Usable Interventions for a Product Owner

Abstract: Agile and Lean software development methodologies are commonly used today. Agile software development was originally created to uncover better ways of developing software. Traditionally the focus has been on the development teams, and most Agile methods have been aimed at project management and at software design, implementation and testing. As a result most of today´s implementations of Lean and Agile have an inward focus on the development team. Delivering real value to customers is not given priority with the risk of development efforts being ineffective. Typical for Lean-Agile environments is that the software requirements and the priorities are channelled though a product owner, making this role responsible for making sure that the development team is really creating customer value. This paper is a literature review of Lean-Agile subject matter expert´s books and blogs, which explores available practices and techniques which a product owner can use as interventions in situations where real value is not being generated from the development efforts. The literature review revealed that there are plenty of both old and new practices and techniques available for product owners to apply. It also highlights that a tool in itself is not Lean or Agile; it is the application of the tool which has to be done in complimance with, and with understanding of, Lean-Agile values and principles. For further research in this area it is recommended that a future literature search is extended to also include publications in adjacent fields liek product management, marketing, and user experience design, but in a narrowed search. Case studies of the various interventions would also be recommended for future research.