With the advent of new and far more stringent compliance rules and regulations surrounding data privacy and security coming into effect towards the end of last year, DVT is delighted to announce that we’ve completed – and attained – ISO 27001 accreditation.
Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation, Cognitive Services, Interactive/chat Bots. These are terms you will come across in literature and conversations almost every day. What do they really mean and more concerning to the average person what will be the role of the human employee in this new digitally transformed world that we are rapidly moving towards?
A product owner is typically the project's key stakeholder. Part of the product owner's responsibilities is to have a vision of what he or she wishes to build and then to convey that vision to the scrum team. This is crucial to successfully start any agile software development project.
For the past nine months, I have been a product owner on a project and this is how it is playing out for me. But, before I get there, let's look at the real-life definition of the term.
A product owner is the stakeholder on a project who most likely has a day job but also needs to spend most of his week taking part in an agile project and all the ceremonies it brings along with it.
Based on my experience, a product owner needs an extremely clear vision of the intended outcome of the product being developed. They need to understand where the product fits in with the rest of the organisation and its related systems. Without that insight, your team will be developing a product that will not be used by the people intended to benefit from your product. It's that simple.
It is a very empowering position to be in and it should not be abused by enforcing your design ideas onto the product and the project teams. It is a collaborative effort in which everyone in the team has a say, but ultimately you know where the product is heading towards, which means the final decision-making power lies in your hands, and rightfully so. A product owner should be a servant leader where the team is empowered to deliver what you consider necessary without them wanting to exit. Therefore, ensure the team has a purpose and are working towards a common goal. Involve them in the project roadmap and the decision-making process.
How much time should you invest?
A product owner needs to manage their time adequately in order to be able to pay as much attention as required to the design and development lifecycle.
Here are the number of hours I spend on a project in order to steer a successful outcome at the end of a 2-week sprint.
| Backlog Grooming | 6 hours |
| Sprint Demo | 2 hours |
| Sprint Planning | 4 hours |
| Sprint Retrospective | 1 hour |
| User Testing | 4 hours |
What does this mean?
It means I had to put aside at least 8 hours a week on an average sized project (4-6 members). If you are the owner of more than one product, those hours will multiply.
Being there for your team
Let's analyse a pile-up on a multi-lane highway and compare it to a product owner's role. The metro police (product owner) needs to make sure that the right decisions (backlog grooming) are made swiftly in order to avoid a traffic jam (development idle time). Whilst the rubble is being cleared (tasks in-progress) the metro police (product owner) also needs to reroute (feature prioritisation) motorists (agile dev team) in order for approaching traffic (future tasks) to know where to go so that they can reach their destination in the most effective way (adapting to requirements). In the absence of the metro police (product owner) traffic (work) will pile up and motorists (Agile dev team) will become annoyed at wasting time and not reaching their destination on time (delivery expectations). If there are queries and questions to be answered with regards to alternative routes (business rules and process changes), response time is key or else the motorists (agile dev team) will be held up instead of being able to cruise at 120kmh (continuous delivery).
Serving as a product owner is a very rewarding role especially once you see how an agile team operates to their full potential and your product comes to life.
Involve as many stakeholders as you deem fit to ensure product buy-in and at the end of the day be sure to allocate enough time in your working week to see a quality product rolled out.
How to create RESTful web services & RESTful API - where REST stands for Representational State Transfer using Python, Flask, Docker and MongoDB
So, you’ve been a part of the business analysis practice for 10+ years and with so many people being appointed as business analysts it is important to distinguish yourself and make sure your skills improve and adhere to international standards, right?
Disruptive technology significantly alters the way industries and businesses function. It can force companies to embrace the digital sphere or stay behind.
As a UI designer, I have had the privilege of witnessing weird and wonderful client comments, especially these classic and timeless ones. “Dear, *insert designers name*. Thanks so much for the latest round of designs. Really coming together nicely. Few points of feedback: *Insert long list of changes*”. That is by far my all-time favourite, and until this day I sometimes feel like I’m being punked when a client approves a piece of creative without any suggestions. It just doesn’t feel right. But I digress.
