Have you ever found yourself struggling to explain the process of a system or user, the scope of a product/project or how something should work? Or are you on the receiving end, trying to make sense of a Product Owner's descriptions through user stories and conversations? During those times, did you ever draw a picture? That's a visual model!
In this presentation, we will discuss the value of visual models for managing backlogs, answering the question of why pictures are easy and words are hard. We'll then introduce some of the most commonly used visual models on Agile projects and give you a "quick reference" guide to take with you to use the next time you need a picture!
The four most useful visual models for Agile projects that we will talk about are:
- Process Flows to show user/business steps and help derive stories
- Feature Trees to organize the scope of the product and visually show perhaps scope for a release or even sprint
- Ecosystem Maps that display connections between products/systems and help identify dependencies
- Display-Action-Response Tables which pair a wire-frame/UI mock-up with a table for UI behaviors to identify gaps in usability
