User Experience in Agile Development

Product leaders, stop hiding behind docs! If your team is still spending all their time in PRDs and product strategy docs, they're not operating in 2025. AI prototyping has literally changed the game. Here's how teams should do it: — THE OLD WAY (STILL HAUNTS MOST ORGS) 1. Ideation (~5% actually prototyped) “We should build X.” Cool idea. But no prototype. Just a Notion doc and crossed fingers. 2. Planning (~15% use real prototypes) Sketches in Figma. Maybe a flowchart. But nothing a user could actually click. 3. Discovery (~50% try protos) Sometimes skipped. Sometimes just a survey. Rarely ever tested with something interactive. 4. PM Handoff (~5%) PM: “Here’s the PRD.” Design: “Uhh… where’s the prototype?” PRDs get passed around like homework. 5. Design Design scrambles to build something semi-clickable, just so people stop asking “what’s the plan?” 6. Eng Start Engineering starts cold. No head start. They’re building from scratch because nothing usable exists. — WHAT HAPPENS - Loop after loop. Everyone frustrated. - Slow launches. Lots of guesswork. - And no one truly understands the user until it’s too late. — THE NEW WAY (THIS IS HOW WINNERS SHIP) 1. Ideation PMs don’t just write ideas. They prototype them. Want to solve a user problem? Click, drag, test. There. No waiting. No “someday.” You build it, even if it’s ugly. 2. Planning Prototypes are the roadmap. You walk into planning with a live flow, not a list of features. And everyone’s like: “Oh. THAT’S what you meant.” 3. Discovery Real users. Real prototypes. You send them a flow and you watch them break it. You’re not guessing anymore. You’re observing. 4. PM Handoff PMs don’t just hand off docs. They ship working demos alongside the PRD. No more “interpret this paragraph.” Just click and see it work. 5. Design Designers don’t start from scratch. They take what’s already tested, validated, and tweak it. Suddenly, “design time” is “refinement time.” 6. Eng Start Engineers don’t wait around. They start with something usable. If not, they prompt an AI tool to build it. And we’re off to the races. — If you want to see how AI prototyping actually works (and learn from expert Colin Matthews), check out the deep dive: https://lnkd.in/eJujDhBV

Product managers & designers working with AI face a unique challenge: designing a delightful product experience that cannot fully be predicted. Traditionally, product development followed a linear path. A PM defines the problem, a designer draws the solution, and the software teams code the product. The outcome was largely predictable, and the user experience was consistent. However, with AI, the rules have changed. Non-deterministic ML models introduce uncertainty & chaotic behavior. The same question asked four times produces different outputs. Asking the same question in different ways - even just an extra space in the question - elicits different results. How does one design a product experience in the fog of AI? The answer lies in embracing the unpredictable nature of AI and adapting your design approach. Here are a few strategies to consider: 1. Fast feedback loops : Great machine learning products elicit user feedback passively. Just click on the first result of a Google search and come back to the second one. That’s a great signal for Google to know that the first result is not optimal - without tying a word. 2. Evaluation : before products launch, it’s critical to run the machine learning systems through a battery of tests to understand in the most likely use cases, how the LLM will respond. 3. Over-measurement : It’s unclear what will matter in product experiences today, so measuring as much as possible in the user experience, whether it’s session times, conversation topic analysis, sentiment scores, or other numbers. 4. Couple with deterministic systems : Some startups are using large language models to suggest ideas that are evaluated with deterministic or classic machine learning systems. This design pattern can quash some of the chaotic and non-deterministic nature of LLMs. 5. Smaller models : smaller models that are tuned or optimized for use cases will produce narrower output, controlling the experience. The goal is not to eliminate unpredictability altogether but to design a product that can adapt and learn alongside its users. Just as much as the technology has changed products, our design processes must evolve as well.

