Agile User-Centric Frameworks

Goodbye, INVEST Method Agile teams have long relied on the INVEST Method to craft well-defined user stories. It’s a refinement technique that helps teams write Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimatable, Small, and Testable stories. But I don't think INVEST works well in practice anymore. Today’s teams face complex dependencies, cross-team collaboration, and an emphasis on UX, flow, and systems thinking. It’s time to FOCUS on a new method that addresses modern Agile challenges: Flow-Oriented Outcome-Driven Collaborative & Clear Usability-Centric Sustainable & Sliced INVEST Falls Short In complex systems, many stories are dependent on something. Forcing independent stories may lead to splitting work in ways that don’t align with user workflows. Instead, minimize dependencies and deliver thin, end-to-end slices of value. Overly negotiable stories invite waste and rework. Teams debate what to build after the sprint starts instead of achieving consensus beforehand. Not every story has direct business value. Refactors, patches, and infrastructure updates don’t map neatly to user outcomes. And value often emerges only after multiple cohesive stories are released. Instead of forcing stories to be valuable in isolation, align them to business outcomes. Insistence that stories must be estimatable may pressure teams into unreliable guesses. And what about #NoEstimates? Teams are better off using flow-based forecasting and probabilistic methods. Small stories can create fragmentation. Stories must be manageable, but atomizing them can disconnect work from value. Create thin vertical slices, not arbitrary chunks. Testability refers to functional tests, but what about usability, accessibility, and performance? A feature may pass tests but fail real-world adoption. Teams need to think beyond pass/fail and consider UX. FOCUS I propose a new approach aligned with modern Agile practices: F = Flow-Oriented: Optimize end-to-end value delivery, reducing bottlenecks instead of forcing artificial independence. O = Outcome-Driven: Frame stories around business/user outcomes, not just functional reqs. C = Collaborative & Clear: Co-create stories across teams to achieve shared understanding with clear acceptance criteria. U = Usability-Centric: Factor in usability, accessibility, and performance, not just technical functionality. S = Sustainable & Sliced: Right-size stories for sustainable development, emphasizing thin vertical slices over fragmented work. Why FOCUS Works FOCUS solves challenges like dependencies, UX gaps, and fragmented backlogs. It encourages system thinking over simplistic story breakdowns, aligns with Story Mapping and Flow Metrics, and promotes sustainable delivery - building better, not just shipping faster. Stop INVESTing. Start FOCUSing. INVEST served us well, but it doesn’t address today’s complexities. If your team struggles with fragmented stories, unclear value, and over-reliance on estimation, it’s time to FOCUS.

While auditing content for an Entrepreneurship course at UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture I discovered a secret. The secret to enhanced user-centric innovation: We often get "stuck" with what we're taught, and this sometimes affects how we think. We all learn about Design Thinking as a standalone tool, but there's MUCH MORE to it. Integrating Design Thinking, Lean UX, and Agile methodologies creates a powerful framework for driving user-centric innovation. Here's how it works: → Design Thinking: for deep empathy and problem definition → Lean UX: for rapid prototyping and validation → Agile: for iterative development and delivery ... And what happens when each is missing? • Without Design Thinking = "Misunderstanding" • Without Lean UX = "Wasted Effort" • Without Agile = "Stagnation" Combining these methodologies offers a holistic approach. Concept Exploration + Iterative Experimentation = Needs-and-Pain-point Discovery The initial stages emphasize brainstorming and prioritizing insights, leading to hypothesis formation that guides subsequent experiments. Continuous experimentation allows for the revision of hypotheses based on real user feedback, creating a dynamic loop of learning and adaptation. Here's how to integrate them: 1/ Design Thinking: Start with empathy. Understand your users deeply before defining the problem. 2/ Lean UX: Prototype quickly. Validate your ideas with real users early and often. 3/ Agile: Iterate. Develop in short cycles and adapt based on feedback. As teams build and explore new ideas, they foster collaboration across disciplines, leveraging diverse perspectives to refine solutions. This integrated framework not only enhances the customer experience but also drives sustainable growth. This helps founders ensure they remain competitive and relevant in their respective industries. George Dr. Kelsey Burton Yenni 👀 LESSGO!

💡Combining Design Thinking, Lean UX, and Agile A combination of Design Thinking, Lean UX, and Agile methodologies offers a powerful approach to product development—it helps balance user-centered design with efficient concept validation and iterative product development. 1️⃣ User-centered foundation (Design Thinking): Begin by understanding the needs, emotions, and problems of the end-users. ✔ Start by conducting user research to identify and understand user needs. ✔ Gather insights through direct interaction with users (e.g., through interviews, surveys, etc.). Spend time understanding users' behavior, focusing on "why" rather than "what" they do. ✔ After gathering research, prioritize the most critical user insights to guide your design focus. Create a 2x2 matrix to prioritize insights based on impact (high vs low business impact) and feasibility (easy vs hard to implement) ✔ Begin brainstorming potential solutions based on these prioritized insights and formulate a hypothesis. Encourage cross-functional collaboration during brainstorming sessions to generate diverse ideas. 2️⃣ Hypothesis-driven testing (Lean UX): Lean UX helps quickly validate key assumptions. It fits perfectly between Design Thinking's ideation and Agile's development processes, ensuring that critical hypothesis are validated with users before actual development started. ✔ Formulate a testable hypothesis around a potential solution that addresses the user needs uncovered in the Design Thinking phase. ✔ Conduct experiment—develop a Minimum Viable Product (https://lnkd.in/dQg_siZG) to test the hypothesis. Build just enough functionality to test your hypothesis—focus on speed and simplicity. ✔ Based on the experiment's outcome, refine or revise the hypothesis and repeat the cycle. 3️⃣ Iterative product development (Agile): Once the Lean UX process produces validated concepts, Agile takes over for incremental development. Agile's iterative sprints will help you continuously build, test, and refine the concept. Agile complements Lean UX by providing the structure for frequent releases, allowing teams to adapt and deliver value consistently. ✔ Break down work into small, manageable chunks that can be delivered iteratively. ✔ Embrace iterative development—continue refining your product through iterative build-measure-learn sprints. Keep the user feedback loop tight by involving users in sprint reviews or testing sessions. ✔ Gather user feedback after each sprint and adapt the product according to the findings. Measure user satisfaction and track usability metrics to ensure improvements align with user needs. 🖼️ Design thinking, Lean UX and Agile better together by Dave Landis #UX #agile #designthinking #productdesign #leanux #lean