Agile product development can hurt your customer experience

This week I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Duncan, CEO and founder of Vertice Labs on the new Building Great Experiences podcast. Check out the episode on YouTube and Spotify.

We covered a broad range of topics including exploring the pros and cons of Agile. While Agile is widely adopted in the design and software engineering world, it can sometimes be a double-edged sword. It has the potential to help teams work cohesively and deliver high-quality products quickly, but it can also become a barrier to delivering valuable digital products and experiences when misused. In this week’s newsletter, I highlight some of the key takeaways from our conversation.

1. Avoid work about work

One of the most significant pitfalls in Agile is following the process strictly for the sake of the process itself. Agile should be like driving a car: you're constantly making micro-decisions to navigate smoothly. When teams become overly fixated on meetings, sprint planning, and backlog grooming, they risk losing sight of the ultimate goal—delivering valuable products to customers.

Putting this into practice:

• Focus on reducing the number of meetings and increasing direct communication between team members.

• Ensure that each Agile activity actually serves a clear purpose toward product delivery, rather than just adhering to Agile dogma.

• Empower teams to make decisions quickly and independently to maintain momentum and avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

2. Emphasize outcomes over outputs

Many organizations that use Agile focus heavily on outputs rather than outcomes. Agile often emphasizes the importance of delivering on time and meeting sprint goals, but this can lead to shipping features that aren't truly valuable. Instead of just “building the thing right,” teams should focus on “building the right thing.” Create a "minimum lovable product" rather than a "minimum viable product."

Putting this into practice:

• Shift your focus from meeting predetermined goals to delivering meaningful outcomes that align with customer needs.

• Foster a culture where teams feel comfortable pausing development to incorporate new insights and feedback.

• Encourage cross-functional collaboration among designers, developers, and product managers to ensure all voices contribute to defining what the "right thing" is.

3. Foster high-performing, autonomous teams

High-performing teams have a high degree of autonomy. It’s important to balance strategic direction with the freedom for teams to execute as they see fit. This autonomy fosters creativity, innovation, and speed, allowing teams to respond dynamically to challenges and opportunities.

Putting this into practice:

• Provide teams with clear goals and objectives but allow them flexibility in how they achieve them.

• Reduce micromanagement by establishing trust in your team's capabilities and encouraging them to take ownership of their work.

• Regularly review team processes to identify and remove any roadblocks that hinder their ability to work autonomously.

4. Integrated teams, not silos

Agile can sometimes unintentionally drive siloed work, where design, development, and research happen in separate "tracks." This can lead to disconnects and delays. Instead, successful teams work side by side, iterating together in real-time and constantly refining their approach based on shared insights and feedback.

Putting this into practice:

• Break down silos by creating cross-functional teams that include members from design, development, research, and product management. Incorporate sales & marketing team members as well to really accelerate the product.

• Encourage the use of collaborative tools and spaces, whether digital or physical, to facilitate continuous interaction and joint problem-solving.

5. Situational leadership: tailoring your approach

Not every team member responds the same way to a given leadership style. It’s important as a leader to understand each team member’s needs, strengths, and working preferences to unlock their potential and drive better outcomes.

Putting this into practice:

• Utilize personality assessments and regular one-on-one meetings to understand how each team member works best.

• Adjust your leadership style based on the needs of each individual, providing more guidance where necessary and more freedom where appropriate.

• Encourage a feedback culture where team members feel comfortable expressing what they need from leadership to succeed.

Wrapping up

By focusing on outcomes, fostering high-performing teams, and integrating processes, companies can avoid the pitfalls of Agile dogma and create an environment where innovation and efficiency thrive. Striking the right balance between process and autonomy is key.

I hope these insights give you some actionable ideas to improve how you build products and enhance your customer’s experience 😊

Onward & upward,

Drew

P.s. I’m giving away free 1-hour CX consultation sessions to (8) business leaders over the next 30 days. In these sessions I provide key recommendations and insight, without needing access to your customers or customer data.