Lean UX, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2. Principles

Go that way. Really fast. If something gets in your way, turn!

—Better Off Dead (1985)

At the heart of Lean UX, you’ll find a core set of principles that govern design process, team culture, and team organization.  Treat these principles as a framework. Start with them to get your teams pointed in the right direction. And keep them in mind as you begin to implement the Lean UX processes we describe later in this book. It’s really important to mention that Lean UX is not a set of rules. Instead, it’s an approach that you adopt. Given the variability between industries in terms of culture, regulations, and customers, this means that you will inevitably need to adjust the processes to make them work in your organization. These principles will provide guidance to help you make those adjustments.

Ultimately, if you’re able to put these principles to work you’ll find that you will change your team’s culture. Some will have more impact than others, and some will be more difficult to push through. Regardless, each principle detailed here will help you to build a product design organization that is more collaborative, more cross-functional, and a better fit for today’s agile reality.

The Foundations of Lean UX

Lean UX stands on a number of important foundations: it’s a combination of a few different schools of thought. Understanding where it comes from will help you to apply the method and find resources when you get stuck.

The first foundation ...