Integrating Lightweight UCD into Scrum: A Canvas Approach for Non-Designers*

Scrum is the most widely used Agile framework. While it allows flexibility in incorporating various techniques, usability activities are often overlooked by Scrum practitioners. To address this challenge, we developed a Lean UCD Canvas to help practitioners create user centered design (UCD) artifacts such as personas and journey maps represented as storyboards using comic-style visualization. We evaluated the canvas in two sessions with 16 Scrum practitioners. The first session was a pilot test aimed at refining the canvas design and content; based on feedback, we updated the canvas. In the second session, we assessed the usability of the updated canvas via think-aloud protocols and semi-structured interviews. Our findings indicate that the canvas is effective, time-efficient, and can be easily used by anyone without design skills. However, the study has limitations, including the need to evaluate the canvas's practical implementation in real-world projects.