- Lean UX is a collection of methods that was popularized by the 2013 book of the same name written by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden. It came about due to the tension UX and engineering often feel between each other, even though both roles share a lot of similar values. The goal was to move away from a UX versus engineering mentality in favor of everyone on the team being able to function effectively together.
Some people assume that Lean UX is yet another framework that needs to live on top of everything else that we juggle in Agile already, but it's less about specified meetings and structures and team makeups and more of a mindset to take on as UX works on Agile teams. The third edition of the Lean UX book defines it as a design approach that brings the true nature of a product to light faster in a collaborative, cross-functional, and user-centered way. It's not about sitting in our UX caves making a bunch of deliverables.
Rather, we're focused on understanding what the product is meant to do. The goal of Lean UX methods is to build a shared understanding of the user, what their needs are, our proposed solutions, and our definition of success. Instead of spending hours alone documenting workflows and analysis and intentions, prioritize the team coming to these conclusions together.
Lean UX is an approach that prioritizes continuous learning and using an evidence-based approach for team decisions to ensure that we're always improving the delivery of our products, services, and value. I often hear frustrations from practitioners about working in Agile, and they fight against the concept of Lean UX, which is understandable when every company approaches it in a slightly different way. But let's bust some common myths about using the Lean UX approach.
Myth number one, by adopting a Lean UX approach it means we can cut out research. Lean UX is not a substitute for research. In fact, the definition itself calls out this concept of continuous learning and using an evidenced-based approach to make decisions.
While we may need to get creative with the ways in which we add research to our backlogs, we can't avoid research and discovery entirely. Myth number two, using Lean UX methods means we don't have to write any documentation. Documentation can serve a valuable purpose for teams, whether they're tracking hypotheses or assumptions to set themselves up for testing, or they're gathering requirements in the backlog so that the team feels confident enough to move forward.
Instead of immediately writing that documentation, ask yourself if you might be able to replace or reduce that documentation by having a conversation or a brainstorming session with your team instead. That documentation can become a snapshot of a whiteboard or a few bullet points rather than multiple pages of instructions and analysis that gets filed away somewhere never to be seen again. And myth number three, using the Lean UX design approach means that there's no room for high-fidelity designs.
When it comes to design fidelity, ask yourself who the designs are for. Looking to get meaningful feedback on your workflows and layouts with users in testing? A wire frame or mid-fidelity mock-up might be the right approach.
Or maybe you're pitching a new idea to get stakeholder buy-in and you're trying to make a good first impression. Might be worth it to spend some extra time finessing the details in order to move forward faster. Looking to create something that will ultimately just be handed over to developers?
That design may be better created quickly and coupled with a pairing session with a developer to talk through the details. When adopted as a mindset shift, Lean UX can be incredibly valuable for a designer's process when working in Agile. Don't think of it as a prescriptive framework or an all or nothing approach.
Instead, work to incorporate the principles into your everyday workflow and start having more user-centered conversations with your teams. - Thanks for watching. If you want to see more of our UX videos, take a look at these over here and consider subscribing to our channel.
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