A few years ago I was part of a team tasked with presenting low fidelity (grey scale) wireframes to a large corporate client and we were going around the room introducing ourselves and sharing our roles and responsibilities. A time came for the UI team to introduce themselves and the client turned, looked at us and said “Oh so you are the guys responsible for colouring this thing in?” We giggled and continued with the introductions but that comment lingered in my brain for years.
Image credit: coloringcorruptions
Is a UI designer’s role really just to colour in wireframes? In oversimplified terms yes you could say that UI designers do colour in wireframes. There's a lot more to UI than just “colouring in” but I won’t get into that right now. If you would like to read up on UI design click here. Let’s ignore all the other hats a UI designer has to wear and only focus on the notion of “colouring in”.
Isaac Newton was one of the first humans to play around with colour, using sunlight and prisms (Photoshop wasn’t around back then). He found that clear white light was composed of seven visible colours, the colours we see in a rainbow. By doing this Newton paved the path for the likes of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and all those who came after him including myself, to experiment with colour in a “scientific” manner.
Image credit: Granger
Goethe challenged Newton’s views on colour, arguing that colour was not simply a scientific measurement, but a subjective experience perceived differently by each viewer. His contribution was the first systematic study on the psychological effects of colour. Goethe’s views were widely adopted by artists around the world.
In visual arts, colour is the soul of everything, birthed to life by the artist into a canvas. Colour is power, actually. It can change the mood of the image in the blink of an eye. It can encourage, warn, appeal, frighten, highlight and persuade. It can support the words or vice versa – steal their power. It can share an emotion without anything being said. It can become a great weapon in the hand of a master.
In the sphere of UI design on the other hand, colour is one of the key steps to efficient results. It is actually a multi-functional and diverse tool able to fulfil several needs simultaneously. Unfortunately, humans don’t all interpret colour the same way. We somehow don’t share the exact same colour vision experience. Because the human eye and brain work together to translate light into colour, each of us sees colours differently. Your blue can be slightly bluer than someone else’s. However, sometimes differences in colour vision are tragic.
Image credit: Harry Quan
According to Colour Blind Awareness, approximately 338 million people in the world suffer from some kind of colour vision deficiency. Depending on the seriousness of the deficiency, humans can go from not seeing colour clearly, getting colours mixed up, not being able to differentiate between certain colours or lose the ability to distinguish colours at all.
Every kind of colour blindness makes it difficult for a user to have a great experience. At worst, colour blind people will not be able to use a product at all. This will upset a lot of users and a business will lose potential clients too. To avoid this, UI designers need to consider only a couple of simple rules when designing interfaces.
It is important to understand that colour blind people see the same colourful picture as the rest of us. Despite an inability to see some colours, colour blind people distinguish shades even better than average. Creating sufficient contrast between elements is an effective way of designing for accessibility. By catching the user’s attention and attracting them to particular elements supports quick and intuitive navigation and usability of the page or screen.
As much as colour is the soul of everything, one needs to understand that it doesn’t have unlimited powers. You shouldn’t expect it to solve all of your problems. However, when implemented correctly and paired carefully with considered layout, good typography, captions, iconography and so on, colour is able to beautify UI and improve UX.
Creating interfaces is not just about pure creativity. It is all about providing users with the product that will heal their pain and make their life simpler. So, in the perspective of colour choices and usage in UI, a designer should always remember that the interface should be highly usable, clear and accessible. There is never a universal solution or a one-size-fits-all solution to colour usage in UI design, so go forth, experiment, and colour in those wireframes.
Useful links
https://colorable.jxnblk.com
https://michelf.ca/projects/sim-daltonism/
https://www.awwwards.com/talk-escaping-convention-with-executive-creative-director-at-ueno-david-navarro.html
https://www.designyourway.net/blog/design/colors-and-contrast-in-user-interface-design/
https://blog.prototypr.io/how-to-use-color-in-ui-design-wisely-to-create-a-perfect-ui-interface-6e524bd023bc
https://medium.muz.li/designing-for-accessibility-the-colour-contrast-compliance-7d8902850ec7
Ever wondered what UX/UI is or what it stands for? Even after you find out what it stands for you still ponder what it really is, what do you do, does it involve chasing people down and kindly harassing intel out of them?
You may be wondering who I am and what I do for a living for me to claim in the headline that everyone is a UX designer. My name is Freddie, a South African based UX/UI designer and I love the simple things in life (with an entire bottle of extreme served with it). I am a foodie, photographer, gamer, travel enthusiast, and did I mention foodie?