Ensuring collaboration is central to a product's success during the UX strategy phase begins with uncertainty about where to start. ➡️ It's important to start by integrating resources and knowledge from various areas of expertise. Here's a combined approach on my experience to get a successful results and great user satisfaction rate 1️⃣ Get Smart Early in the Process: Involvement: Bring in PMs, Engineers, Designers, Researchers, and key stakeholders early to gain insights. Understanding: Focus on the "4W's" (Who, What, When, Where), technical impact, and project scope.
 2️⃣ Learn and Explore: Understanding Customer Needs: Identify customer pain points and their actual needs. Analysis and Metrics: Make assumptions, conduct competitive analysis, and define success metrics and current statistics.
 3️⃣ Define Problem: Validation and Conceptualization: Validate the problem, draft high-level concepts, and define hypotheses for testing.
 4️⃣ Design: Concept Creation: Develop low-fidelity (low-fi) concepts and involve researchers for testing. Collaboration: Show concepts to Tech and PMs, and address technical challenges.
 5️⃣ Re-iterate: Feedback and Refinement: Fix the main journey (happy path), take internal and external feedback, and implement changes. Testing: Conduct another round of testing.
 6️⃣ Hand off to Development: Finalization and QA: Design the final prototype, perform QA testing, and ensure all workflows are correct. Cross-Platform Check: Ensure designs are optimized for all viewports. Approval: Get sign-off from all parties before handing over to development.
 7️⃣ Launch and Monitor: Post-Launch Feedback: After launching, gather feedback through success metrics and third-party tools. Client and User Feedback: Seek feedback from real clients and conduct user interviews. Refinement: Address major feedback issues, prioritize, and monitor. Useful Resources ✅ Ux Vision — A vision is an aspirational view of the experience users will have with your product, service, or organization in the future. https://lnkd.in/gPPY-zPJ https://lnkd.in/g8Rc9pzp ✅ Outcome over Outputs — Work towards purposeful outcomes (problems solved, needs addressed, and real benefits) leads to better results. https://lnkd.in/gAFX_Wxw ✅ OKR in UX — Define objectives and measurable key results to guide and track UX work. https://lnkd.in/gDYvreN2 ✅ UX Goal Analytics — Focus on UX goals to drive analytics measurement plans, rather than tracking superficial metrics. https://lnkd.in/g3QmZqBd #UxStrategy #TransitionToUx #UxCoach #BeAvailable

Your research findings are useless if they don't drive decisions. After watching countless brilliant insights disappear into the void, I developed 5 practical templates I use to transform research into action: 1. Decision-Driven Journey Map Standard journey maps look nice but often collect dust. My Decision-Driven Journey Map directly connects user pain points to specific product decisions with clear ownership. Key components: - User journey stages with actions - Pain points with severity ratings (1-5) - Required product decisions for each pain - Decision owner assignment - Implementation timeline This structure creates immediate accountability and turns abstract user problems into concrete action items. 2. Stakeholder Belief Audit Workshop Many product decisions happen based on untested assumptions. This workshop template helps you document and systematically test stakeholder beliefs about users. The four-step process: - Document stakeholder beliefs + confidence level - Prioritize which beliefs to test (impact vs. confidence) - Select appropriate testing methods - Create an action plan with owners and timelines When stakeholders participate in this process, they're far more likely to act on the results. 3. Insight-Action Workshop Guide Research without decisions is just expensive trivia. This workshop template provides a structured 90-minute framework to turn insights into product decisions. Workshop flow: - Research recap (15min) - Insight mapping (15min) - Decision matrix (15min) - Action planning (30min) - Wrap-up and commitments (15min) The decision matrix helps prioritize actions based on user value and implementation effort, ensuring resources are allocated effectively. 4. Five-Minute Video Insights Stakeholders rarely read full research reports. These bite-sized video templates drive decisions better than documents by making insights impossible to ignore. Video structure: - 30 sec: Key finding - 3 min: Supporting user clips - 1 min: Implications - 30 sec: Recommended next steps Pro tip: Create a library of these videos organized by product area for easy reference during planning sessions. 5. Progressive Disclosure Testing Protocol Standard usability testing tries to cover too much. This protocol focuses on how users process information over time to reveal deeper UX issues. Testing phases: - First 5-second impression - Initial scanning behavior - First meaningful action - Information discovery pattern - Task completion approach This approach reveals how users actually build mental models of your product, leading to more impactful interface decisions. Stop letting your hard-earned research insights collect dust. I’m dropping the first 3 templates below, & I’d love to hear which decision-making hurdle is currently blocking your research from making an impact! (The data in the templates is just an example, let me know in the comments or message me if you’d like the blank versions).

