One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen in Agile adoption is the separation of design and development into different teams, each with their own Product Owner and their own Product Backlog.

What is an Empathy Map?The Empathy Map is a collaborative tool designed to help teams and stakeholders develop a deeper understanding of their users or customers. It was created by Dave Gray and included in his book “Gamestorming”. The map enables teams to visualize user behaviors, emotions and thou...

What is Design Thinking? Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.* Design Thinking does not have a single definition, it has evolved ...

Scrum and Lean UX share several similarities in their principles and practices, particularly in their focus on collaboration, iterative development, and delivering value to customers. Both Scrum and Lean UX embrace an iterative and incremental approach. Learn more in this blog post from PST Simon Kn...

For an existing product or serviceTemplate:[Our service/product] was designed to achieve [these goals]. We have observed [in this way] that the product/service isn’t meeting these goals which is causing [this adverse effect/business issue] to our business.How might we improve service/product so that...

In this article, PST Alex Ballarin explains how UX Design activities (e.g. discovery) can be effectively included in the Scrum events and artifacts using the dual-track agile approach, simultaneously with the software delivery work.

Hypothesis-driven development offers a structured approach to problem-solving and innovation while minimizing risks, enabling evidence-based decisions, and fostering experimentation. This series includes the benefits of a hypothesis-drive approach for Scrum Teams and product delivery as well as templates and examples of different hypothesis formats.

A hypothesis is a clear, testable statement. It includes a forecast or prediction based on the assumption. Unlike an idea or open question, which are generally vague or speculative, a hypothesis is a precise, verifiable proposition that outlines both the action and expected outcome.There are several...

Hypothesis-driven development promotes a structured approach to agile delivery, enabling teams to test assumptions early and make data-informed decisions. This leads to more efficient and effective outcomes. Other benefits include:Focus and ClarityHypotheses help Scrum Teams move from vague ideas an...

Scrum Teams work in complex and uncertain environments where outcomes are unpredictable and variables are interdependent. In the context of product discovery and development teams should form hypotheses to learn more about potential problems or opportunities.A hypothesis-driven approach allows Scrum...

A hypothesis is a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.* A hypothesis-driven approach is a scientific method where validation through experimentation is necessary to validate or refute assumptions.Organizations and Sc...

Customer outcomes are the results that customers and users experience when they use a product. This piece describes the characteristics of customer outcomes as well as how to define them.

In this Scrum Tapas video, Professional Scrum Trainer Ralph Jocham talks about the complementary practice of Just in Time Requirements Engineering and Lean UX and how they can help Product Owners have effective requirements documentation. (4:24 Minutes)

During and after the Sprint, Scrum Teams need to find ways to gather feedback from actual customers. Internal stakeholders are not actual customers, and though they usually have strong affinity for customers, internal stakeholder feedback is not a substitute for actual customer feedback.The short ti...

By understanding its customers and users, a Scrum Team can identify opportunities, be more innovative and create products that people need and use. Here are different techniques ways to do this.

The Scrum Team should invite customers and users of their product to the Sprint Review. This is a perfect opportunity to engage with them to gather feedback and insight. Rather than using this time to dig into detail, focus on outcomes and gathering feedback and insight. Also, keep in mind that t...

n empathy map is a visualization tool that helps the Scrum Team get a better understanding of their user’s thoughts, feelings and experiences, so they can build and improve the product for their users. It is a technique used to create understanding and alignment. You can use an empathy map to colla...

Customer reviews are another way for the Scrum Team to gather feedback on the product. Reviews provide insights into what customers find useful, what they are struggling with, and what they don’t like. Reviews can be found in many places like the company website, social media, and on third-part...

Evidence-Based Management (EBM) helps organizations work toward their goals in a complex environment. It focuses on measurable outcomes and desirable things that a customer or user of a product wants and experiences. EBM applies an empirical approach and serves as a foundation for Scrum Teams and or...

Surveys are one of the most common research methods and another way Scrum Teams can find more about their customers and users. For example, to determine customer satisfaction. Although surveys can be a cost effective way to gather data and insights from a large group of people, if they are not...

Focus groups are a popular tool in market and user research. You can think of a focus group as a large scale interview as they typically consist between 5 and 10 users in a group. When running a focus group, the focus group moderator asks questions of the group and encourages discussion among th...

One to one interviews are an easy way to gather insights. They can help the Scrum Team find out what their customers think about their product and what is important to them versus what is not. While conducting a one to one interview sounds straightforward, it requires discipline and practice in ...

By taking the time to observe users in their environment, you can learn a lot about how they interact with your product allowing you to explore how to make it better. During an observation session, ask users to interact with a lightweight prototype or observe them using the latest product Increm...

