Darius Kumana

User Experience. Agile Software Delivery. Coaching & Leadership. Profile

Welcome

Hello, I'm Darius and I work for ThoughtWorks, the global leader in software delivery and consulting.

I'm interested in people: both their over-arching experiences as they interact with digital media products and services; and the nuances of culture, interaction, and behaviour cultivated within the teams of people charged with the creation and delivery of those experiences.

This site contains my musings on User Experience and Agile Software Delivery. It examines the melting-pot where these philosophies come together to allow great teams to create great software experiences, whilst remaining focused on the goals, needs and desires of real people.

Biography

Darius Kumana works to provide thought-leadership for the integration of User-Centered Design and Agile software delivery philosophies. He is a leader and coach who understands that it takes great teams to build great software.

Darius has worked in a variety of industries, including financial services, education, retail, logistics, and non-profit charities. He has held executive leadership roles in firms ranging from large corporate multi-nationals to small avant-garde firms and green-field start-ups.

Darius started his career as a User-Centered Design purist but quickly realised that vision without execution, was just dreaming. He suffered as his pre-conceptions were challenged, and after learning numerous lessons, he eventually drank the Agile cool-aid.

He spent a number of years as both Head of Product Management and User Experience where he capitalised on the opportunity to road-test his thinking on the tighter integration of User-Centered Design and Agile Delivery philosophies.

Darius is a creative who understands that competitive advantage is no longer about having “the best” technology. Differentiation and success is far more likely to result from applying technology creatively to solve the real problems faced by businesses and end-users. Darius has helped many organisations to understand and identify these opportunities, set and deliver against a clear vision through the application of Agile and User-Experience philosophies. This is the approach Darius currently champions at ThoughtWorks and is one which he has shared at 3 international software conferences last year.

Darius loves the fact that ThoughtWorks doesn’t put people in boxes - on one day he might find himself agonising over the interaction design for a mobile app’s gestural interface; on another, he might find himself helping to shape a global organisation-wide Agile transformation involving thousands of people.

Regardless of the task at hand, Darius remains focused on creating great experiences for end-users. Each day, he aims to be less wrong than he was the day before.

Stream of Consciousness

@dariuskumana

Speaking Engagements

Getting Beyond 'Good Enough' - A User Goal Based Framework For Agile Delivery

Agile delivery typically focuses on the prioritisation and development of user stories. Often the focus is on developer throughput and misses the overall value proposition of the software from the perspective of the end-user. This talk introduces a user-goal based framework for setting up and managing agile projects for success. It introduces an approach to Goal-Driven Development that allows stakeholders/Product Owners to take a user-centered approach to delivery from requirements capture, through planning and into development to deliver software that delights the user.

A Few Of The Key Concepts From The Talk:

  • Setting-Up Projects For Success
  • Storymapping for Minimal Viable Product
  • User-Test Driven Development
  • Goal Burn-Down
  • Experience Innovation
  • Helping Teams Get Beyond "Good Enough"

I will be presenting at the following conferences in 2011:

Agile 2011 UX Cambridge 2011 BA 2011
Aug 11, 2011 11 – 12pm

Agile 2011 Conference

Little America Hotel
Arizona Room
Salt Lake City
Utah USA

 		Nov 11, 2011 1:30 – 2:30pm

UX Cambridge Conference

Gillespie Conference Centre
Clare College
Cambridge
UK

 		Sept 27, 2011 10:05 – 11:05am

BA Europe 2011 Conference

Radisson Blu Portman Hotel
London
UK
#agile2011 #uxcam #BA2011

Agile 2011

I had a great time presenting at the Agile 2011 Conference in Salt Lake City. Feedback on my talk was very positive. My User-Goal Based Framework for Agile Delivery certainly seems to be touching a nerve! It helps people better understand the how UX and Agile can work in harmony. This was an amazing conference for me from a personal perspective - Its not every day you get to present to Martin Fowler, have the opportunity to exchange ideas on leadership with Jim Highsmith or talk AgileUX with Jeff Patton!

ThoughtWorks European AwayDay

I recently presented this talk at the ThoughtWorks European Awayday. Thoughtworkers are an informed, opinionated and passionate bunch (not to mention pretty sharp!) so this was another great test for these ideas. It seems that the concepts appeal to a varied audience (ranging from practitioner through to executive leadership).

BA2011

BA2011 was great fun. I have always considered myself a poly-skilled person who can float between the overlapping worlds of UX and BA. Now more than ever I realise that these disciplines are very similar indeed. The main difference I have observed is the subtle but powerful shift in a UX mindset that puts the end-user at the heart of every decision. (The other difference I observed is that BAs tend to dress smarter that their colleagues in experience design! ;-P )

Here are some nifty mindmaps that Penny Pulman (who also did a great session on visual thinking) created from my session:

Mindmap page 1 Mindmap page 1

UX Cambridge

UX Cambridge was a great conference. I had the chance to catch up with old friends, make some new ones and learn some interesting ideas. I am particularly pleased that ideas from my "Beyond Good Enough" talk have been equally well received by specialist UX, BA and Agile audiences.

Another highlight was participating in the closing panel on Agile UX with @darci, @jezzasutherland, @ultraman and @richmuscat

BA Summit

I enjoyed chatting with Penny Pullman on "BAs working with User-Experience" as part of the BA Summit. I have always been a believer in the need for "poly-skilled" people and have always observed a natural overlap between the disciplines of user experience and that of business analysis. Whilst many of the tools and techniques are easily shared amongst the disciplines, I find it is the mindset shift (that puts the end-user at the heart of every decision) can prove difficult for some analysts to adopt.

I promised to include a couple of resources to get people started so here they are:

There are also a list of useful UX related links at the bottom of this page (Which is now getting far too long!). The full list of my UX musings can be found on my Diigo bookmarks.

Whats Next

Pieces of the puzzle are now slotting together and I am beginning to realise how powerful this approach actually is. Through it, I am able illustrate how ideas around goal-driven development and continuous design are reinforced and empowered through Continuous Delivery. Furthermore I am starting to see how value (as opposed to constraint) based reporting through goal-burndowns can work to support Adaptive Leadership.

Its all really starting to come together...

Formulated Thoughts

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