Agile + User Experience: How to navigate the Agile landscape as an UX Practitioner
Summary
In 1993 Don Norman coined the phrase User Experience (UX), suggesting software be built with user’s needs at the core. In 2001, Agile was formally introduced as a framework to accelerate and improve software development. We’ve come a long way in 20 years, but there’s often still questions about how UX and Agile fit together. In this session we’ll share best practices we’ve found helpful in creating alignment, managing workflow, and improving outcomes. The goal is not to endorse a specific framework but to speak broadly to agile concepts and their application for UX practitioners in navigating the Agile landscape.
Key Insights
-
•
UX practitioners often play multiple roles but sharing these across a team improves quality and velocity.
-
•
Embedding one UX member per scrum team works for small teams but can limit specialized UX focus.
-
•
A shared UX service team enables fluid support across multiple scrum teams and encourages swarming.
-
•
Attending only necessary agile ceremonies avoids overloading UX practitioners while maintaining alignment.
-
•
UX work ahead of development aligns with agile when done collaboratively during discovery and exploration phases.
-
•
Writing clear, scoped UX Jira tickets with acceptance criteria improves transparency, predictability, and stakeholder buy-in.
-
•
Decomposing UX work into manageable sprint-sized tickets helps improve delivery cadence and planning.
-
•
Effective documentation for accessibility ensures all team members, especially newcomers, understand domain context.
-
•
Using Confluence or similar tools as a centralized repository makes UX knowledge easily accessible and maintainable.
-
•
Creating video walkthroughs of UX flows aids comprehension across non-design teams and clients.
Notable Quotes
"If we can do many of these UX roles, we’re unicorns, but it still takes the same amount of time."
"A smaller agile team may require less documentation but has less scope and velocity impact."
"A shared UX service team can swarm to support different scrum teams as needs arise, increasing impact."
"UX work done ahead of development is not un-agile; we draft blueprints before building."
"Tech, business, and UX should collaborate through discovery, exploration, build, and evaluation phases."
"A good UX ticket is just like any other ticket — clear title, description, acceptance criteria, and scope."
"It’s really helpful to ask for meeting agendas in advance to attend only ceremonies where UX dependencies exist."
"If it’s not on Confluence, it doesn’t exist — having a living document repository is critical."
"Recording videos with voiceover to walk through user flows has become invaluable for sharing complex scenarios."
"Trust your UX team to represent each other when attending different scrum teams’ ceremonies."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Bringing stakeholders into the kitchen early helped us learn even before sessions started and adjust designs accordingly."
Joanna Vodopivec Prabhas PokharelOne Research Team for All - Influence Without Authority
March 9, 2022
"Don’t talk about delight or loyalty; trust is the single best framing to connect with stakeholders."
Louis Rosenfeld Lashanda Hodge Senongo Akpem Chris HodowanecBecoming a Civic Designer: Making the Move from Private to Public Sector
November 17, 2022
"We are closing out design ops 2024 with innovation curated by the incomparable John Kuda."
Bria AlexanderDay 3 Welcome
September 25, 2024
"We have a code of conduct. It’s not just window dressing, it’s the front door to a process with people behind it."
Uday Gajendar Louis RosenfeldDay 2 Welcome
June 5, 2024
"Timely interactions that log users out without saving progress cause abandonment, especially for people with disabilities."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
June 7, 2023
"Hiring managers should facilitate hiring decisions but truly rely on the team members who work daily with the candidate."
Russ UngerOnboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought
November 7, 2017
"The store mobile device is the indispensable silent partner enabling store employees to balance task productivity and customer engagement."
Catherine DubutBridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design
March 18, 2021
"In-painting allows precise, targeted edits that don’t disturb the rest of the content."
Josh Clark Veronika KindredSentient Design: New Postures for AI-Mediated Experiences (2nd of 3 seminars)
January 29, 2025
"I made an explicit choice: we’re not making any offers until we’re interviewing women."
Dantley DavisLeadership & Diversity—A Fireside Chat with Dantley Davis
September 17, 2020