One of the biggest challenges in customer experience (CX) initiatives isn't just getting buy-in—it's making sure communication flows seamlessly across different teams to drive meaningful progress. It's not enough to have passionate people involved; it's about aligning everyone around a shared purpose and ensuring that action follows. I see it all the time—CX councils or teams that meet to discuss customer feedback, but the conversation doesn't always translate into real change. It's critical to go beyond just reviewing the numbers. We need to collaborate, co-create, and drive real impact for our customers. So how do we ensure communication within cross-functional teams leads to action? ▶️Structure your meetings to drive progress. If you have cross-functional buy-in, it's essential to manage those meetings effectively. Make sure that everyone understands their role, the goals, and what success looks like. It's not enough to simply review metrics—what are the actions you'll take based on those insights? ▶️Unify efforts across the organization. In many organizations, different teams—like those working on journey mapping and those focused on customer insights—work in silos. We need to bring those efforts together around your customer experience mission, ensuring that all teams are aligned with a shared definition of success. ▶️Be proactive and resourceful. Don't wait for things to fall through the cracks. Be a resource to your team members, follow up, and offer support where needed. This could mean helping a colleague facilitate a journey mapping session or providing customer feedback to help illustrate a challenge. Communication is key, but proactive support is what drives progress forward. When working cross-functionally, the responsibility doesn't end with the meeting. We need to be deliberate about setting expectations, following up on actions, and ensuring everyone understands how their efforts contribute to the larger customer experience mission. Great communication can turn fragmented efforts into unified progress. Let's make sure we're not just talking about customer experience, but working together to make it happen. How do you ensure effective communication across teams in your organization? Drop your process below! #CustomerExperience #CX #CrossFunctionalTeams #Collaboration #Leadership #Communication #CXStrategy #CustomerJourney

Here’s what happens when you have more than two people working on a product and you don’t use an accessible design system: 1) Components look different on every page 2) Color contrast is frequently ignored 3) Developers rebuild every component from scratch 4) Designers use inaccessible patterns 5) Reflow barely works, if it works at all, with objects overflowing and overlapping along with horizontal scrolling and random break points. 6) Because reflow barely works, magnification barely works. 7) Updates to a single component don’t propagate, so fixes for one accessibility issue have to be made in numerous places 8) Disabled users experience different barriers on every page, even when completing the same type of task 9) Required fields and error messages work differently on every form, and everyone thinks the other person is fixing them 10) Accessibility bugs pile up and become too expensive to fix, because nothing was reusable or standardized in the first place 11) Multiple page templates mean increased QA costs An accessible design system isn’t optional once your team grows. It’s the only way to build consistency, reduce duplication, and ensure accessibility doesn’t get overlooked when people assume someone else is handling it. The lack of an accessible design system creates a mountain of tech debt. The longer your organization waits to implement an accessible design system, the more it will cost in effort, headaches, and lost opportunities. #Disability #Accesibility #DesignSystems #Inclusion

They wanted MORE features. I REMOVED 3 instead! Most product “upgrades” are just clutter in disguise. I recently worked on a landing flow where users dropped off hard after step 2. Client’s idea? Add a carousel. Maybe a tooltip. Mine? Strip it bare. We removed 3 things: – A hover-activated FAQ (no one hovered) – A video autoplay (95% bounce rate) – A call-to-action that said “Start exploring” (🤨 what does that even mean?) What we added instead: – A single sentence of clarity. – A big, sexy button. – Trust indicators people actually read. Retention jumped. Clicks doubled. Why? Because good UX isn’t about adding value. It’s about removing friction. Ever fixed a product by deleting it? Let’s talk minimalism that converts #productmanager #product

🎭 Accessibility isn’t just a checkbox. It’s a catalyst for innovation. Last year, I created the first accessible HTML Playbill. This year, I coordinated the Playbill for Oliver! The Musical. And the curb cut effect showed up in full force. On opening night, the printer broke. The next day, the network went down. No printed programs. No network. But because I had already built an accessible HTML version for this show, we had a fast-loading, mobile-friendly program ready to go. I added a QR code, step-by-step instructions, and URLs for folks unfamiliar with QR tech. It loaded quickly on a finicky network and people could view it in low light during the show when it's too dark to see the printed program. The organization later added a QR code to a PDF version. If I could do it again, I’d direct people to the accessible version. At the top of that version, I'd link to the PDF version. This lets people choose between the faster loading page on mobile devices in a building with a poor connection or the full image program. This is the curb cut effect: a solution designed for accessibility that benefits everyone. And it’s also a reminder ... Hire us. Involve us. Disabled people bring lived experience that leads to creative, practical, and inclusive solutions. We don’t just advocate for accessibility. We design and build it. Accessibility isn’t charity. It’s a strategy. Want resilient systems? Involve disabled problem-solvers. If you're a person with a disability or have worked with disabled collaborators, what unexpected value do disabled people bring to the table? Accessibility isn’t just about compliance. It’s about creativity, resilience, and insight. If you’re ready to build smarter, more inclusive systems, drop a comment or DM. 🔔 Tap profile bell (You may need to do it again. LinkedIn reset it.) 👉 Follow #MerylMots for past posts #UserExperience #Accessibility The image shows what the signs looked like: "Oliver! Playbill" with four steps. A box where the QR code appeared and the URL beneath it.

