Talk I gave at the London Content Strategy Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/content-strategy-london/) sharing some thoughts about using agile (Scrum & Kanban) for content development, largely based around my experience working with the Government Digital Service. The links on the final page are: Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/193796504X/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=193796504X&linkCode=as2&tag=geekmanager-21 Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007P5N8D4?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B007P5N8D4&linkCode=xm2&tag=geekmanager-21

1. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect About
Agile Content Development
Meri Williams
@Geek_Manager

2. I’m a published
author, so I expected
content strategy and
development to be
HARD

3. But I didn’t expect
content strategy &
development to be
able to be AGILE

4. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #1
USER STORIES to be a
great way to define
needs and
requirements for
content too

5. (What’s a User Story?)
As a <type of user>,
I want to <do something>,
So that <some value is
created>.
(should fit on a post-it)

6. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #2
Creativity in the HOW
to be quite so
important.
This was dumb. I KNOW creating good content is
just as hard as writing good code.

7. In Agile…
In Agile, you focus on
defining the WHAT and
the WHY and leave the
HOW to individuals to
define as they deliver.

8. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #3
Requirements to
change and evolve
and not be completely
definable upfront.
Just like in software. *sigh*

9. In Agile…
In Agile, you accept and
embrace ambiguity. All
you really need to be
100% clear on is what is
happening NOW.
You tell the team what you did yesterday, what you’re
going to do today & what’s blocking you.

10. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #4
Design + user research
+ architecture +
content + analytics +
development +
operations to be quite
so …

11. INSEPARABLE

12. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #5
ESTIMATING to be
quite so hard.
How long is a piece of string, exactly?

13. In Agile…
You continually assess how
much you’re delivering and
you get useful metrics from
your burn charts and
backlog.
But it’s still damn hard.

14. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #6
The process of creating,
editing, reviewing and
accepting to fit well into
Scrum and Kanban
approaches.
But in fact, it really worked. Especially Kanban.

15. In Agile…
Kanban* is used as a “pull”
system – stories to be delivered
are on the wall in columns (such
as “Backlog”, “Ready”, “In
Process”, “Done”) and
individuals pull the next story
when ready**.
* Arguably its own methodology, but frequently found
growing near Agile & Scrum
** Whereas in Scrum what will be achieved this “sprint” is
agreed upfront

16. 7 Things I Didn’t Expect: #7
Mixed multi-
disciplinary teams to
be so freaking
AWESOME.

17. Every role is capable
of virtuosity

18. In Agile…
Agile helps create an
environment where each of
your specialists can be truly
amazing, and together
achieve so much more.
Close knit teams mean you understand &
appreciate your peers’ skills in more detail.

19. Sound Interesting?
Suggested reading:
On Amazon.co.uk
For Kindle (only 77p!)