Taking Control of Agile UX

In 10 hours: Tame the chaos and take control of Agile UX.

The biggest irony of the shift to Agile is that it’s exactly what the UX world has been seeking for years. Yet, now that it’s here and it seems we’re wholly unprepared for it.

Now that the tables have turned and developers are ready to iterate quickly, our standard UX toolbox feels inadequate for the task. Sure, we can squeeze all of our design work into some sort of “sprint zero” phase, but that just seems to get people upset because it reinvents big-design-up-front, something the Agile movement is desperately trying to get us away from.

Our challenge is to learn what we can about this Agile world and start to adapt to it. We have to cut our designs into chunks while ensuring that it feels like a coherent, well-thought-out design after all the pieces fit together. Unfortunately, Agile doesn’t help us with this. Primarily because Agile was not conceived with a UX component—we’re on our own for this one.

UX and Agile are not natural enemies.
Let’s stop treating them that way.

Get your teams off of the code‑delivery treadmill.

Transform your Agile UX process to deliver true value and innovation to your users and customers.

Imagine 5 days where you:

Unearth new thinking for pushing beyond the constraints of Agile.
Work through the major weak spots in both Agile and UX, one at a time.
Explore the skillsets, toolsets, and mindsets behind successful Agile UX execution.
Reframe your Agile efforts to deliver value, not just code.
Transform your team’s “definition of done” to be human-centered.
Recast KPIs to be UX outcomes instead of delivery outputs.

At the end of these 5 days, you’ll see the path to taking control of your Agile process. You’ll see how:

Your Agile teams will know more about their users. As a result, they’ll make every decision with their users in mind.
You’ll know how to describe and measure the delivery of value. Allowing your teams to use that new understanding of value as their ultimate delivery goal.
You’ll build up your teams’ research capabilities. That research will drive innovation. Users and customers will delight at the superpowers you’ll deliver into their hands. This is what happens when you take control of Agile UX. This is how you tame the chaos and deliver better results.

How the Take Control of Agile UX intensive works.

Between Monday, July 19 and Friday, July 23, you’ll spend 10 hours diving deep with Jared Spool, to explore how to make Agile and UX work together flawlessly.

You’ll attend the session times that works best for you and your team: 2pm ET (18.00 GMT) or 7pm ET (23.00 GMT)?

At 2pm each day, Jared Spool will introduce that day’s topic in a live discussion.

At 7pm, we’ll host a Watch Party, and Jared will follow with a live Q&A.

Here’s the topic for each day:

Reframe Agile to Deliver Great UX - Monday, July 19
Use UX Research to Drive the Meaning of “Done” - Tuesday, July 20
Establish UX Metrics for Agile - Wednesday, July 21
Build Your Agile Team’s UX Capabilities - Thursday, July 22
Inspire Your Agile Teams with What Users Truly Need - Friday, July 23

Don’t miss these Bonus Sessions:

The Mindset Shifts Your Stakeholders Will Need for Successful Agile UX - Monday, July 26
Scaling User Research: A Q&A with Fidelity’s Jen Cardello - Tuesday, July 27

Each session builds on the next. So don’t miss a moment . (We’ll post recordings shortly after each session, but your best bet is to catch it live.)

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Do the work and tame the chaos.

Roll up your sleeves. Start taking control immediately.

Jared will give you assignments to assess your Agile and UX processes. You’ll identify weak spots and make plans for the changes your teams need.

We’ll review your assignments at the Implementation and Inspiration Sessions. Discuss your choices with Jared and get insights on your path to success.

Jared leads the Implementation and Inspiration Sessions at 10am ET (14.00 GMT).

Identify Your Agile UX Weak Spots - Tuesday, July 20
Planning Your Research Upgrade - Wednesday, July 21
Identifying Your Key UX Metrics - Thursday, July 22

Jared hosts the Implementation and Inspiration Sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10am ET (14.00 GMT).

Agile UX is a team sport. Bring your team.

This Intensive is, well, intense. It’s dense with new information and ways of thinking about Agile and UX.

You could try to relay the information back to your team, but why play middle-person? Bring the entire team (and your management) to get exposed to all these great ideas at the same time. Work on the assignments together. Plan the critical changes you’ll need as a team.

We guarantee that every session will spur great discussions. You’ll be itching to make immediate changes, before the sessions even end.

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Led by Jared Spool, Maker of Awesomeness.

Everything you learn in this 5-day Intensive comes directly from Jared’s years of working across industries, discovering the best practices for organizations to deliver well-designed products and services.

His experience, working with design leaders of organizations like IBM, NASA, GE, Fidelity Investments, GM, Exxon Mobil, and the Obama White House, has taught him exactly what teams need to integrate Agile with UX successfully.

You’ll love his stories, his ability to demonstrate every point with a simple, concrete example, and his comically adorable attempts at trying to draw out his ideas. (You can’t fault him for trying, though.)

Most importantly, you’ll love how much smarter you always feel after spending a few minutes absorbing his experience-informed wisdom. Don’t pass up this opportunity to glean everything you can from Jared.

Get all of the details when you join us for our Take Control of Agile UX intensive.

Whatever is challenging you about your Agile process, you are not alone.

Blending UX into an Agile environment won’t happen by itself. It takes thoughtful work.