High Level UX Project Planning

I just came across an old document I put together for UX work on a project called US Labour App. It is an example of a high level look at timing that was requested and thought it might be useful to share with others. I changed some of the names for non-disclosure reasons.

Plan for US Labour App UX Design

UCD Planning

The planning phase is all about understanding what we have been asked to do and work out the best combination of activities that will give us the outcome we need, within the time, budgetary and resource constraints of the project. It is our job as UX design professionals to deliver the best user experience within the time and budget available.

Phases

These are the phases from start to delivery. UX is involved throughout the process but this plan will mostly be about the first three phases which bring us up to development.

Discovery/research phase. This is where we immerse ourselves in the project to get the background we will need to make design decisions later in the project. During this phase we will learn as much about the organisation’s requirements, objectives, users and competitors as possible.

Design phase. This is where we work out how what we are designing will work and how it will fit together. This phase will define its scope, its features and functionality and how it behaves.

Validation/test phase. This is where we identify whether what we came up with in the design phase actually works with the intended audience. This phase is typically followed by further rounds of design and testing to solve the problems we inevitably find when we test with users. As a side note, development should start setting up environments and preparing.

Sign off phase. This is when designs, wireframes, prototypes and stories for the MVP have reached a satisfactory point of validation and testing. Now they are signed off by the relevant parties. All prototypes, wireframes and stories are made easily available via Rally/Jira. The development sprints can begin.

Agile development phase. This is the development of the MVP. Design is still 100% committed to the project and forms part of the multidisciplinary team tasked with the delivery.

BA at all stages. Throughout this process UX will work closely with the BA. BA input is not only desired, it is vital in such areas as business requirements, scope definition, functionality, testing etc. We will need a full time BA to assigned to the project or team from day one, preferably one with People System experience.

Discovery = 1 day

Understand the product. Kick-off meeting. Get all involved together for the kick off meeting. Who are the stakeholders?

Initial Research = 2 day

Desk bound research based on kick-off meeting. Find out who the competition are in the US too.

Initial User Research and SME interviews = 10 days

Talk to users of UK System. Talk to those who use it now and the target users in future.

Stakeholder Interviews = 3 days

Talk to key individuals within the organisation to understand business requirements.

Competition Study = 3 days

Find out who the US competition are. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Why do people use them?

Understand US Labour/People System = 5 days

Break it down into the key user journeys. See and document the journeys we currently have in UK System. Who does this? What are the goals?

Reflection and Documentation = 1 day

Consider and spit ball findings as a UX team. Document conclusions.

Presentation to the Heads and Board = 1 day

Present findings and share discoveries. This is for the entire project team, heads of and board.

Define the product = 3 days

Big Picture. How is this product broken down? Is it made up of multiple apps? How does it affect the collaboration/login/homepage/dashboard app?
Agree on first steps for prototypes. Are we drip feeding apps or releasing the whole lot in one go?

Initial Prototypes/Test Candidates = 10 days

First draft of prototypes.

Validation/Testing = 5 days

Test first prototype candidates with users. Document feedback. Spit ball solutions.

Stakeholder Updates and Amends = 10 days

Run the findings by the stakeholders. Suggest and make amends.

Re-validate/Re-test = 5 days

Run fixes, and solutions by users

Clean Up and Document = 2 days

Clean up the wireframes/prototypes and document. Align with user stories. Clear up any possible confusions.

Handover to Development = 1 day

A day of workshops and discussion to go through the wireframes and stories for the entire project.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where do you sit?

As a manager of people (UX designers and front end developers in my case), where should I sit? I am being literal here. Where should my desk be? Should I sit together with the other managers and heads of, or should I sit with the team? I know this sounds petty but it is important. This question was raised the other day and of course this other manager did not think that I should be sitting with the team. She is one of those managers that thinks that they are above mortal worker drones and should be aloof to the lower levels of creativity (you can probably guess that this attitude annoys me). Of course it can be useful to sit as a group of managers. This is great of high level planning and epic thinking, but to be honest, that stuff does not take too long and most time is spent putting them into effect. This all happens “lower down the food chain” where the creatives and builders get to work making the dream come true. This is where a manager should be seated. Not so that he or she can
Read more

What is UX Design?

  UX or User eXperience is a term coined to describe the design of a user centred product. In this case we are talking about digital product design. This is the design of the interaction between a person and a device. It includes the way information is presented, what information and when. It encompasses UI – User Interface design. It is the process of discovering by research, testing and trial and error the best possible solution. This is the solution that best matches the requirements of the business, the needs of the user and all within the limitations of the technology at hand. UX Design is a system of problem solving. It is done by first discovering and fully understanding the actual problem or challenge the business is facing and then, by various means and methods, discovering and designing the best possible solution. This might be best described as the elegant solution.
Read more