Note: This is the first post in a series covering how the principles of Agile and Lean can benefit mission-driven organizations, and how Exygy applies them in practice.

 

A Sad Story

Here’s a story that’s all too familiar: a non-profit approaches a design agency with a concept for a web app that they hope will help the population they serve be happier, healthier, better informed, better connected or more fulfilled. They have a number of different features in mind that they believe will be important to their users, and have a moderate budget to work with. There is the potential for follow-on funding if the project goes well. The design firm takes the concept and runs with it. Over the next 6-12 months, they build out a website that is well crafted, intuitively designed and incorporates all of the features that were originally proposed. The client is ecstatic, and has a big launch that garners some positive media attention. And then… nothing happens. A few weeks go by, a few users trickle in and poke around, and then move on. There is a palpable sense of disappointment as the team goes back to drawing board to try and figure out what went wrong.

At Exygy, Agile and Lean are two important tools that we use to avoid “misses” like in the story above. As a design and development agency that works with many mission-driven organizations, we believe that our ultimate role is to support our clients in making the positive impact they want to make. We think that this means engaging with our clients early during strategy and discovery, and using a flexible, iterative approach to product design that keeps end-users front and center throughout the process.

 

What is Lean?

Lean Startup and Lean UX constitute an iterative approach to product development that emphasizes validated learning as a primary unit of progress. Each iteration involves three primary steps: build -> measure -> learn. During the build phase the goal is to start by building as little as possible, often in the form of an “MVP” (minimum viable product) in order to learn as much as possible about users or customers.

For non-profits and social enterprises, this means building regular user feedback into the development process in order to continuously test key hypotheses about what will best fulfill the needs of the population being served. It may also mean making a small or not-so-small change in direction if/when new information is uncovered that disproves previously held assumptions. By testing early and often, there is a greater chance of catching a fundamental product-user misalignment before it gets out of control.

 

What is Agile?

Agile is a collection of software development principles that emphasize frequent delivery, short feedback loops, and a rapid and flexible response to change. SCRUM, the version of Agile that Exygy’s process is based on, is highly complementary to lean because it breaks the over-all design and development effort into smaller “sprints” that each last a week or two. At the end of each sprint the client reviews the work that has been completed, and there is a collaborative re-prioritization of features for the upcoming sprint based on any new information or user feedback that has been collected. For non-profits and social enterprises, this continuous process of re-alignment ensures that the final product achieves the social or environmental impact that it was designed for.

 

Next Up: Agile in Practice

In the next post I’ll discuss some of the specifics of Exygy’s approach to Agile, including how we create and prioritize user stories, incorporate user testing, collaborate with clients, and structure our sprints.