UX pipeline for Kanban Projects

Integrating High-Level UX Processes into a Kanban Workflow

While reviewing the discovery work for a challenging feature request for a messenger serve within a Health Care EPJ, I seized the opportunity to critically evaluate the entire UX process. This led to the creation of a working document designed as a resource for both the technical development lead and other designers involved in various projects. The objective was to introduce and experiment with different design methodologies, all while aligning with the Kanban method primarily employed in the development phase. This approach showcases my capability to integrate high-level UX processes seamlessly into a Kanban workflow.

The working document serves as a dynamic roadmap, designed for ongoing updates. It is partitioned into five key stages, each supplemented with recommended workshops and tasks to be carried out throughout the lifecycle of a project.

Pre-Discovery Work

This initial phase lays the foundation, incorporating preliminary research, stakeholder interviews, and data collection to establish a solid understanding of the project's objectives and constraints.

Discovery Work

This critical phase aims to provide a nuanced understanding of various project elements.

• Understanding User Needs, Motivations, and Pain Points: Utilizing methods like user interviews, surveys, and observational studies to uncover user behavior and identify potential areas of friction.
• Business Goals and Constraints: Engaging stakeholders in dialogues to align design solutions with the organization's strategic aims.
• Competitive Landscape: Analyzing competitors to understand market norms and spot opportunities for differentiation.
• Heuristic Evaluation Workshop: Using Jakob Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics as a structured framework for identifying potential usability issues.
• SWOT Analysis: Evaluating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to assess the project's broader market context.
• User Journey Mapping: Charting the user's interaction with the system to pinpoint touchpoints, pain points, and opportunities for design intervention.
• Stakeholder Discovery Workshop: Engaging stakeholders in a '3 Whys' analysis and affinity mapping to uncover underlying business objectives and align them with design goals.

Define

In this stage, the information gathered from the discovery work is synthesized to identify specific challenges that need to be addressed. Clear problem statements are then formulated to guide the subsequent design phase.

Design

This phase translates the research findings into actionable design solutions, all within the structure of a Kanban workflow.

• Assumption-based User Flows: Creating hypothetical user paths based on initial assumptions, followed by validation through observation.
• Feature Structure & Wireframing: Organizing features hierarchically and sketching out preliminary interface layouts as groundwork for detailed design.
• Product Trio's +1 Approach: Adopting a multidisciplinary method that includes a Service Owner, UX Designer, Developer, and Tester, ensuring a comprehensive view of product development.
• Interaction Design (IxD) Sequence: Detailing user interactions within the interface to ensure a seamless and intuitive experience.
• High Fidelity Design & Prototypes: Crafting detailed designs that closely emulate the final product, instrumental for obtaining stakeholder buy-in.

Validation

In the final stage, it's essential to evaluate the efficacy of the design decisions, especially how they've been implemented within the Kanban framework.

• Pilot Testing & Freeform Questionnaire: Early users engage with the design, providing feedback in an unstructured format to uncover unforeseen issues or areas for refinement.
• Jakob Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics Workshop: A subsequent evaluation to ensure that iterative design changes have not introduced new usability issues.
• A/B Testing: Employing empirical methods to present users with alternative design versions, thereby determining which performs better in terms of engagement or conversion rates.