The following is a guest post by Cherryl Pereira, Head of Content at Chisel Labs
The answer is yes!
Kanban can improve user experience.
Since the early 19th century the organizations have been using Kanban and the tables have not turned up for the modern software companies too.
So the use of Kanban for sustainable processing of the organization, which is minimal wastage and maximum efficiency is still on.
So let’s understand Kanban and its effect on user experience in detail.
What Is Kanban?
What is Kanban?
Having originated from the Japanese language, this word means, “Visual Signal.”
The formal genesis of the word Kanban took place in the field of the automotive industry at Toyota by an engineer named Taiichi Ohno.
Hence, the Kanban methods have evolved a lot of times by different technologists so that the effectiveness and efficiency of the same can be improved as a tool for agile software development.
It’s a workflow management system on visual alignments to define, manage and improve the services to be delivered in product form.
The basic emphasis of the methodology is to maximize efficiency by visualizing the workflow and therefore leading to continuous improvement.
The methodology requires the usage of a Kanban board and cards as a tool of execution.
How does it work?
As discussed above, the requirement for executing this methodology includes a board and cards. These two contribute to the visual representation of the workflow.
● Kanban board
Specifically, the kanban board is a physical whiteboard but virtual forms of the same are also attracting eyes in this digital era.
Well-known software like Lucidchart can be used to create Kanban boards.
The board has columns labeled with the work which is done, in progress, and completed.
The little variations are subjective to the type and the work of the organization.
Along with these variations, there are some basic rules on the board like the number of items in a specific range of time, and these items are represented by Kanban cards.
● Kanban cards
Kanban cards are mostly notes and cards that have a role in the representation of the project.
This includes general information such as dates, names, labelings, and so on. Their aim is to keep track of the lead time of every task.
Moreover, Kanban cards serve the purpose of moving across the workflow to communicate the status of a particular task by keeping everyone on the same page.
Kanban cards are important to identify bottlenecks in the workflow when used along with its all-time partner – the Kanban board.
How does Kanban improve user experience?
● The simplicity of the workflow
Thanks to the low input cost of using the methodology with just Kanban board and cards doing the job, it’s simple to have this technique executed in project development.
Also, the execution, setup, and usability being are on the easier side of implementation.
This leads the development team to use it in the best possible way to develop good products, which will eventually add up to a good user experience.
● Adaptability and versatility
Along with being simple to use and easy to process, Kanban methodology is adaptable in ways that a large field of organizations and different niches can use it and explore its advantages.
This will ultimately lead to a good user experience due to the better understanding of user needs and the constraints of developing products are simplified due to this versatile model.
● Flexible nature
Kanban can be a way to breathe in a relaxing state for the organizations that have the work priorities in fluctuation.
While the WIP limits must remain firm, one can reorganize the backlog column as necessary without affecting the workflow.
The top-to-bottom approach of the Kanban can help to systematically change the workflow as per the updates in a product and changing demands of the users.
This way, being able to change the workflow flexibly by prioritizing the user, will help development teams to focus on what’s important for users and would lead to efficient and faster delivery of the product.
● Efficiency
Kanban makes it transparent to understand the priorities, workflow, and progress of the work.
These factors contribute to the efficiency of the development team as they can help prepare what’s important in a shorter span of time.
Hence, users can have their hands on the new developments as soon as possible.
Plus, the deliverables in the workflow are optimized to deliver at the best speed by avoiding all bottlenecks.
● Effective application
The kanban methodology makes it easier for the teams to not only document and make plans about the workflow but also dilute the load of work in the backlog.
This helps developers to clearly implement the real work and hence it makes the process effective by satisfactorily delivering the product to the user.
● Incremental change
The Kanban methodology encourages change based on visualized formats. Hence, the need for extensive or expansive changes is eliminated.
This helps to promote the collaborative relationship of the decided workflow, complements team capabilities, and converges up the best outputs in product development for a good user experience.
Conclusion
The overall process of UX design is a collaborative effort of the team members.
Therefore, drawing from different perspectives can lead to flaws in the final product.
Kanban helps the whole team by aligning individual contributions and unifying their efforts.
This creates real wonders.
And as the chain continues, a quality team effort results in a better product that gives a better user experience.
Hence, no doubt why Kanban here fills the void and improves user experience in several ways.
Cherryl Pereira is the Head of Content at Chisel. Chisel Labs is a premiere agile product management software that brings together roadmapping, team alignment, and customer connection.
Tim Rotolo
Shruti Goli