When you enroll in this course, you'll also be asked to select a specific program.
Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate
There are 4 modules in this course
Despite everyone's good intentions, hard work and solid ideas, too many teams end up creating products that no one wants, no one can use, and no one buys. But it doesn't have to be this way. Agile and design thinking offer a different--and effective--approach to product development, one that results in valuable solutions to meaningful problems. In this course, you’ll learn how to determine what's valuable to a user early in the process--to frontload value--by focusing your team on testable narratives about the user and creating a strong shared perspective.
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.
The agile practices that deliver excellent product are well understood, but they take focus, energy, and confidence to apply. This week, we’ll identify what’s hard about creating excellent products and how agile can help. We'll begin with a discussion of the Agile Manifesto- what motivated it and how it defines agile. Then we’ll get into the practical part- the problems agile solves, how to focus your time and energy, and how you’ll know if your practice of agile is working.
Greg Cohen on Getting Started with Agile•6 minutes
Bill Wake on Getting Started with Agile•11 minutes
How We Learn•4 minutes
2 readings•Total 20 minutes
Course Overview & Requirements•10 minutes
Get to Know Your Classmates in Discussion Forums•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 15 minutes
Quiz on Problems Agile Solves•15 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Meet and Greet•10 minutes
Focusing Your Agile with Personas, Jobs-to-be-Done, and Alternatives
Module 2•2 hours to complete
Module details
The best way to avoid building something nobody wants is to start with somebody in mind. In the design world, we talk about that "somebody" through a ‘persona’. Personas and problem scenarios (aka 'jobs-to-be-done') focus development on driving toward a valuable outcome for your user vs. just generating output. In this module, you’ll learn to focus your work by developing personas, problem scenarios, and alternatives using best practices from design thinking.
What's included
10 videos1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
10 videos•Total 67 minutes
Design Thinking for Agile User Stories•10 minutes
Meet the Companies: HVAC in a Hurry and Enable Quiz•4 minutes
Creating and Using Personas•9 minutes
Focusing Your Persona: Think, See, Feel, Do•7 minutes
Demo: Using the Hypothesis-Driven Development Template (UPDATE)•3 minutes
Demo: Drafting Personas•12 minutes
Demo: Drafting Think, See, Feel, Do•8 minutes
Creating User Stories that Matter•7 minutes
Skit: Meet the HVAC in a Hurry Team•5 minutes
Skit: Dani's Meeting with the CEO•3 minutes
1 assignment•Total 15 minutes
Quiz on Focusing Your Agile •15 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Practice for the Assignment: Draft a Persona•10 minutes
Getting to Great Agile User Stories
Module 3•1 hour to complete
Module details
Now we’re going to transition from drafting personas and hypothesizing user needs to testing those assumptions and translating what you’ve learned into agile user stories. We’ll step through how you create an interview guide to ask your users the right questions and then we’ll dive into agile user stories. User stories are a standard feature of agile and serve as a day-to-day focal point for driving to value.
What's included
16 videos1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
16 videos•Total 69 minutes
User Research for Busy People•7 minutes
Researching Personas•10 minutes
Demo: Creating an Interview Guide: Personas•7 minutes
Demo: Creating an Interview Guide: JTBD•6 minutes
Demo: Dry running your interview guide with chatGPT•2 minutes
Skit: Interviewing Trent the Technician•6 minutes
Demo: Designing Google AdWords•4 minutes
Demo: Drafting Jobs-to-be-Done, Alternatives, and Value Propositions•4 minutes
Preparing for Great User Stories•3 minutes
Writing Great User Stories•6 minutes
Test-Driven User Stories•1 minute
Skit: From Jobs-to-be-Done to Epic User Stories•2 minutes
Demo: Drafting Epic User Stories•2 minutes
Demo: Storyboarding an Epic•3 minutes
Storyboarding with AI•2 minutes
Demo: Drafting Child Stories•4 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Practice for the Assignment: User Stories•10 minutes
Focusing on Customer Value with User Stories
Module 4•4 hours to complete
Module details
The agile user story is your day-to-day focal point for making sure you’re building something valuable for your user. It’s how you discuss that within your team and how you anchor your subsequent testing. In this module, you’ll learn how to facilitate the creation and use of stories within your team.
What's included
12 videos1 assignment1 peer review
Show info about module content
12 videos•Total 46 minutes
Better Narrative, Better Story•6 minutes
Investable Stories•2 minutes
Bill Wake on INVEST•7 minutes
Coaching for Better User Stories•6 minutes
A Prototype Is Worth a Thousand Meetings•5 minutes
From Design Thinking to Agile Analytics•1 minute
Designing a Meeting with User Stories•7 minutes
Using "Day in the Life" to Drive Empathy•5 minutes
Skit: Drafting Epics from Jobs-to-be-Done•2 minutes
Skit: Storyboarding an Epic•2 minutes
Skit: Child Stories and Test Cases•2 minutes
And On To Course 2!•1 minute
1 assignment•Total 15 minutes
Quiz on User Stories•15 minutes
1 peer review•Total 180 minutes
Personas, Problem Scenarios and Propositions, and User Stories•180 minutes
Earn a career certificate
Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.
Instructor
Instructor ratings
Instructor ratings
We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.
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.
"To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood."
Jennifer J.
Learner since 2020
"I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work."
Larry W.
Learner since 2021
"When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go."
Chaitanya A.
"Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits."
Learner reviews
4.7
3,576 reviews
5 stars
80.17%
4 stars
15.90%
3 stars
2.48%
2 stars
0.67%
1 star
0.75%
Showing 3 of 3576
P
PH
5·
Reviewed on Aug 29, 2020
Great course. It's not too self-contained, however. I understand a lot of the material makes more sense in the context of later courses in the specialization. Cowan is an understanding teacher.
S
SD
5·
Reviewed on Feb 4, 2020
This course really helped me to approach Agile in a whole new way. I have a lot to take away from this course. I would really implement my learning from this course into my daily work.
O
OT
5·
Reviewed on Feb 23, 2017
This course was an excellent introduction to Agile, particularly for a 'newbie'. Having heard about Agile I've been interested in learning more and found this course to be exactly what I needed.
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
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.
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.