ux meets agile development in caringbridge 5.0

www.caringbridge.org

UX Meets Agile Development in CaringBridge 5.0

January 10, 2013

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About CaringBridge.

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Our mission.To amplify the love, hope and compassion in the world, making each health journey easier.

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Our history

• CaringBridge is a nonprofit founded in 1997• First and most widely used “caring” social network• Funded by a grateful, engaged community

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We offer multiple ways to care

CaringBridge Sites

Post health updates and receive support.

SupportPlannerOrganize day-to-day support and other helpful tasks

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Where our heart is

• Available at no cost

• Protected from intrusive advertising

• Multiple privacy settings to everyone’s needs

• Available online 24/7, accessible to anyone, anywhere

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“My original idea was simple. I wanted to connect family and friends facing a health challenge with loved ones, because care and concern can be transformative and healing.”

Sona Mehring, CaringBridge Founder & CEO

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Half a million people connect through CaringBridgeeach day.

That’s a lot of love.

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We’re everywhere

CaringBridge can be accessed through any online or mobile connection.

Mobile websiteiPhone and Android apps provide easy access to loved ones on the go.

NotificationsFamily and friends may receive an email or text message when a new journal entry is made.

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Our impact

• More than 500,000 people connect through CaringBridge every day.

• 46 million people visited CaringBridge.org in 2012.

• More than 408,000 Sites and SupportPlanners have been created since the organization was founded in 1997.

• More than 118,000 families and individuals made a charitable gift to CaringBridge in 2012.

• More than 1,100 volunteers

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Spread the word.

Show caring for others.

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Amplify love, hope and compassion

• Tell someone about CaringBridge

• Start a Site or SupportPlanner for someone whoneeds support

• Connect with CaringBridge via Facebook or Twitter

• Become an Amplifier (amplifierhub.caringbridge.org)

• Support the mission by donating (caringbridge.org/donate)

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Meet the UX Team.

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UX Team

Josh CarrollUX Analyst

Grant NoveyUI Designer

Caryn PagelVisual Designer

Bridget SuddendorfUI Designer

Tammy AblanUX Manager

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User Experience at CaringBridge

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UX meets Agile Development in CaringBridge 5.0

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Agenda

1. CaringBridge Today

2. CaringBridge 5.0 Demo

3. Project Kickoff

4. The Sprint and UX Activities

5. Lessons Learned

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CaringBridge Today

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http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/joshctest1


CaringBridge 5.0 Demo

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http://cbnetdev.caringbridge.org/visit/novey


Project Kickoff

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Defined Agile

• 2 week sprints• Focus on solving a problem • Collaborate• Be flexible• Little up front documentation

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http://cbnetdev.caringbridge.org/visit/novey


Develop a Project Charter

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Project Charter (continued)

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A Few of Our Project Goals

• Deliver a working prototype by 10/19 that includes a user experience across multiple devices.

• Be innovative • Be "open" internally - clear, creative and consistent

communication with CB staff (e.g. video blog)

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Ideation Clearinghouse

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• Facilitator drives the activity• Focus on a problem• As many iterations as you’d like; let the group decide• 8 minute time box• 2 minute round robin critique• 5 minute retrospective

Our process



Results

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Defined Roles

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Defined Workspace

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Defined Documentation

Wiki and style guide


Innovation Station

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Internal Micro Site

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Time to Sprint

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What did we do?

• Design Studio• Personas• User Stories• User Scenarios• Cross-functional Pairing• Formative User Research (Usability)• Documentation

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Design Studio

Leverage team’s knowledge and creativity


Design Studio

• Facilitator drives the activity• Focus on a problem• 3-4 iterations; last iteration is a group sketch• 8 minute time box• 2 minute round robin critique• 5 minute retrospective

Our process

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Design Studio

Results: a shared vision

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Patty Patient

“Having cancer changes your perspective on what’s important – the way you view life. CaringBridge has allowed me to focus on getting better and has provided me the support I need.”

Bio OverviewAge: 51

Education: High School degree and some college credits

Occupation: Receptionist at St. Charles Humane Society

HH Income: $25,000

Family: Divorced with two adult children (Sara and Melody) and a dog (Rutabaga)

Residence: St. Charles, IL

Hobbies: taking care of animals of all kinds (loves dogs)

Technology Usage

• Not very “tech savvy” – just enough to get by for work, home (though not scared by technology)

• Has a cell phone, but only uses it sporadically

• Dial-up Internet access

Patty’s SituationPatty was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. She was stunned, as she hadn’t been sick a day in her life before that. Her prognosis is good, and her CaringBridge website has helped her cope with the situation as she begins her journey towards wellness.

