4.7
stars
932 ratings

Alex Cowan

45,501 already enrolled

Offered By

University of Virginia

About this Course

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To deliver agile outcomes, you have to do more than implement agile processes- you have to create focus around what matters to your user and constantly test your ideas. This is easier said than done, but most of today’s high-functioning innovators have a strong culture of experimentation.
In this course, you’ll learn how to identify the right questions at the right time, and pair them with the right methods to do just enough testing to make sure you minimize waste and maximize the outcomes you create with your user.

This course is supported by the Batten Institute at UVA’s Darden School of Business. The Batten Institute’s mission is to improve the world through entrepreneurship and innovation: www.batteninstitute.org.

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Approx. 9 hours to complete

English

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What you will learn

How to drive valuable outcomes for your user and reduce waste for your team by diagnosing and prioritizing what you need to know about them
How to focus your practice of agile by pairing qualitative and quantitative analytics
How to do just enough research when you need it by running design sprints
How to accelerate value delivery by investing in your product pipeline

Skills you will gain

Usability Testing
Continuous Delivery
hypothesis-driven development
Lean Startup

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Approx. 9 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.82/5 (147 Ratings)

Alex Cowan

Faculty & Batten Fellow

Darden School of Business

425,776 Learners

21 Courses

Offered by

University of Virginia

A premier institution of higher education, The University of Virginia offers outstanding academics, world-class faculty, and an inspiring, supportive environment. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, the University is guided by his vision of discovery, innovation, and development of the full potential of students from all walks of life. Through these courses, global learners have an opportunity to study with renowned scholars and thought leaders.

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating94%(2,395 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

2 hours to complete

How Do We Know if We're Building for a User that Doesn't Exist?

How do you go from backlog grooming to blockbuster results with agile? Hypothesis-driven decisions. Specifically, you need to shift your teammates focus from their natural tendency to focus on their own output to focusing out user outcomes. Easier said than done, but getting everyone excited about results of an experiment is one of the most reliable ways to get there. This week, we’ll focus on how you get started in a practical way.

2 hours to complete

19 videos (Total 69 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

19 videos

Course Introduction4mIntroducing Example Company: HVAC in a Hurry1mHypotheses-Driven Development & Your Product Pipeline2mThe Persona Hypothesis3mThe Problem/JTBD Hypothesis3mThe Demand/Value Hypothesis2mThe Usability Hypothesis2mThe Functional Hypothesis2mDriving to Value with Your Persona & JTBD Hypothesis1mExample Personas and Problem Scenarios4mSetting Up Interviews3mPrepping for Subject Interviews3mConducting the Interview6mHow Not to Interview6mDay in the Life4mYou and Your Next Design Sprint4mThe Practice of Time Boxing4mOverview of the Persona and Problem Sprint2mHow Do I Sell the Idea of a Design Sprint4m

1 reading

Course Overview & Requirements15m

1 practice exercise

Week 1 Quiz20m

Week2

Week 2

2 hours to complete

How Do We Reduce Waste & Increase Wins by Testing Our Propositions Before We Build Them?

Nothing will help a team deliver better outcomes like making sure they’re building something the user values. This might sound simple or obvious, but I think after this week it’s likely you’ll find opportunities to help improve your team’s focus by testing ideas more definitively before you invest in developing software. In this module, you’ll learn how to make concept testing an integral part of your product pipeline. We’ll continue to apply methods from Lean Startup, looking at how they pair with agile. We’ll look at how high-functioning teams design and run situation-appropriate experiments to test ideas, and how that works before the fact (when you’re testing an idea) and after the fact (when you’re testing the value of software you’ve released).

