Your 9 essential steps for effective Agile scrum adoption—including user testing

Adapt and iterate faster with Button’s proven guide for public sector success

November 14, 2024

Welcome to the mid November issue of the Button Insight Newsletter!

The Big Story

The 9 essential steps for effective Agile scrum adoption—including user testing

Adapt and iterate faster with Button’s proven guide for public sector success

At Button, we often work as part of hybrid vendor client teams using an Agile scrum framework. Agile scrum often emphasizes work in cross-functional teams, clear communication, iterative development, and flexibility and adaptation.

It’s the last two things—iterative development, and flexibility and adaptation, specifically, the role that user testing can play in Agile scrum—that can really help your business, too.

1. Early Feedback
User Testing: Real users provide feedback on the product’s functionality and design.
Benefit: Identifies issues early, reducing the risk of costly changes later.

2. Improved User Experience
Usability Testing: Examines ease of use, navigation, and task completion.
Benefit: Ensures a user-friendly product that increases satisfaction and engagement.

3. Informed Decision-making
User Testing: Provides data on user preferences, behaviours, and pain points.
Benefit: Guides design decisions based on real user input.

4. Reduced Risk of Rework
Usability Testing: Detects usability issues early in development.
Benefit: Minimizes costly post-launch revisions by addressing problems upfront.

5. Alignment with User Needs
User Testing: Ensures product features meet user needs and expectations.
Benefit: Increases the likelihood of a product that resonates with the target audience.

6. Continuous Improvement
Agile Integration: Testing fits into Agile’s iterative process for ongoing refinement.
Benefit: Facilitates continuous product enhancement based on user feedback.

7. Enhanced Stakeholder Confidence
User Testing: Demonstrates a focus on user-centred design.
Benefit: Builds stakeholder confidence by validating that the product meets user needs.

8. Identification of Hidden Issues
Usability Testing: Reveals issues not obvious to the development team.
Benefit: Helps uncover and address problems for a more polished product.

9. Prioritization of Features
User Feedback: Highlights which features are most valuable or problematic.
Benefit: Ensures development focuses on features that maximize user satisfaction.

Meet the Buttons

🤝 Say hello to Felipe, our newest Button!

Felipe is working with a team of “Buttons” as a dedicated Scrum Master. With more than 10 years of experience in Agile methodologies, Felipe transitioned from QA engineering to Scrum Mastery, where he honed insights across the Agile lifecycle.  

Based in Burnaby, B.C., with experience supporting clients across industries in British Columbia, Felipe joins our team via Button’s partnership with Lazar Consulting.  He helps clients streamline processes, remove roadblocks, and maximize productivity.  

“I enjoy aligning cross-functional teams, promoting Agile best practices, and making complex concepts approachable for stakeholders of all backgrounds,” he says. 

When he’s not making clients more efficient, Felipe is a movie and TV show enthusiast and regularly hosts video game nights with friends. Off the screen, he’s active at the gym, playing goalkeeper on the field in summer and skiing in winter. 

Make an Impact with Button!

Are you passionate about making an impact and bringing fresh ideas to the world? At Button, we’re always excited to meet talented people who want to help shape the future. We believe in the power of connection and community and would love to hear from you! Feel free to send your resume directly to Charlyne at [email protected]. Let’s create something amazing together!

Community Engagement

Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples® - In-Person Training - Vancouver

DATE: November 19, 2024
PLACE: Vancouver

Are you looking for training to help you get beyond awareness in your work with Indigenous Peoples? Do you want to improve your cultural competence and work toward reconciliation? Is the fear of doing or saying the wrong thing impeding your ability to develop effective Indigenous relationships?

Join the Button team next week in Vancouver for the Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples® course. The training has been taken by thousands of individuals and organizations and delves into the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, the Crown-Indigenous relationship and how that was formed plus invaluable hints, tips, and suggestions on building respectful and effective relationships and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and communities.

Upcoming Events

Enter the first-ever Public Toronto Open Data Awards!

DATE: Entry deadline is Nov. 30, 2024
PLACE: Toronto

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Toronto’s Open Data program, the City is launching an awards program to honour those who use open data to spark ideas, address civic issues, or simply make City data more accessible.

Organizers are looking for projects that hit some (but not necessarily all) of the following points: 

  • Clarity and Impact – Does it help users understand a civic issue? 

  • Creativity and Innovation – Is it a fresh approach? 

  • Design and Presentation – Is it visually engaging? 

  • Educational Value – Does it offer insights or tutorials? 

  • Community Engagement – Does it benefit Toronto’s community? 

Who can enter?

Whether you’re a journalist, researcher, volunteer, data enthusiast, City employee, student, or community organizer, this is your chance to be recognized! Submit your own project or nominate someone else’s work that uses Toronto’s Open Data in a meaningful way. 

FREE WEBINAR: Barriers & Enablers for Racialized Women in Climate Action Leadership

DATE: Nov. 26, 2024
TIME: 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. EST
PLACE: Virtual

This webinar explores the lack of diversity in Canada's climate action and sustainability sectors, focusing on the experiences of racialized women, trans-femme, and non-binary individuals in mid to senior career stages. It presents research findings and offers actionable recommendations for organizations and leaders to enhance equity, improve workplace experiences, and support diverse leadership in the climate action field.

Worth Your Attention

What We’re Reading:
Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow, by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais

Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais offers a practical, adaptable framework for organizing business and technology teams to optimize software delivery.

It introduces four team types and three interaction patterns to help organizations evolve their team structures and communication pathways as they mature. This model emphasizes continuous delivery and value optimization, treating teams as central to achieving sustainable software outcomes.

The book provides actionable insights into building effective team dynamics and transforming inter-team challenges into opportunities. For public sector digital strategy and security professionals, it offers a clear approach to aligning team interactions with organizational goals and technology needs, ensuring scalable, healthy software systems.

Further Reading

Stay on top of vital digital services news and tips by checking out insights from our previous newsletters!

CHANGE MANAGEMENT: How to get your team to adopt new digital tools and processes.

HOW TO EMPOWER YOUR TEAM TO EMBRACE CHANGE: Button’s four key considerations when tackling the human side of digital projects within your organization.

SPRING-CLEAN YOUR PUBLIC SECTORY DIGITAL STRATEGY: Shake off the holiday cobwebs and hit your goals for the new year by following these four resolutions to make 2024 your best year yet.

AI IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: We break down AI’s potential to revolutionize public services—as well as the serious pitfalls to acknowledge when handling public information and public trust.

🔥 THE NEWEST HOT BUTTON REPORT: Learn how to rebuild trust with your stakeholders. Download the full, free report now.

Did someone forward you this edition of the Button Insight and you like what you see?