In late 2015, we set up Atlassian Atlab: a low-budget customer research space that tightly integrates into the Agile sprint process. What began as an experiment quickly became an indispensable part of our company’s design process. Atlab is now international, run in all of our offices, gathering input from about 200 customers every month. In this talk, we will teach you why agile research is a crucial part of building great customer experiences, how to create stakeholder buy-in for your efforts, best practices for conducting research, and what to do with your findings. We will also teach you how to set up your very own Atlab. Warning: it’s very cheap, and easier than you may expect! Products covered: JIRA Software, JIRA Core, JIRA Service Desk, Confluence, HipChat, Bitbucket, Bamboo, Fisheye / Crucible, Portfolio for JIRA

1. GEORGIE BOTTOMLEY
UX RESEARCH • ATLASSIAN
@BOTTOMLEY_G
How Atlassian’s user
research went agile
(and so can yours)
BECKY WHITE
UX RESEARCH • ATLASSIAN
@BECKYWHITE11

3. What we’ll cover today
Agile research Atlassian’s research lab Do-it-yourself guide

4. User ResearchAgile

13. Agile user research

14. Sydney Research Calendar
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Server Design Confluence Confluence Mobile
JIRA Service Desk JIRA JIRA Mobile
Repeat!
Week One
Week Two

15. Save moneySave time
Benefits of research, according to PMs
Build the right
thing

16. Let’s go back
1 year ago

17. We had loads of
quantitative data, but
little qualitative data
Interaction with
customers was
limited and silo-ed
Research was difficult
to execute, wasn’t
repeatable
Problems

23. Expensive!
Sometimes takes months
In-depth
Usually hire outside firm
$0 - $800
2 weeks
‘Just enough’
Anyone can do it
Traditional
Research
Agile Research in
Atlab

25. ““Seeing users confused was somewhat frustrating, but I
saw the value in our assumptions failing— better to fail
while prototyping than in production. You gotta get
excited about hearing things you don't want to hear.”
- Atlassian developer

26. Atlab today

28. Now, we speak with
customers each month!
150+

30. Cloud

31. JIRA Mobile App v1
Activity Feed
Filter by ‘Recent’
or ‘Important’

32. JIRA Mobile App today
My tasks
Boards

37. Hipchat

38. Hipchat MultiOrg - Status Icons
Jacob Sordon
Bobby Jackson 1
Ann Gordon
Angela Daniels 4
Samantha Castro
Nancy Newman
Christina Miller
Robert, Christina, Nan…5
Lawrence James
Benjamin McCoy
PEOPLE
AD3 Spike
Gone fishing 13
Parents anonymous
Front deskers
ROOMS
Atlassian
Search
Ann Gordon 11:49 PM
I think we need to reign in the colour a bit, try make these closer to our colour ratios.
Lawrence James 11:48 PM
@chriller holy shit that looks good! I think the guy on the top is using 24kt gold paint!
Matt Skoog 11:48 PM
oh wow! I really love the style.
Christina Miller 11:46 PM
upload.png
249K
Christina Miller 11:42 PM
@pizza Have you seen the new illustration? Let me track it down right quick.
Plan here: https://extranet.atlassian.com/display/ADG3/ADG+3+Spike+2
ADG 3 Spike
Send a message
Today, Wednesday, Jul 6, 2016
MultiOrg
Sidebar
Ann Gordon 11:49 PM
I think we need to reign in the colour a bit, try make these closer to our colour
ratios.
Lawrence James 11:48 PM
@benjamin holy shit that looks good! I think the guy on the top is using 24kt
gold paint!
Benjamin McCoy 11:46 PM
upload.png
249K
Benjamin McCoy 11:42 PM
@pizza Have you seen the new illustration? Let me track it down right quick.
Matt Skoog 11:48 PM
oh wow! I really love the style.
Plan here: https://extranet.atlassian.com/display/ADG3/ADG+3+Spike+2
ADG 3 Spike
Links
Files
4
Members
Jacob Sordon
Bobby Jackson 1
Ann Gordon
Angela Daniels 4
Samantha Castro
Nancy Newman
Christina Miller
Robert, Christina, Nan…5
Lawrence James
Benjamin McCoy
PEOPLE
ADG 3 Spike
Gone fishing 13
Parents anonymous
Front deskers
ROOMS
Atlassian
Search historyChatsSearch

39. Hipchat MultiOrg - Status Icons
What do these icons mean to you?
Why are these different?
13
AD3 Spike
Lawrence James
AD3 Spike
Lawrence James
AD3 Spike
Lawrence James
13
13
This one…
This one…
This one…
This one…
This one…
This one…
What do these states indicate to you?
13

40. Hipchat MultiOrg - Status Icons

42. “JIRA is complex!”

44. Visit the Design Feedback
Zone
by the food court
Sign up for Atlassian’s Design
Feedback Group
atlassian.com/user-research
You can participate too:

45. DIY time

46. Find a space + equipment
1

47. Find a space + equipment
1

48. All you need: Nice to have:
Conference room
Laptop with front-facing
camera & microphone
Recording software
Additional conference room
for colleagues to observe
External monitor
Keyboard and mouse
Webcam
Microphone
Document camera (for apps and
tactile activities)
$0 (likely) < $150

49. Invite participants
2

50. engaging subject line

51. description of study

52. where, when, how long

53. incentive amount ($$)

54. link to self-sign up

55. Create your discussion guide
3

56. WARM-UP QUESTIONS (10-15 MINS)
INTRODUCTION (10 MINS)
BODY OF THE SESSION (20-30 MINS)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS (5-10 MINS)
Research session structure:
INCENTIVE + GOODBYE (5 MINS)

57. Test your work!
4

58. Analyze and communicate your findings
5

59. 1. Find a space + equipment
2. Invite participants
3. Create discussion guide
4. Test your work!
5. Analyze and communicate
findings

60. bit.ly/atlassian-atlab

61. Agile Research
• Saves time, money and
sanity
• Continuous iteration,
continuous research!
• Different research
methods at each
stage

62. • Quick results
• 24hours to create
• Whole team
involved

63. DIY Guide
• Reference guide
• Can likely use
equipment on-
hand
• 5 simple steps

66. • Big cool statistic
• 2,56
9
• Add-Ons in Marketplace
Final thoughts

67. Thank you!
GEORGIE BOTTOMLEY
UX RESEARCH • ATLASSIAN
@BOTTOMLEY_G
BECKY WHITE
UX RESEARCH • ATLASSIAN
@BECKYWHITE11