So onto the definition of UX/UI. The acronyms stand for user experience/user interface. Honestly speaking, the ‘/’ in-between UX/UI can make it a tad bit confusing. They are both user orientated but they are different. However, the two flow very well together hence the / makes them seem like they fought but don’t really want to leave each other.
User Experience aka UX is the understanding of peoples goals, motives, and conditions when performing a task.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 220696314_Experience_Design_Technology _for_All_the_Right_Reasons
As you can see in the diagram above, the ‘self’ needs some kind of motive to perform a task. Within that task, there’s a goal you’re trying to achieve, but during that process, you might face obstacles that make performing or completing that task a bit challenging, making it difficult to reach your goal.
UX leans more towards research. It’s trying to understand who you’re building your product for, what those people are trying to achieve, and why are they trying to achieve this. Also what could possibly stop them from achieving what they want. The last thing you want is building something that only you understand and enjoy using when in actual fact you intended to build for a market.
Now, User Interface aka UI is a bit different from UX. UI is more visual orientated. As the saying goes ‘You eat with your eyes first’. If the food looks good, you are more inclined to want to eat it. How it appeals to the eye is important.
Ever sat through a lecture with 300 slides for 3–4 hours and all you just see is words, words, an endless sea of words. You eventually start hoping to see some images, pictures — anything to break the monotony of all the text. In today’s world, individuals are more prone to remembering content more effectively if it is visual or accompanied by a visual cue. This is the basis of UI.
The aim is to break down heavy content and make it look pleasing to the eye. There’s a number of ways to achieve this by using elements of design and your knowledge of different mediums. This is not only limited to digital products but expands to fashion, interior, culinary, and to even the most ordinary objects/products/services we use every day.
First impressions are everlasting right?
The Grand Tour (Amazon Prime Series)
Right now you’re probably asking “That’s all well and good, but how am I a UX designer again?”
UX is not just some fancy term made up for designers. Okay, maybe the word User Experience but the concept of understanding people has been there longer than we know. Think of UX as being a psychologist of design, essentially you’re trying to get into your consumers/users head to better understand their thinking.
One thing a lot of people don’t know is that they have some sort of UX knowledge which they don’t essentially call UX. Take musicians/producers, for instance, I listen to EDM and the best DJs travel the globe providing an amazing experience to people through music.
Now call me a noob for asking this but who on earth would pay for something they can listen to on their mobile device or stream on YouTube? The whole idea behind music concerts is to provide that amazing UX. The thrill of having to go through the process of buying your ticket online, waiting till the day, and partying till the midnight rain. Now DJs/producers/musicians don’t really call this UX.
In the music world, it’s well known as euphoria. The whole idea is to provide a pleasurable experience to individuals, such as that heavenly feeling you get when you sink your teeth into the most glorious dish you’ve ever tasted. We all have something that makes us crumble and say, ‘Now that was amazing’.
No Youtube video or a downloaded song can match the experience you get when you’re within that crowd and your favourite Dj is playing your jam and all the right things are coming together and you’re just like ‘damn’.
Right now I'm listening to the soundtrack of Blade Runner 2094 ‘Mesa’ and I must say, film producers and sound engineers really know how to captivate people.
Everything we do in our everyday lives, the products and services we interact with all have components of UX. Someone/people out there took the time to sit and think, ‘What will make achieving that goal that much easier?’.
Let’s be honest, if you had a goal and two choices in completing that goal, the easier route, and the harder route, any sane person will pick the easier route. (Unless you’re me, then you’d create your own third choice from thin air and make people gasp and wonder whether you’re the root of craziness or if you’re conjuring up sorcery.)
The experience you give to one is everlasting whether through a product or service. The idea behind it is to gain trust with your consumers/clients. For a cook, it will be through his/her food, a lawyer, through their reputation of won cases, an architect, through their grand structural designs. As for me, well, I love sharing what I do best. Design, culture, food, and photography.
So ask yourself, after reading this, are you a UX designer? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
There are many courses and workshops available today if you're looking to learn more about the theory of implementing Agile. Google the words 'Agile training' and you'll find reams of options for training courses and training providers. The challenge is knowing which courses to choose and why. We have done the hard work for you by selecting the top 7 Agile training courses you should consider in 2019 and beyond.
