we thought were obvious, and then listening to their valuable feedback gave us ideas for improvements that solved problems that we otherwise would not have even known about.
It never ceases to amaze me how unpredictable users can be once they get an application in hand. We think we know how an application will be used, but it often does not play out that way. It is easy to discount or even forget the user in the design and testing phases, but it is a mistake to do so. How we think a user will behave and how they actually do behave are often very different. This is why employing user experience (UX) professionals is so important. They bring users into the design phase early, and serve as their advocate throughout production.
I believe this is one of the greatest advantages of Agile methodologies. We have potential to put the user in the designer’s seat, and the ability to iterate on the design in such a way that the application evolves around real needs, desires and environment of the target user.
Together with two of our key capability partners Three Wire Systems and Fermata Creative, I am very proud to report that we won a spot on this innovative new delivery contract! I think a key factor of our win was that we embraced the playbook, and rule two in particular. See this press release for more information on this important project:
https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/08/28/announcing-the-agile-BPA-awards/
What I found particularly impressive about this team was the enthusiasm with which they embraced user feedback - even late in this abbreviated development cycle. Given the short turnaround of these projects, it would have been easy to neglect user assessment in the design and testing phases and/or dismiss the need for user feedback altogether. Given the restraints of this particular project, we certainly could have taken a substance over form approach. But something worth building, is worth designing with the user in mind!
During our short development cycle, we made time to have three people who had nothing to do with the design of our software, use our applications. Watching them struggle with things we thought were obvious, and then listening to their valuable feedback gave us ideas for improvements that solved problems that we otherwise would not have even known about.
It never ceases to amaze me how unpredictable users can be once they get an application in hand. We think we know how an application will be used, but it often does not play out that way. It is easy to discount or even forget the user in the design and testing phases, but it is a mistake to do so. How we think a user will behave and how they actually do behave are often very different. This is why employing user experience (UX) professionals is so important. They bring users into the design phase early, and serve as their advocate throughout production.
I believe this is one of the greatest advantages of Agile methodologies. We have potential to put the user in the designer’s seat, and the ability to iterate on the design in such a way that the application evolves around real needs, desires and environment of the target user.
From the Playbook:
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