Goodbye, INVEST Method Agile teams have long relied on the INVEST Method to craft well-defined user stories. It’s a refinement technique that helps teams write Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimatable, Small, and Testable stories. But I don't think INVEST works well in practice anymore. Today’s teams face complex dependencies, cross-team collaboration, and an emphasis on UX, flow, and systems thinking. It’s time to FOCUS on a new method that addresses modern Agile challenges: Flow-Oriented Outcome-Driven Collaborative & Clear Usability-Centric Sustainable & Sliced INVEST Falls Short In complex systems, many stories are dependent on something. Forcing independent stories may lead to splitting work in ways that don’t align with user workflows. Instead, minimize dependencies and deliver thin, end-to-end slices of value. Overly negotiable stories invite waste and rework. Teams debate what to build after the sprint starts instead of achieving consensus beforehand. Not every story has direct business value. Refactors, patches, and infrastructure updates don’t map neatly to user outcomes. And value often emerges only after multiple cohesive stories are released. Instead of forcing stories to be valuable in isolation, align them to business outcomes. Insistence that stories must be estimatable may pressure teams into unreliable guesses. And what about #NoEstimates? Teams are better off using flow-based forecasting and probabilistic methods. Small stories can create fragmentation. Stories must be manageable, but atomizing them can disconnect work from value. Create thin vertical slices, not arbitrary chunks. Testability refers to functional tests, but what about usability, accessibility, and performance? A feature may pass tests but fail real-world adoption. Teams need to think beyond pass/fail and consider UX. FOCUS I propose a new approach aligned with modern Agile practices: F = Flow-Oriented: Optimize end-to-end value delivery, reducing bottlenecks instead of forcing artificial independence. O = Outcome-Driven: Frame stories around business/user outcomes, not just functional reqs. C = Collaborative & Clear: Co-create stories across teams to achieve shared understanding with clear acceptance criteria. U = Usability-Centric: Factor in usability, accessibility, and performance, not just technical functionality. S = Sustainable & Sliced: Right-size stories for sustainable development, emphasizing thin vertical slices over fragmented work. Why FOCUS Works FOCUS solves challenges like dependencies, UX gaps, and fragmented backlogs. It encourages system thinking over simplistic story breakdowns, aligns with Story Mapping and Flow Metrics, and promotes sustainable delivery - building better, not just shipping faster. Stop INVESTing. Start FOCUSing. INVEST served us well, but it doesn’t address today’s complexities. If your team struggles with fragmented stories, unclear value, and over-reliance on estimation, it’s time to FOCUS.

Align your UX metrics to the business KPIs. We've been discussing what makes a KPI in our company. A Key Performance Indicator measures how well a person, team, or organization meets goals. It tracks performance so we can make smart decisions. But what’s a Design KPI? Let’s take an example of a design problem. Consider an initiative to launch a new user dashboard to improve user experience, increase product engagement, and drive business growth. Here might be a few Design KPIs with ways to test them: →  Achieve an average usability of 80% within the first three months post-launch. Measurement: Conduct user surveys and collect feedback through the dashboard's feedback feature using the User Satisfaction Score. →  Ensure 90% of users can complete key tasks (e.g., accessing reports, customizing the dashboard) without assistance. Measurement: Conduct usability testing sessions before and after the launch, analyzing task completion rates. →  Reduce the average time to complete key tasks by 20%. Measurement: Use analytics tools to track and compare time spent on tasks before and after implementing the new dashboard. We use Helio to get early signals into UX metrics before coding the dashboard. This helps us find good answers faster and reduces the risk of bad decisions. It's a mix of intuition and ongoing, data-informed processes. What’s a product and business KPI, then? Product KPI: →  Increase MAU (Monthly Active Users) by 15% within six months post-launch. Measurement: Track the number of unique users engaging with the new dashboard monthly through analytics platforms. →  Achieve a 50% feature adoption rate of new dashboard features (e.g., customizable widgets, real-time data updates) within the first quarter. Measurement: Monitor the usage of new features through in-app analytics. Business KPI: → Drive a 5% increase in revenue attributable to the new dashboard within six months. Measurement: Compare revenue figures before and after the dashboard launch, focusing on user subscription and upgrade changes. This isn't always straightforward! I'm curious how you think about these measurements. #uxresearch #productdiscovery #marketresearch #productdesign