Ask a UX designer: How did you integrate into your Agile scrum team?
We talked to three creatives at Liberty Mutual about their experience breaking into scrum teams, and what advice they’d give to other designers working to do the same.
Integrating any sort of creative into the Agile framework has long been a black box to solve for scrum teams of all sizes and backgrounds. That’s because the main purpose of Agile is to develop and “ship” software quickly, and traditional Agile doesn’t carve out room for an important function — User Experience (UX). This includes designers, content strategists, and other creatives working to mold the best possible digital experience for its audience.
So how does a UX team member integrate into — and create positive change for — their scrum team?
At Liberty Mutual, we’ve spent the last three years transforming the digital arm of our global retail markets team into the Agile framework. This includes product designers and content strategists on the UX side. The transformation has not been without its bumps, but over time (and through many, many reps) both UX and its counterparts on the development side have been able to come together to create an effective and successful partnership using the Agile model.
We talked to three UX designers at Liberty Mutual to better understand what’s worked to date, what could still use improvements, and what advice they’d give to other UX designers working to break through within their own Agile scrum team…
Question 1:
Prior to Liberty, had you ever worked in an Agile environment before? If so, did that prior experience help you when it came to on-boarding with your team?
Rebecca Safran, Product Designer: “I’ve worked in a pseudo-Agile environment before. At my previous job we started using a Kanban board to track work and had a daily standup but didn’t do any sort of backlog refining, planning, or additional ceremonies. My team handled Agile very loosely, while others followed it strictly by the books. Although I didn’t work in a full Agile manner, it was beneficial to understand the method as well as what some of the terms meant before starting at Liberty.”
Mike Leary, Senior Product Designer: “I did work in Agile, but like most agency life we cherry picked from the Agile ceremonies and didn’t hold tight to the Agile scrum guide. Mostly it was a combination of Kanban and scrum (consisting of standup and some form of planning). It did help with the on-boarding process and helping me really understand the importance of Agile and really commit to it when I came to Liberty.”
Lou Cimaglia, Content Strategist: “I hadn’t worked in an Agile environment before. I came from very traditional office settings — including agency — and never had to integrate into development sprints in the past.”
In summary: While it helps to have a general understanding of the ceremonies prior to joining an Agile team, it’s certainly not required. Each scrum team takes its own unique approach to scrum, and while many companies have borrowed from the Agile framework in one way or another (you’ve likely participated in a daily standup at some point in your career), working “truly” Agile likely means something different from one company (or even team member) to the next.
Question 2:
Describe your early experiences integrating with your Agile squad. What challenges did you face in the beginning, and how did you work to overcome them?
Lou: “In the early stages, a big portion of the job was dedicated to advocacy. To promote the strengths of content strategy, and UX more broadly, took some time. Building trust and making informed recommendations isn’t an overnight process…
“There are still challenges, but the spirit of those challenges has changed entirely. It isn’t about carving out the space to be heard. I like to think my colleagues and partners in development and product appreciate what UX and content strategy can bring to any given project. We have healthy discussions about the direction and strategy of certain features — but more than ever before, we’re peers, and having the best possible outcome for our customers is really all that matters.”
Rebecca: “In the beginning, integrating Agile with my squad was rough… A lot of time was spent defining roles and responsibilities and what that meant in [the terms of our company].
“To get through these challenges, we worked hard to over-communicate, oversimplify and start with the basics. It took a long time but we finally hit our stride as a squad. “
Mike: “Communication is the key to overcoming the challenges. Asking questions, sharing and looking for insight was the right recipe for success. With that openness comes trust. Which is another integral part of Agile.”
In summary: Communication — especially when you’re developing your scrum team and creating relationships — is key to building trust and, ultimately, team success. Work to ensure that you’re not only clearly communicating your role on the team, but also be sure to listen — and be open to — the differing perspectives of your team members. This will help your team create a safe space to challenge one another respectfully, be it in retro or otherwise, and will help your team do better work in the long run.
Question 3:
When did you notice the cross-functional partnership between UX and development really hit its stride within the Agile framework?
Rebecca: “I think we noticed a shift when we launched our second new product page. Getting the first one out was a challenge, but to know we could do it again (and in an even shorter time) proved that we made progress.”
Mike: “It was when I realized we were functioning in a lean Agile structure. It was during a meeting when a developer doubted if he had enough info to move forward; we had been white-boarding as a team but didn’t have the final designs. I reassured him through a working session to trust me and that when he needed more info, we would work together to complete it. He trusted me and we moved forward together working in a lean direction, which allowed him the freedom to advance and gave us the time to get it right.”
In summary: You may have a “Eureka!” moment on your scrum team, or it may be more of a gradual improvement that takes shape over several weeks or months (or longer!). Be patient, continue to instill trust in your team when you can, and eventually the work (and the time to market) will reflect your team’s overall improvements.
Question 4:
Any pros or cons (or “gotchas”) you’d like to highlight for UX designers new to Agile? What final advice would you give for Agile newbies breaking into their scrum teams?
Rebecca: “The pros? I’d say visibility into current and future work, structure, cross-functional collaboration… I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting.
“Agile cons can include the number of meetings (especially if you’re spread across multiple teams), and at times the velocity and speed of sprint cycles… Again, I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting.
“My advice: There will be a lot of growing pains but you’ll get there. Communicate and then communicate more!”
Mike: “I like the autonomy and the constant communication. I think by spreading the responsibility out it not only eliminates the propensity to fail but also allows everyone to share in a common vision.
“One con is that you may work with team members who don’t function as well in an autonomous structure. We’re all different!”
Lou: Pros: Fail fast, test everything, and remove ego completely.
Cons: Working fast is great, but sometimes a creative is used to having a bit more time to come up with the ‘perfect’ solution. Obviously, this isn’t feasible, but pushing something out the door before you think you’ve explored every creative option can cause a bit of friction.
My advice: I think all UX designers should buy into the concept of servant leadership. We work so hard to ground ourselves in the needs of our customers, and we’re fortunate to have so much data to pull from. It’s on us to share that knowledge with our teammates, and find thoughtful ways to make their lives easier.
In summary: The same factors that make Agile appealing to enterprise initiatives interested in digital transformation — time to market, ability to fail fast, and training team members to become “T-shaped” — can also be the ones that present the most common day-to-day challenges for UX designers and developers alike.
In the end, don’t forget your original mission — to provide the user with the best possible experience, no matter what you’re working on. By staying true to that goal, you’ll develop your own unique ways to work within your squad and ensure your work is valued, understood, and — perhaps most important in the Agile world — shippable. ;)
