How we used an Agile Mindset to deliver a complex user focussed product...
Scott Fulton at Agile on the Beach 2019
Scott Fulton delivers a talk on how he used an Agile mindset to to deliver a complex user focussed product with no estimates, no projects, no developers and not a project manager in sight.
Avon and Somerset Police’s digital workspace was delivered by the digital team using their Agile experience (learnt from running their own in-house development), to deliver a successful user-centric COTS product for officers and employees.
The team’s Modern Agile approach to problem-solving and understanding user needs in a very complex, fast-paced operational environment earned them three international awards which resulted in Scott presenting on their approach as far away as Copenhagen and Australia. With judges saying “it’s rare to see Agile implemented so well, especially in the public sector”.
Enjoy Scott's entertaining and warts and all journey through the rollout, sharing invaluable lessons learned along the way. Discover how the team engaged with users to understand their needs and built the product’s content, navigation and design around those needs using a modern Agile approach for prioritisation, user testing, running workshops and delivery of an early minimum viable product (MVP).
This is a powerful case study that shows how empowered digital teams within an organisation, free from the restraints of complex corporate governance and process can flourish, delight users and deliver measurable value.
The success of the platform was by no means guaranteed in a fast-moving hierarchical organisation of 7,000 employees with very different needs, many of whom have very little trust in technology.
BIOGRAPHY
Scott Fulton has been leading digital products and teams for over 19 years, primarily in the police service.
He is the Product Manager for the force’s digital channels serving 2 million users annually and he leads a team covering product ownership, development, user experience, content strategy and business analysis.
Having discovered and embraced an Agile approach in 2013 he has gone on to lead significant digital innovation in his sector and is regularly asked to speak about his experiences at industry events in the UK and as far as Copenhagen and Australia.
His team won three international awards recently for delivery of their intranet for 7000 employees which, whilst being an off-the-shelf product, was implemented with a Modern Agile mindset focusing on solving user problems, seeking evidence, and testing and learning.
All done without a Gantt Chart in sight.
His team’s success and influence has spread elsewhere in the organisation as well as other police forces nationally and has led to the organisation discovering how to deliver change differently having historically been a heavily project managed organisation with a strict command and control culture.
Despite there still being more work to do elsewhere in the organisation, Scott’s teams have enjoyed a project free, time estimate free, deadline free, no blame, way of working for over four years now. This has inspired others to learn from Scott’s team in terms of how to prioritise work, how to focus on user needs and solve their problems, and how to get the best from people in a fast-paced challenging environment, not just with the use of technology.
The team use a mobbing and pair programming approach and are continually pushing the boundaries of their knowledge through a continuous learning culture.
Scott’s personal vision is as follows:
“I deeply believe that the world needs better digital products and services built by people
who care passionately about their customers and understand their needs.
This will be achieved by creating a working environment that allows creativity to flow and the status quo to be challenged; where rapid change is welcomed and it is safe to make mistakes and learn. Only this way can you fully understand and meet your customer’s
needs.”
Avon and Somerset Police’s digital workspace was delivered by the digital team using their Agile experience (learnt from running their own in-house development), to deliver a successful user-centric COTS product for officers and employees.
The team’s Modern Agile approach to problem-solving and understanding user needs in a very complex, fast-paced operational environment earned them three international awards which resulted in Scott presenting on their approach as far away as Copenhagen and Australia. With judges saying “it’s rare to see Agile implemented so well, especially in the public sector”.
Enjoy Scott's entertaining and warts and all journey through the rollout, sharing invaluable lessons learned along the way. Discover how the team engaged with users to understand their needs and built the product’s content, navigation and design around those needs using a modern Agile approach for prioritisation, user testing, running workshops and delivery of an early minimum viable product (MVP).
This is a powerful case study that shows how empowered digital teams within an organisation, free from the restraints of complex corporate governance and process can flourish, delight users and deliver measurable value.
The success of the platform was by no means guaranteed in a fast-moving hierarchical organisation of 7,000 employees with very different needs, many of whom have very little trust in technology.
BIOGRAPHY
Scott Fulton has been leading digital products and teams for over 19 years, primarily in the police service.
He is the Product Manager for the force’s digital channels serving 2 million users annually and he leads a team covering product ownership, development, user experience, content strategy and business analysis.
Having discovered and embraced an Agile approach in 2013 he has gone on to lead significant digital innovation in his sector and is regularly asked to speak about his experiences at industry events in the UK and as far as Copenhagen and Australia.
His team won three international awards recently for delivery of their intranet for 7000 employees which, whilst being an off-the-shelf product, was implemented with a Modern Agile mindset focusing on solving user problems, seeking evidence, and testing and learning.
All done without a Gantt Chart in sight.
His team’s success and influence has spread elsewhere in the organisation as well as other police forces nationally and has led to the organisation discovering how to deliver change differently having historically been a heavily project managed organisation with a strict command and control culture.
Despite there still being more work to do elsewhere in the organisation, Scott’s teams have enjoyed a project free, time estimate free, deadline free, no blame, way of working for over four years now. This has inspired others to learn from Scott’s team in terms of how to prioritise work, how to focus on user needs and solve their problems, and how to get the best from people in a fast-paced challenging environment, not just with the use of technology.
The team use a mobbing and pair programming approach and are continually pushing the boundaries of their knowledge through a continuous learning culture.
Scott’s personal vision is as follows:
“I deeply believe that the world needs better digital products and services built by people
who care passionately about their customers and understand their needs.
This will be achieved by creating a working environment that allows creativity to flow and the status quo to be challenged; where rapid change is welcomed and it is safe to make mistakes and learn. Only this way can you fully understand and meet your customer’s
needs.”