The document discusses the implementation of agile and lean principles in developing modular software for NASA's mission control applications, highlighting the shift from a long delivery cycle to a more iterative approach. It emphasizes the importance of user feedback, participatory design, and continuous integration, resulting in improved customer interaction and faster development cycles. Key practices include regular customer engagement, prioritization of tasks, and minimizing documentation to focus on working code.

1. User Experience
Agile & Lean
for Lean UX SF
Jay Trimble
jtrimble2@gmail.com
NASA Ames Research Center
9-27-12
Thursday, September 27, 12

2. Product Target Environment
• Mission Control for
NASA and
Commercial Space
Missions
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

3. Product Mission
• Develop a modular software architecture for
mission control applications that allows users
to compose their own software using drag
and drop from a single integrated user
environment
• See the results at https://github.com/nasa/mct
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

4. In the Beginning
• Delivery cycle = 6 months
• Customer contact with product unsatisfactory
• Progress measurements uncertain
• Long and formal design specs
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

5. The Long Road
• Four six-
month
deliverables Module 1
• One UE Subsystem1 Subsystem2 Subsystem3 Subsystem4
Spec
6 Months 6 Months 6 Months 6 Months
• We are not
going to get
there from
here
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

6. Time for Changes
• Fix the problems iteratively, without a broad
proclamation of methodology, i.e. “we are
going to be agile” or “we are going to be
“lean”
• Just fix the problems
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

7. Incremental Improvements
• Six week delivery cycle
• Prioritization of work at the start of each six-
week iteration
• User Experience spec for every iteration due
one week before iteration start
• UE testing and design session during coding
period of each iteration
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

8. Almost There
• Better, but still not where we need to be
• Six week iterations are focused on
subsystem capabilities, they lack user-focus
• Customers see progress every six-weeks,
this is not often enough
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

9. Getting Agile
• Deliver to
customer Release to Mission Release to Mission Release to Mission Release to Mission
every 3 Control User Test
Community
Control User Test
Community
Control User Test
Community
Control Ops
weeks
• Nightly Release n
build
Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3 Iteration 4
• Release 3 Weeks 6 Weeks 9 Weeks 12 Weeks
every 3
months
jtrimble2@gmail.com
jay.p.trimble@nasa.gov
Thursday, September 27, 12

10. We’re There
• User-focused iterations
• Customer gives daily feedback using nightly build
• Delivery for feature verification every three-weeks
• Full release every four iterations
• The measure of progress is working code
• Constant customer-design/dev team interaction
• Test features as they rollout using internal QA, get
customer feedback from nightly build
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

11. Agile Development Iteration
Optional Mid-Iteration Feature
Hackathon tests big Freeze Code Freeze
features (-7 days) (-3 days)
Priorities/JIRA Pre-Ship
Rankings Hackathon
Start 24 hour test (-2 day)
Deliver
to customer
3 Weeks Iteration n
Coding
UE & Tech Spec dates driven by coding dependencies
Issue Tracking Updates/Priorities/Rankings
Nightly Build/Internal testing as features roll out
Daily iteration n
Build to Feature mods/additions,
Test User Feedback bug fixes
Customer
Customer
Customer Customer verification Customer triages Optionally, hot
installs
acceptance test of closed JIRA issues issues it discovered patch
iteration n-1
Iteration n+1
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

12. Evolution
Stack Rank UE Spec Deliver
• Discrete Code iteration n
event Design UE Testing iteration n-1 Test
iterations UE Design/Testing Iteration n
Deliver
• Integrated Coding ongoing
iterations UE designs set by UE/dev agreement
Test features at roll-out
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

13. Lean Principles & Our Practice
• Principle • Practice
• Tight collaboration of • Integrated team, shared
UX, Product Mgmt, workspace, morning
Developer tagups, constant
feedback
• Know your customers
and their needs • Participatory Design
• Prioritize to reduce • Stack ranking, constant
wasted effort prioritization, tackle hard
problems first
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

14. Lean Principles & Our Practice
• Principle • Practice
• Focus releases on specific • Each iteration has clearly
user goals defined user-focused goals
• Externalize your ideas and • Shared workspace/lab
your process
• Participatory design, daily
• Test design hypotheses build, customer feature
rapidly and repeatedly verification
• Observing, learning, and • Team de-brief session
adjusting with rapid cycles every release, process
of Think--Make--Check adjustments as needed
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

15. Work Environment
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

16. Design Sessions
• Task flows
• Common mental
model
• Task objects
• UI Objects
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

17. The Customer is part of the Team
• Feature development
• Participatory design, facilitated by
designers, customers part of design team
• Testing
• Feature test at rollout by internal QA,
immediate feedback from customer via
nightly build, customer acceptance at
iteration delivery
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

18. Lessons
• Iterations focused on engineering needs can
provide UE designers a breather
• The train leaves the station at regular intervals.
Features that are ready ship, those that aren’t get
on the next train
• The measure of progress is working code
• Rank issues, always work in order of priority, resist
the urge to do the easy things first
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12

19. Lessons
• Minimize documentation, maximize
customer interaction with the team and the
product
• Keep the state of the product visible always
jtrimble2@gmail.com
Thursday, September 27, 12