Patty’s Needs To get well and feel “normal” again To feel loved and supported by friends and family To respond to all of the “well wishes”, questions and notes from friends and family Help getting everyday things done, from doctor’s visits to household chores To spend time on “stuff that matters” – reunited friendships, her faith, and of course familyPatty’s StoryFebruary 16, 2009 is the day that Patty’s life changed forever – she recalls it vividly. “I found a lump in my breast a few weeks earlier and was waiting for the test results. When my oncologist told me I had breast cancer, I was dumbfounded. I hadn’t been sick a day in my life, I thought there must be some mistake.” (continued, p. 2)

Personas

1/10/2013 www.caringbridge.org

Patty Patient

“Having cancer changes your perspective on what’s important – the way you view life. CaringBridge has allowed me to focus on getting better and has provided me the support I need.”

Bio OverviewAge: 51

Education: High School degree and some college credits

Occupation: Receptionist at St. Charles Humane Society

HH Income: $25,000

Family: Divorced with two adult children (Sara and Melody) and a dog (Rutabaga)

Residence: St. Charles, IL

Hobbies: taking care of animals of all kinds (loves dogs)

Technology Usage

• Not very “tech savvy” – just enough to get by for work, home (though not scared by technology)

• Has a cell phone, but only uses it sporadically

• Dial-up Internet access

Patty’s SituationPatty was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. She was stunned, as she hadn’t been sick a day in her life before that. Her prognosis is good, and her CaringBridge website has helped her cope with the situation as she begins her journey towards wellness.

Patty’s Needs To get well and feel “normal” again To feel loved and supported by friends and family To respond to all of the “well wishes”, questions and notes from friends and family Help getting everyday things done, from doctor’s visits to household chores To spend time on “stuff that matters” – reunited friendships, her faith, and of course family

Patty’s StoryFebruary 16, 2009 is the day that Patty’s life changed forever – she recalls it vividly. “I found a lump in my breast a few weeks earlier and was waiting for the test results. When my oncologist told me I had breast cancer, I was dumbfounded. I hadn’t been sick a day in my life, I thought there must be some mistake.” (continued, p. 2)

Bio stats may be outdated

Get educated about her health conditions

Connect with people in similar situations

Technology may be out of date

1/10/2013 www.caringbridge.org


Customer Experience Maps

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User Scenarios

Vince wants to be able to help Patty, but doesn’t want to bother Patty or Abby by calling them. He follows Patty’s community on CaringBridge to see how she’s doing, but he’s not comfortable leaving a long guestbook message. He wants to help Patty out in tangible ways, but only if he knows what she needs.

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User Stories

Experience/outcome focused


User Stories

• Focus on a problem• Explore the range of possible solutions• Generate user stories• Break down the story / scenario based• Focus on thin slices

Our process

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Cross-Functional Pairing

Continuous ideation, production, & feedback

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Cross-Functional Pairing

• Wireframe/sketch to code• Focus on functionality and

usability, not design• UX and software engineer’s

unite

Our process

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Iterative Usability Testing

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Other User Research

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Trailing Documentation

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Page Tables

• Business rules• QA testing requirements• Page metrics• Event tracking

requirements• Open graph meta tags

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Lessons Learned

• Be realistic with what can be accomplished in a sprint• Do user testing every sprint• Every team activity needs a strong facilitator• Establish critique guidelines• Do a retrospect every sprint and follow through on

feedback

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Agile References

UIE Podcast “Anders Ramsay – Applying Agile Values to

UX”: www.uie.com/brainsparks/2012/01/11/anders-ramsay-applying-agile-values-to-ux/

Anders Ramsay write about Agile and UX frequently at:

AndersRamsay.com

Agile Dictionary: agiledictionary.com

Agile Manifesto: agilemanifesto.org

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Thank You

UI Designer

Grant Novey

[email protected]

@gdnovey

UX Research Analyst

Josh Carroll

[email protected]

@joshcarroll01

UX Manager

Tammy Ablan

[email protected]

@tammyablan

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ux meets agile development in caringbridge 5.0

Technology

caringbridge website

history caringbridge

caringbridge today2

caringbridge today1102013

minute retrospective

minute time box

ux activities5

project charter