The User Story concept was invented almost 20 years ago, it’s time for an update. This outdated process supports an old way of working focused on predictable requirements delivery instead of product discovery. Wouldn’t you like to know much earlier which features are not going to be valued by your market? We need techniques that shorten the feedback loop with customers, not stakeholders. We need to prioritize based on riskiest assumptions and iterate quickly through small experiments in order to (in)validate our ideas as fast as possible.

1. David Hawks
@austinagile
User Stories Suck

2. User Stories Suck
David Hawks, Founder and Chief Agilist of Agile Velocity
Welcome!

3. North Dallas Agile Product Owners
Our goal is to create a community of Product Owners
that develop and improve knowledge and skills by
sharing and discussing tools, tricks, and experiences
as well as providing help and recommendations to
each other.

4. A Big “Thank You” to our Sponsors

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6. The idea of "agile transformation" sounds large and overwhelming.
Let's chat about the 12 agile principles and how they can be applied,
regardless of methodology or framework.
Lesley Wallace is an Agile Coach, Scrum
Master, and quality advocate working at
Slalom Dallas with over 15 years of
experience in improving the customer
experience.

7. Zoom Recommendations
• Please use a headset
• Mute Frequently
• Cameras On
• Configure with
Chat window

8. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
David Hawks
@austinagile
david@agilevelocity.com
Executive Agile Coach & Trainer

9. AgileVelocity.com | 512.298.2835 | info@AgileVelocity.com
Breakout Rooms
Technology Today
Virtual Canvas

14. Sticky
Note
Team
Area
Zoom In

15. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
• Go to link pasted in zoom chat to access the mural.
• We are going to send you into break out rooms and you are going to find
your team play area based on the number assigned to your Zoom room
• Add a sticky note by dragging from the side pallet into your area at the top
and add your name
• Introduce yourself to each other (Name, Company, Top COVID Coping
Mechanism)
MURAL INTRO ADD NAME
Breakout for 4 minutes

16. AGILE VELOCITY
THE PATH TO AGILITY®
Our proven transformation framework
Align
Accelerate
Adapt
Predict
Learn
Chaos & Resistance
Integration &
Practice
New Status Quo
Status Quo

18. Agile = Shorten
the Feedback
Loop
But, to Who?

19. Delivery Focus
• Agile
• Scrum
• SAFe
• Predictability
• Velocity
• Test Automation
• Continuous Integration
• DevOps
• User Stories

20. Build
Feedback?
Idea
Product

21. How do you
know you are
building the
right thing?

22. When do you
find out if you
are right?

23. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
PRODUCT FEEDBACK CYCLE

24. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
NORDSTROM VIDEO DISCUSSION
Breakout for 6 minutes

25. It is a
Requirement
Dammit!

26. 64% of the
features we build in
the software
industry are Rarely
or Never Used!

27. Discovery
• Lean Startup
• User Story Mapping
• Design Thinking
• Lean UX
• Experiment Driven

28. Build
Idea
Product
Measure
Learn
Data

29. Build
Idea
Product
Measure
Learn
Data
The Goal is to
Shorten the
Learning Cycle

30. Experimentatio
nObjective
Explore baked-in assumptions and
define them as testable hypotheses
• “10% of all free version users will convert to paid.”
• “If we provide this feature, then 25% more will buy our service.”
• “Non-gluten recipes take more than 30 minutes to find.”
• “90% of parents want an easy way to share photos.”
Experiments
Design smallest
experiment(s) to test the
highest-priority
hypothesis
Hypotheses
Define the business
goal

31. © Copyright Agile Velocity, LLC All Rights Reserved
OKR Format
Objective: _____________________
• Key Result 1: ________________
• Key Result 2: ________________
• Key Result 3: ________________

32. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
OBJECTIVES
Breakout for 7 minutes

33. Turn your Requirement
into a Hypothesis
If we do X then Y% of customers will
behave in way Z

34. © Copyright Agile Velocity, LLC All Rights Reserved
Hypothesis
If we do _____________,
then ___________% of customers
will behave ___________

35. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
WRITE HYPOTHESES
Breakout for 6 minutes

36. Types of Experiments
Concierge MVP
User Observation
A/B Test
Wizard of Oz
Paper Prototype

37. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
MATCH GAME
Breakout for 3 minutes

38. Paper Prototyping

39. Explainer Video

40. Facade

41. © Copyright Agile Velocity, LLC All Rights Reserved
Experiment
Build the absolute minimum required to test
your hypothesis, as fast as possible
• Measure real behavior
• Don’t just confirm, learn
• Include ways to capture surprises

42. AgileVelocity.com | 512.298.2835 | info@AgileVelocity.com
Breakout for 4 minutes

43. AgileVelocity.com | 512.298.2835 | info@AgileVelocity.com

44. © Copyright Agile Velocity, LLC All Rights Reserved
Experiment
We believe that [doing this/building this
feature/creating this experience]
for [these people/personas]
will achieve [this outcome].
We will know this is true when we see [this
market feedback, quantitative measure, or
qualitative insight]

45. Delivery
Discovery

46. What ways can you
shorten the
feedback loop in
your product
lifecycle?

47. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
RELATED CONTENT
David Hawks
Executive Agile Coach and Trainer
david@agilevelocity.com
Put a sticky note with your name
and email at the bottom of your
canvas for more info. We will send
you….
! The slides presented today
! Discount Code for virtual CSPO class on May 19th
! A video on a related topic
! An article on Next Level Agile
! A Presentation on Objective-Hypothesis-Experiment
Driven Development

48. PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIALAGILE VELOCITY ACCELERATE AGILITY
AGILE VELOCITY
Learn more about our services & Path to Agility®
Framework
Email us at
info@agilevelocity.com
If you need to work on your foundational practices...
We offer virutal Private Agile Training to help leaders and their employees build a
common base of practices for a successful Agile transformation.
If you need to re-focus...
Our Agile Assessment services will identify gaps, establish a baseline for the
transformation moving forward, and determine key next steps for achieving your
goals.
If you feel stuck mid-transformation...
Our Agility Tune-up service is customized to target the most pressing challenges or
sticking points that are keeping your teams from achieving desired outcomes.
If you need ongoing support during your transformation...
Our Agile Transformation services are based on our Path to Agility® Transformation
framework, helping organizations build the capabilities needed to achieve desired
business goals with confidence.

49. © Copyright Agile Velocity, LLC All Rights Reserved
Sources
• Gothelf, Jeff (2013-02-22). Lean UX: Applying
Lean Principles to Improve User Experience (p.
20). O'Reilly Media
• Moves the Needle, Brant Cooper

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