Our experts are closely monitoring eight healthcare trends that are shaping industry leaders’ strategies in 2025.

And this year is especially interesting, as 2024’s U.S. election results could significantly shift healthcare policy and impact healthcare access, affordability, regulation, and innovation.

As such, forward-looking healthcare organizations (HCOs) that are on-track to differentiate their brand in the modern marketplace demonstrate some key characteristics:

• Pragmatically progressive strategies
• Strong partnerships to see those strategies through

Let’s dive into the eight healthcare trends and pragmatic innovations that our experts are helping HCOs navigate in 2025.

Healthcare Trend #1: AI Disruption and Enablement

Healthcare has seen a surge of interest in AI, with the market set to soar to $187.95 billion by 2030. But the industry faces unique challenges that other sectors don’t encounter. Strict regulations around HIPAA, PHI, and PII create significant barriers, making it difficult to adopt off-the-shelf AI solutions from fields like commerce or digital experience. These regulations demand that healthcare AI be specifically tailored to ensure data privacy, security, and compliance, limiting the utility of plug-and-play approaches seen in other industries.

Recommended Approach: AI should not be viewed as a standalone strategy but rather as a powerful enabler of broader business objectives. A well-formed strategy aligns key business priorities with organizational capabilities – people, technology, and processes – to create a cohesive framework. AI’s transformative potential can then be harnessed to address high-impact use cases for HCOs that are defined by clear KPIs and measurable outcomes. However, this potential can only be fully realized if AI is implemented with careful consideration of ethical, security and privacy, and oversight issues. This approach ensures that AI drives tangible value, tailored to the unique needs and strengths of the organization.

Success In Action: Accelerating CSR Support of Benefits Questions Using GenAI

Healthcare Trend #2: Cost Management Without Sacrificing Agility

HCOs continue to face substantial challenges in maintaining margins. While there are many macro and operational factors at play, cost management will play a key part in C-suite planning for the foreseeable future. Against this background, leaders are still under intense competitive pressure to improve many aspects of the digital experience. This tension is driving renewed interest in automation, including AI, and an emphasis on MVP+ and Agile delivery of everything from data modernization to websites and search.

Recommended Approach: Strategic cohesion is vital to ensure initiatives are supported by extremely clear goals and KPIs, and ultimately deliver business value and better health outcomes. A rigorous yet practical business transformation mindset has therefore never been more important. Leaders must prioritize technology investments that balance shorter-term wins and longer-range viability. Cost containment will require compromises. Thus, organizational alignment and change management become even more vital as teams competing for technology development dollars evolve their focus from departmental goals to enterprise sustainability.

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Healthcare Trend #3: Clinician Burnout and Patient Impacts

Approximately 63% of physicians report burnout at least once a week. Clinician burnout not only exacerbates staffing challenges and jeopardizes the health and well-being of frontline healthcare workers, it also poses critical risks to patient safety, care quality, and the long-term sustainability of HCOs. Burnout can lead to increased medical errors, compromised decision-making, and diminished patient-provider relationships, directly impacting the experience and outcomes for patients and potentially increasing insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for members. Every departing nurse or physician deepens the cycle, as budget freezes and shortages in the workforce make it difficult, if not impossible, to replace these key personnel. As the pressure mounts, remaining staff and healthcare consumers all suffer – with longer wait times, reduced continuity of care, and overall diminished access to services, threatening the very stability of healthcare delivery systems.

Recommended Approach: Ease the burden on clinicians by first understanding teams’ day-to-day friction points. Engaging directly with end-users ensures their voices inform your modernization efforts, fostering a culture of collaboration that can drive meaningful change. This open dialogue cultivates powerful change advocates who will champion the adoption of digital investments, such as smart automation, trusted data, advanced analytics, and integrated consumer experiences. Furthermore, organizations must strategically engage and resonate with providers who are contemplating career transitions, ensuring that their needs and aspirations are addressed. These efforts not only contribute to your HCO’s bottom line but also enhance the overall experience for everyone—providers, patients, and caregivers alike. In both the short- and long-term, these initiatives will build trust within your consumer base, positioning your organization as a desirable destination for care and ultimately fostering a healthier, more engaged community.

See Also: Perficient Mentioned in Two Forrester Reports on Tech-Enabled Clinician Experiences

Healthcare Trend #4: Experiences That Build Trust

Research from Gallup showed consumers, in 2023, had some of the lowest levels of trust ever recorded in the healthcare industry. Although we are seeing levels of trust in HCOs begin to improve, they still have a long way to go. 2025 will see the continued push to meet healthcare consumers’ demand for convenience and personalized digital experiences.

