As I have written before (see here), there is a blazing discussion in the blogosphere (and at every well-respected conference on agile development right now) about how best to combine agile development practices and user centric design processes.
Jeremy Johnson (blog here), recently posted an interesting summary of the findings of the "Agile UX Retreat 2010 Group" here. In particular, I liked his take on the role of UX as a "glue" between product management ("product owners" in the agile scrum jargon) and software development (the "scrum team" to stick to the parlance). A nice slide summary can be found here.
This certainly matches with what I see in practice - really successful online development projects put UX as the centre of both the product development and software development processes - in fact this should practically be a "given" nowadays (even if it is hardly ever done successfully).
Nevertheless, for me, the really challenging issue is not doing this, but doing it efficiently - that is, bringing together traditional business analysis and design methods and roles with user experience practices efficiently (without undue overlap).
More to follow on this topic...
Tuesday 25 May 2010
Monday 24 May 2010
Blue ocean strategy in 8 slides
Another short posting today.
When I first read "Blue Ocean Strategy" a few years back, I was not so impressed - it was a good synthesis of thinking that had preceded it, but I failed to see what is new...
Several years on, I haven't really changed my mind about the content - it isn't new - but I guess I have gained an appreciation for what a professor during my undergraduate days used to call "masterful synthesis" ("there are no new ideas, just new configurations of old ideas", paraphrasing Audre Lorde) and I suspect I am a good deal more open to the fact that even small changes and innovations in business can be truly difficult to achieve.
BlueOceanStrategy.com is a really nice website that covers the core tools and techniques from the book; the strategy canvas,the "four actions" framework and others. If you haven't read the book, go here first!
And even "better", there is an 8-page summary deck. Now all that I have to do is work out where the blue ocean is in the IT consulting space.. which turns out to actually be quite difficult even with the nice tools.
Darn!
When I first read "Blue Ocean Strategy" a few years back, I was not so impressed - it was a good synthesis of thinking that had preceded it, but I failed to see what is new...
Several years on, I haven't really changed my mind about the content - it isn't new - but I guess I have gained an appreciation for what a professor during my undergraduate days used to call "masterful synthesis" ("there are no new ideas, just new configurations of old ideas", paraphrasing Audre Lorde) and I suspect I am a good deal more open to the fact that even small changes and innovations in business can be truly difficult to achieve.
BlueOceanStrategy.com is a really nice website that covers the core tools and techniques from the book; the strategy canvas,the "four actions" framework and others. If you haven't read the book, go here first!
And even "better", there is an 8-page summary deck. Now all that I have to do is work out where the blue ocean is in the IT consulting space.. which turns out to actually be quite difficult even with the nice tools.
Darn!
Thursday 6 May 2010
Why checklists aren't all bad!
Just a short entry today...
Let me start with a bold statement; I hate checklists - people begin to rely on them and then stop thinking outside the lists....
However, at latest since Atul Gawande's "Checklist Manifesto" the checklist is back in.
I have been reminded over the last weeks of how useful a few simple checks are when you are in a hurry. More than this, checklists can be used to enforce standard behaviours - perhaps not the most up-to-date and empowered management thinking, but effective.
The key is to keep them lightweight, keep them simple and keep questioning them - they are the armbands for swimming and do not replace kicking your feet!
A useful link to finish: a checklist for checklists.
Let me start with a bold statement; I hate checklists - people begin to rely on them and then stop thinking outside the lists....
However, at latest since Atul Gawande's "Checklist Manifesto" the checklist is back in.
I have been reminded over the last weeks of how useful a few simple checks are when you are in a hurry. More than this, checklists can be used to enforce standard behaviours - perhaps not the most up-to-date and empowered management thinking, but effective.
The key is to keep them lightweight, keep them simple and keep questioning them - they are the armbands for swimming and do not replace kicking your feet!
A useful link to finish: a checklist for checklists.
Tuesday 4 May 2010
Star trek & social media marketing
At the risk of destroying my "online image", I have a confession; I am a Star Trek geek (not that this is going to come as a surprise to anyone who knows me!). This is probably why I liked the following info-graphic that explains the roles and activities required to use social media as a marketing tool effectively. Check it out here.
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