Where possible, and if your budget allows, consider an Agile course that is internationally certified. Not only will it benefit your individual skills but it will add to your career growth and resume. These seven courses come highly recommended in order to understand the benefits an Agile methodology can bring to an organisation:
1. ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Fundamentals (ICP)
This course is a very good start for your Agile journey. It covers the history of Agile, the Agile Manifesto, the Agile principles, and a good introduction to some widely applied frameworks (such as Scrum, Kanban and SAFe) and practices. ICAgile fundamentals learning objectives delve into key concepts such as adaptive planning, value-driven development, team collaboration and frequent feedback for continuous improvement. It also focuses on what it means to be Agile and achieve organisational agility.
The ICP credential has the broadest target audience (even outside of IT) since it is appropriate for those new to Agile, and for practitioners who recognise the need to focus on “being” agile in addition to “doing” agile. An ICP certification is internationally recognised.
2. Scrum Alliance - Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
The Certified Scrum Master’s course provides everything you need to get started with Scrum, today’s most widely used agile project management methodology. If you have the knowledge and experience developing or managing software delivery projects or teams, but do not have expertise in Agile yet, this course is for you. The course is an introduction to Scrum and will foster a shared understanding of the topic. It is suited for all roles within the IT environment and very popular amongst Scrum Masters and Project Managers. (A non-certified, more affordable version of Scrum training is also available for those budget sensitive organisations or individuals.)
3. Scrum Alliance - Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
The CSPO training course uses Scrum to teach Product Ownership (Product Management in Agile) and provides a stimulating, experiential learning experience through the use of gameplay, hands-on practical exercises, real-life case studies and in-depth discussions of the various parts of the Scrum framework and how the parts fit together.
On completing the course, delegates are designated as a Certified Scrum Product Owner by the Scrum Alliance. As noted by accredited Certified Scrum Trainer, Iain McKenna and DVT Academy trainer, “A good Product Owner drives delivery of value to customers and users and therefore plays a critical role in a Scrum team.”
4. ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Business Analysis (ICP-BVA)
The ICP-BVA's learning objectives focus on the need for value management, role scope and diversity. These include: How to change your thinking skills, value management behaviours, determine value in the initiative, communicate that value, analyse to determine value, explore the solution, manage artifacts and enable valuable delivery.
Deidre Forbay, trainer & senior business analyst at DVT says, "Business value analysis is a crucial aspect of any Agile project. Learn how to ensure that your Agile project delivers business value to your clients and how to facilitate value-driven workshops with this course."
5. Agile for Executives
If you are a CEO, Manager or in a role to drive value within the organisation, then this course is for you. This workshop offers clear, insightful guidance into the philosophies of Agile, yet also provides an opportunity to understand the frameworks, secrets on how to support and structure teams within the solution design and delivery spaces. The Agile for Executives workshop will challenge you to think differently while explaining the technicalities around Agile on a higher level. It focuses on the requirements from a leadership perspective, key roles to set you up for success as well as roadmap and budgeting guidelines.
6. Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
This two-day course teaches the Lean-Agile principles and practices of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). You’ll learn how to execute and release value through Agile Release Trains, how to build an Agile Portfolio, and how to lead a Lean-Agile transformation at enterprise scale. You will also gain an understanding of the Lean-Agile mindset and how to apply the principles and practices of SAFe to support Agile teams, programs, program portfolio management, and to coordinate large Value Streams. Attending the class prepares you to take the exam and become a certified SAFe Agilist (SA).
7. Team Strengths
Agile is all about people and how to best work together to achieve a goal. The individual CliftonStrengths course (developed by Gallup), is one of the most unique and reliable ways in which you can develop teams in fostering a self-organising culture.
This enriching course will take team collaboration to the next level. It is recommended for anybody who is looking for the next level in individual and team development. It is also recommended for new as well as advanced Agile teams.
Develop a skill set that’s in demand worldwide—and empower your enterprises to succeed in a disruptive marketplace. By attending all or some of these courses and by gaining international certifications you will be able to shape your Agile career and benefit from the time invested in your future.
For more information visit https://www.dvt.co.za/training.