Lean startup methodology

Lean Startup Methodology

The inception of User Experience started with Information architecture and Interaction design, acting as the fundamental elements needed to organise and create the holistic model of what a product should contain for the developer and the end user, this follows very closely to how the waterfall model organised developers to work out of sync with each other and complete individual tasks to only pass them on and not have to deal with them again.

The primary focus of the development cycles were related to creating deliverables and how the final product would help define the overall process at the end, instead of focusing on the journey the developers focused on the end result which can be a detached process.

As User Experience Design in its current and developing form takes cues from multidisciplinary frameworks that we combine and use to co-operate with our teams to create the desired research model to create a good developer environment as well a good user experience for the customers.

What is Lean user experience?

Lean ux is inspired by agile methodology and the lean startup model, both are based on a system of collaboration to create efficient models where its core idea is to maximise the end user’s needs without wasting resources and allocating the right time in the right places.

Lean practice concentrates on the management and process of how the team can be optimised for the researchers and developers strengths that can range from design, technology, market research and other valuable services that can trim non essential documentation and focus on the primary user needs for a speedy process.

How agile and Lean work ? Agile methods derive from software development and the focus tends to be on working software, customer collaboration and a unique interaction experience for the end user, responding to change in the process instead of focusing on a rigid development cycle.

The lean startup process is heavily focused on reiteration and rapid prototyping that can be tested constantly with the target audience and through user feedback, the product can be adjusted through any level of the development making it a more friendly product development cycle than the waterfall and agile software engineering methodology.

The Lean user experience process:

• Concept

• Validate internally

• Prototype

• Test externally

• Usability testing

• Learn from user behaviour

• Iterate

The purpose of lean ux is to be time efficient on the basis, if a development cycle takes 3-4 months and the team has been busy perfecting the product and once it’s finished the product fails to meet customer satisfaction then the product is deemed a failure and the invested time has been wasted.

The lean process keeps everyone in control of the situation, engaged and in charge of the project through all phases of development because of the insight gained by the end users needs, which are constantly tested to create the most effective and productive design.

Feasibility and usability are essential parts of the process, the speed element of lean methodology comes before the visual design but that means everyone from the stakeholders, market researchers and product developers all have to partake in the testing, regardless of how little the involvement is, once a demo is ready the feedback will aid the documentation to create itself and help further the product, whether it’s to reiterate or enhance the user experience, the public feedback will be key to understanding where the product stands.

A segment taken from Don Norman’s interview with the Lean service creation there are fundamental challenges due to the sheer size of those companies. Innovation cycles take months and decisions are hard to reach. The only way to survive for them is by designing for change; continuous change. This makes the process messy, and difficult. But life indeed is complex and messy, so maybe, he concludes, “it was [all] meant to be that way in the first place.”

Once the development of the product has been evaluated and the end users feedback has been taken into consideration, the product can be tweaked and prepared for the consumer market.

The cooperation between agile methodology and lean startup come together harmoniously because they cancel out all the negative portions of the agile methodology cycles like the main focus being on developing the software and engineering from feedback instead of usability and behaviour

The lean ux method has a focus on the important aspects of development where the emphasis is on prototyping, usability testing and reiterating the product as much as possible to keep the product ahead of its problems.

The subversive and creative elements of using the Lean startup / Ux Methodology

The hybrid of agile software development and lean startup elements together are very subversive in terms of existing practice, the waterfall method was considered to be very rigid, whilst the agile methodology aims to unify the development team to think as one.

Lean user experience with the background of agile can be beneficial to all parties involved with the project and can also aid the people involved to contribute ideas to further the future of design development as a whole.

The elements of user experience require more than cooperating methodologies, subversive methods in my opinion should be revolutionary in terms of problem solving as well as being productive and efficient, the human centered focus in my opinion should be an essential for any organisation and these models fulfil the natural principles of problem solving with design but not the Human centered focus that should be embedded into all aspects professional practice.

Diagram create by me, showing the core principles of the Lean startup model.

References

Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T. (2013) Lean thinking: Banish waste and create wealth in your corporation. London, United Kingdom: Simon & Schuster.

Gothelf, J. and Seiden, J. (2013) Lean UX: Applying lean principles to improve user experience. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.

Lumiaho, M. (2014) Don Norman’s thoughts on designing for the digital age — Futurice. Available at: http://futurice.com/blog/don-normans-thoughts-on-the-creation-of-digital-services (Accessed: 28 November 2016).