DevOps ICU: Improve Processes and Results by Correctly Integrating UX: A Guide for Product, Project, and Engineering Leaders and Workers

by Debbie Levitt

Software development methodologies lack the details of how UX fits into organizations, teams, and projects. Some suggest that a Product Manager describing features is enough, UX should train others to do their work, or excluding UX solves them being “too siloed.” This happens with no other role in software development. It’s hurting culture, efficiency, and productivity, and creating poor products for customers. Your customer only sees your UX, not your 1000 developers or if you were Agile or Lean. Companies are figuring out that UX specialists and the User-Centered Design process are high-ROI and irreplaceable. Recent highly-publicized UX failures remind us that skimping on UX can alienate customers, create negative media attention, and burn millions of dollars. Learn how the UX process fits into Agile and Lean; augments DevOps goals; increases customer satisfaction; and saves time, money, and sanity... all before developers write a line of code. -------------------------------------------------- Across companies of all sizes, there is a clear People don’t understand UX and they’re not sure how it works into their organizations. You’ve probably had conflicts with UX practitioners. They don’t seem Lean or Agile. In fact, they’re throwing off your Agile train so badly you want to throw them under it! They’re killing ideas, timelines, and budgets. Their work looks easy, why can’t you just do it yourselves? UX seems like a black box disappearing for weeks or months and then just telling us what to build. Where are the communication and collaboration? UX practitioners are keenly aware of these conflicts and how they are seen as the problem. Non-UX roles have many misunderstandings and myths about UX including these • Agile methodologies often don’t mention UX at all, as if the people designing what Engineering will build are not important or necessary. • Everybody thinks UX is just wireframes and “anybody can draw boxes on a page,” but it’s far from that. • UX isn’t formalized and doesn’t have defined processes or approaches; it’s whatever the designer “feels like.” False! • Companies select the wrong people for a job that HR and hiring managers don’t understand. They think these roles require artists, but UX is not an art job. • Teams are sure they don’t need UX or can’t afford it, often without knowing what UX work and tools actually cost. • Product managers often want to “do UX work” before or during a project. However, they don’t realize that what they are doing isn’t really UX. • Developers often aren't sure what UX is or believe those are the workers who A/B test things after release. That’s too late for user testing. Wouldn’t engineers like to know before they code that what they’re working on has been validated as being a good product or feature for customers? Yes, they often think that idea sounds great! You’ll learn to dispel these UX myths, misunderstandings, and more in this book. Let's get your DevOps out of the ICU. Learning goals 1) The correct integration of UX saves time, money, increases efficiency, keeps engineering’s changes to a minimum, & creates the best product for users. 2) UX specialists conduct research, design the entire product, learn from testing, iterate to fix flaws, & deliver vetted blueprints so engineers build once. 3) How User-Centered Design fits into project timelines and development methodologies including Agile and Lean.

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2019

About the author

Debbie Levitt, MBA, is the CXO of Delta CX. She’s a Customer Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX) strategist and change agent who specializes in setting houses in order in record time. She has nearly thirty years of experience but has been advised to mention only fifteen years on her résumé and LinkedIn.

Debbie is an experienced leader with a track record of building and leading diverse research and design teams, shaping product vision, influencing strategies, and driving initiatives. She has many years of experience in CX and UX strategy, research, information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, testing, and more.

Clients call her “Mary Poppins” because she flies in, improves everything she can, sings a few songs, and flies away to her next adventure.

Debbie is a career and life coach helping people with work and beyond. She loves being a catalyst, pushing boats out, and ensuring people know how to row them.

Debbie’s 2022 book, Customers Know You Suck, is the customer-centricity how-to manual. She’s proud of the book and knows it can help companies that care about improving quality, value, and business and customer outcomes. However, companies mostly want the business outcomes while skipping the quality, value, and customer satisfaction or delight that would get them there.

Debbie’s 2024 book, Life After Tech, is (possibly) the first book about leaving technology work. She addresses common career change emotions and fears through sensitivity, critical thinking, humor, and vulnerability. “What happened to tech jobs?” “What will I do next?” Life After Tech is your personal and proactive journey. Eighteen introspective exercises—plus templates and examples—make Life After Tech a guide and a workbook. Use the “Phoenix Flight Plan” to get grounded, plan, rise, and soar.

Outside of CX work, and sometimes during CX work, Debbie enjoys singing symphonic prog goth metal, opera, and New Wave.