Targeted Content and the Agile Whole Team Approach

Alyssa Fox@afox98

© 2014 NetIQ Corporation. All rights reserved.2 @afox98

The Old Way of Doing Scrum

DevelopmentQE

ID

• Disparate visions

• Dev estimates only

• Separate responsibilities

• Tasks divided among sprints

Flickr: Michele Massetani

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Done

vs.

Done Done

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The New Way of Doing Scrum

• Shared vision

• Dev, QE, and ID estimates

• Shared responsibilities

• Tasks for all areas in same sprint

Flickr: Lawrence Sinclair

© 2014 NetIQ Corporation. All rights reserved.5 @afox98

Not Done

vs.

Done

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flickr: freepik.com

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Targeted ContentBest Practices• Start with the minimum information a user needs.

• Provide what the user needs to know, not what you know.

• Describe why you would use a feature or perform a task with the software, and relate that information back to users’ goals.

– User story acceptance criteria helps by defining the user’s goal.

– Keep the overall big picture in mind.

• Add graphics and screenshots where relevant and useful.

• Assume the user has knowledge appropriate for their jobs.

• Let the UI speak for itself; don’t repeat the obvious.

• Content comes first, process comes second.

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New Role = Higher Quality and More Targeted Content

• Help define acceptance criteria.

• Include ID estimates in planning.

• Perform UI reviews and usability tests.

• Solicit feedback in sprints.

• Run test cases.

• Participate in backlog grooming.

flickr: victoriabernal

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Swarming

Flickr: Lawrence Sinclair

flickr: kosare

“It’s better to have 80% of the features 100% done, instead of having 100% of the features 80% done.”

~Oleksi Derkatch

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Zero Bug Tolerance

Flickr: Lawrence Sinclair

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Benefits of Whole Team Approach

• Improves teamwork

• Increases quality

• Reduces lower-value documentation

• Gets UI strings and workflows right the first time

• Allows more time for targeted user assistance

• Improves understanding of users, so improves assistance when addressing their pain points

Flickr: Lawrence Sinclair

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References

• Internal NetIQ presentations, Susan Tacker.• “Are You a Whole Team?” http://www.infoq.com/articles/whole-team• “Play Soccer, not Football: How to Foster a Whole-Team Approach by

Thinking in Activities Rather than Roles,” Matt Philip. http://mattphilip.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/play_soccer_not_football-agile-and-beyond.pdf

• Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams, Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory. (http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Testing-Practical-Guide-Testers/dp/0321534468/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391386425&sr=8-1&keywords=lisa+crispin)

• Innolution Product Owner Training, Kenny Rubin. http://innolution.com/training/product-owner-training

• “How Swarming Helps Agile Teams to Deliver,” Ben Linders. http://www.infoq.com/news/2013/02/swarming-agile-teams-deliver

• “The Whole Team Approach to Software Quality,” Ed Spire. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55047326/WHOLE%20team%20approach%20to%20quality.pptx

• “The Whole Team Approach in Practice,” Lisa Crispin. http://lisacrispin.com/2011/04/26/the-whole-team-approach-in-practice/