A proto-persona is a fictional character based on what you currently know about the people that would buy and or use your product. Creating proto-personas collaboratively is a lightweight and quick way to build conversation and shared understanding within the Scrum Team about who they believe their ...

Product Owners are accountable for maximizing the value of the product that the Scrum Team builds. Therefore, as a Product Owner, you want everyone in the Scrum Team, including yourself, to have a shared understanding and be aligned on who the people are that would buy (customers) and use (users) yo...

User role modeling is a lightweight way to categorize what roles users take when interacting with your product. Knowing these roles and how they impact how the user interacts with the product gives the Scrum Team more context when creating and refining their Product Backlog items, especially if ...

Learn how Scrum Product Owners and Scrum Masters can employ techniques to enhance the user experience and ensure product success.

Scrum Tools, Part 2: From Design Thinking to Lean UX to User Story Mapping

Many organizations struggle with OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Let's explore how agility principles and practices such as Scrum can help us use OKRs to improve alignment, focus, empowerment, and empiricism in our organization.

In this article you will learn: - Why enabling Scrum Teams with UX Design capabilities is important. - Why introducing UX capabilities to Scrum team is frequently hard. - What is the job of an UX Leader in a product development organization. - How to use a UX Design maturity level to coach tea...

This blog talks about Integrating UX with Scrum.

In today's vlog, we will explore the ingredients to use Scrum with User Experience (UX).

How can Liberating Structures be used to fortify Scrum Teams? Join this virtual User Experience Fishbowl and learn from practitioners how they have used the Liberating Structures Conversation Cafe and/or User Experience Fishbowl to support their Scrum Teams. What was made possible by using these Lib...

We all want the ideal cross functional scrum team with all the UX skills and capabilities it needs to consistently produce valuable products. Most commonly UX is a shared service with part time availability. This hour Adam Deardurff, career UX pro, and Summer Lawrence PST, talk about maximizing the ...

This webinar talks about how UX and Agile Delivery can work together.

The Scrum Master encourages the Scrum Team to improve, within the Scrum process framework, its development process and practices to make it more effective and enjoyable for the next Sprint.

Are you working remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak? Are you looking for some tips/tactics to lead virtual training for your teams? 

Jeff Gothelf is the author of LeanUX as well as Sense and Respond. He is a thought leader in the UX space and working on his next book Forever Employable. We talk a bit about the idea of being sought after by organizations. Not just being a thought leader or an independent consultant. We're excit...

This fourth article now addresses basic remote agile anti-patterns — the pitfalls any distributed team wants to avoid to become successful.

Good Scrum Masters are passionate. Great Scrum Masters are dispassionate.

In my daily life as a Scrum Master, I witness many crazy situations. I want to share my discoveries via this comic series featuring Koos Coach, the silly Scrum Master struggling to understand and master Scrum.

In this third post of the Remote Agile series, we address the tool at the heart of working with a distributed team as a Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Product Owner: Zoom.

The urgency of having the right type of conversation, especially today in a remote setting, has significantly increased overnight. This blog provides a perspective on a particular type of conversation and my own “personal experiences”  that show we need them more than ever.

Erik Weber is a Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org and a Managing Partner with HealthChampion, and shares his experiences and expertise. (1:06:17 Minutes)

Does your firm exceed your customer's expectations regularly? Is just meeting expectations good enough in your market? Businesses pursuing an improved ability to deliver customer value using Scrum face numerous challenges.

As part of the Scrum.org webinar “Ask a Professional Scrum Trainer - Martin Hinshelwood - Answering Your Most Pressing Scrum Questions” I was asked a number of questions. Since not only was I on the spot and live, I thought that I should answer each question that was asked again here, as well as tho...

Product Owners have a tough job. I was in a Sprint Review recently where the Scrum Team had some stakeholders talking about an idea they thought was excellent. So, like any studious Product Owner, they immediately typed up the idea and added it to their Product Backlog.

El aspecto principal del desarrollo de un producto no debe ser el trabajo de UX, es importante como otros tipos de trabajo como arquitectura, pruebas, etc.

As CEO and Product Owner for Scrum.org I get the amazing opportunity to visit lots of different companies. Recently I spent a week in Brazil visiting some amazing companies and talking about agility.

In this talk, Jeff Gothelf, the co-author of the book Lean UX, and Dave West, CEO and Product Owner of Scrum.org, discuss the challenges and benefits of bringing practices from lean UX to Scrum Teams. They answer questions about empirical learning, managing the backlog, understanding the customer an...