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Approach

Lean UX

An approach that applies lean ideas to digital product design: form hypotheses, build the minimum to test them and learn fast, instead of delivering long documents.

Origin
Gothelf and Seiden (2013)

What it’s for

It replaces long deliverables, which go stale before they're used, with hypotheses that are tested early.

Principles

  • Hypotheses, not requirements

    Every idea is framed as something to be tested.

  • Outcomes, not deliverables

    What matters is what changes for people, not how many documents come out.

  • One team

    Design, development and business work at the same time.

How it’s done

  1. Form a hypothesis and how to measure it.

  2. Build the minimum to test it.

  3. Learn and decide the next step.

Applications in design

  • When to use it

    In product teams that ship often and can measure.

  • Avoid

    Using it as an excuse not to research or document anything.

  • Don’t fall for it

    Write down beforehand what result would prove the hypothesis false.

Authors and works

  1. 2013

    Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden

    Brought lean principles to experience design: hypotheses, experiments and teams that learn together.

Sources

Original sources

  • Gothelf, J., & Seiden, J. (2013). Lean UX: Applying lean principles to improve user experience. O'Reilly.

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