2 hours to complete

18 videos (Total 113 min)

18 videos

Creating More Wins4mLean Startup and the Systematic Drive to Value4mIntroducing Enable Quiz1mFocusing Your Ideas6mCreating Assumptions4mLearning What's Valuable7mBusiness to Consumer Case Studies9mBusiness to Business Case Studies6mUsing a Design Sprint to Test Your Demand Hypothesis3mInterview: Tristan Kromer on the Practice of Lean Startup6mInterview: David Bland on the Practice of Lean Startup5mInterview: Tristan Kromer on Creating a Culture of Experimentation Part 17mInterview: Tristan Kromer on Creating a Culture of Experimentation Part 26mInterview: David Bland on Creating a Culture of Experimentation: Part 14mInterview: David Bland on Creating a Culture of Experimentation: Part 29mInterview: David Bland on Marrying Agile to Lean Startup7mInterview: David Bland on Using Hypothesis with Agile5mInterview: Laura Klein on the Right Kind of Research10m

1 practice exercise

Week 2 Quiz20m

Week3

Week 3

2 hours to complete

How Do We Consistently Deliver Great Usability?

The best products are tested for usability early and often, avoiding the destructive stress and uncertainty of a "big unveil." In this module, you’ll learn how to diagnose, design and execute phase-appropriate user testing. The tools you’ll learn to use here (a test plan template, prototyping tool, and test session infrastructure) are accessible/teachable to anyone on your team. And that’s a very good thing -- often products are released with poor usability because there "wasn’t enough time" to test it. With these techniques, you’ll be able to test early and often, reinforcing your culture of experimentation.

2 hours to complete

16 videos (Total 80 min)

16 videos

The Always Test6mThe Inexact Science of Interface Design6mDiagnosing Usability with Donald Norman's 7 Steps Model8mFixing Usability with Donald Norman's 7 Steps Model3mApplying the 7 Steps Model to Hypothesis-Driven Development3mFixing the Visceral Layer4mFixing the Behavioral Layer: The Importance of Comparables & Prototyping9mPrototyping With Balsamiq4mUsability Testing: Fun & Affordable2mThe Right Testing at the Right Time2mA Test Plan Anyone Can Use6mCreating Good Test Items3mRunning a Usability Design Sprint3mRunning a Usability Design Sprint Skit5mInterview: Laura Klein on Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research4mInterview: Laura Klein on Lean UX in Enterprise IT5m

1 practice exercise

Week 3 Quiz20m

Week4

Week 4

4 hours to complete

How Do We Invest to Move Fast?

You’ve learned how to test ideas and usability to reduce the amount of software your team needs to build and to focus its execution. Now you’re going to learn how high-functioning teams approach testing of the software itself. The practice of continuous delivery and the closely related Devops movement are changing the way we build and release software. It wasn’t that long ago where 2-3 releases a year was considered standard. Now, Amazon, for example, releases code every 11.6 seconds. This week, we’ll look at the delivery pipeline and step through what successful practitioners do at each stage and how you can diagnose and apply the practices that will improve your implementation of agile.

4 hours to complete

23 videos (Total 118 min)

23 videos

Testing that it Works4mThe Team that Releases Together4mGetting Started with Continuous Delivery3mAnders Wallgren on Getting Started4mThe Test Pyramid6mThe Commit & Small Tests Stage2mThe Job of Version Control3mMedium Tests1mLarge Tests6mCreating Large/Behavioral Tests9mAnders Wallgren on Functional Testing9mRelease Stage4mThe Job of Deploying6mAnders Wallgren on Deployment2mChris Kent on Developing with Continuous Delivery10mChris Kent on Continuous Deployment11mTest-Driven General Management5mNarrative and the 'Happy Path'3mThe Emergence of DevOps and the Ascent of Continuous Delivery4mDesign for Deployability2mAnders Wallgren on Continuous Deployment3mAnders Wallgren on Creating a Friendly Environment for Continuous Deployment6mCourse Conclusion2m

1 practice exercise

Week 4 Quiz20m

Reviews

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TOP REVIEWS FROM HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT

by MSJul 23, 2020

Alex delivers a concise message and provides real-world examples coupled with interviews with industry experts that assist in a deeper understanding of how and when to apply Agile,

by MBJan 29, 2019

Alex does an excellent job in structuring and delivering his courses. Definitely makes me want to continue educational opportunities with his courses offered and University of Virginia.

by KMNov 14, 2020

Excellent course for the beginners as well as for the intermediates, I highly recommend. Thank you for the immense support throughout the course.

by CKSep 24, 2018

This course actually bring all that knowledge into light which has been taught in Course 1-3. all videos specially the interview are the essence of this course.

View all reviews

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What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
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