Recommended Approach: From everyday commerce to the 2024 presidential election, we continue to see one clear fact: It’s imperative to know your audience. There is no “typical” healthcare consumer, and if you don’t treat people as individuals with unique, personal needs, you risk losing them to another HCO that does. Your organization must incorporate comprehensive healthcare personas and journeys to fully understand the people you serve, how they want you to communicate with them, and how they access your care or services — or risk losing them. Consider potential areas of mistrust for your organization and address them now to build consumers’ confidence. Key areas where we often help HCOs do just that are through digital front door strategies, implementation of intelligent search, and reimagining information architecture (IA).

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Healthcare Trend #5: Competition From Disruptive Healthcare Models

We’ve seen upheaval in the realm of healthcare disruptors — as Walmart has pulled out and Walgreens has pulled back, Best Buy has jumped in. Healthcare disruptors are finding out something traditional healthcare organizations (HCOs) have known for some time: Success in the healthcare industry is a complicated. But we are seeing disruptors to the traditional healthcare model find that success. Companies like Hims, Hers, and Henry Meds combine the best of empathetic, consumer-friendly language with convenient, powerful commerce experiences designed to help users way find and convert quickly.

Recommended Approach: Traditional HCOs that want to compete against successful disruptors require thoughtful, thorough business transformation. Take stock of your organization’s KPIs and how you are measuring success. Are you driving toward growth? If so, is it the right kind of growth to stand out? Next, determine whether you’re meeting the evolving expectations of today’s healthcare consumers. Be mindful of considerations around health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH) and align your strategies to match. Ultimately, we’re seeing powerful outcomes from organizations that shift from a project-focused model to a product-driven approach. Product-driven healthcare enables greater agility to respond to market shifts and fluctuations, as well as industry trends, the uncertainty of changes in healthcare regulation, and the demands of today’s consumers.

Read More: Is Your Healthcare Organization Really Product-Driven?

Healthcare Trend #6: Better Health Outcomes Through Shared Health Data

Efforts to reduce costs and improve health outcomes are driving collaboration among HCOs as health plans and integrated systems aim to more-holistically support consumer health, ease the care journey, and reduce the cost of care. Clinical data spanning an individual’s various provider relationships is crucial for a comprehensive patient view. Meanwhile, leaders continue to explore ways AI and automation can illuminate a 360-degree consumer view to power personalization, boost retention, and increase business resilience. These discussions are forcing focus toward data quality, consistency, governance, and bias.

Recommended Approach: Cloud services’ importance has surged to meet the growing need for real-time, accessible data. We recommend that HCOs continue building a scalable foundation to connect and integrate consumer data across health systems, providers, and insurers. This requires focus in several key areas, including data integration, data management. and data consistency and quality. Only then can data be richly woven into a reliable 360-degree view of the consumer that spans and supports better care management, marketing engagement, and support services. To optimize costs, we anticipate increasing adoption of data virtualization (a.k.a., Data as a Service, or DaaS). This unified data access layer approach bypasses the need to replicate data across various patient and member data management systems (e.g., data warehouses, MarTech, contact center, etc.), and offers a single view of enriched and transformed data from multiple data sources.

Explore More: Data-Driven Companies Move Faster and Smarter

Healthcare Trend #7: Care For the Aging and Underserved

An aging consumer base and a growing emphasis on health equity are reshaping patient engagement and business models for HCOs. According to the National Institute on Aging, approximately 85% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition, and 60% have at least two chronic conditions. In response, health insurers intensified focus on Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans to effectively serve a more diverse and underserved member population. Concurrently, providers are expanding into digitally connected services, such as telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, and personalized care plans, enabling patients to manage their health in more convenient and accessible settings. These shifts not only enhance patient experience and satisfaction but also foster a more inclusive healthcare system that addresses the unique needs of various demographic groups.

Recommended Approach: Deeply understand your patients’ and members’ journeys so you can deliver differentiated digital experiences in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Improve brand affinity with intuitive, personalized, accessible care moments that build trust (and bolster Star ratings). Intelligently automate systems and processes to optimize costs and build margin that can buffer potential shifts in reimbursement models. The integration of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) data adds value by addressing factors like transportation, housing, and food security that impact health outcomes. Through a surround-care approach, powered with important health insights and intuitive tools, HCOs can strengthen community and individual health. This comprehensive strategy enhances engagement and trust while promoting better health outcomes and equity across diverse populations.

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Healthcare Trend #8: Mandate-Driven Transformation

Regulatory mandates continue to drive significant investment and effort from all HCO’s. Leaders strive to meet evolving requirements in CMS interoperability and prior authorization, price transparency, TEFCA, and others. Meanwhile, HHS insight on PHI and legal cases muddy the waters of HIPAA. In general, the effort to understand expectations, implement new functionality, and abide by existing mandates continues to increase. These mandates may seem simple at first, but they have significant implications as insurers work to incorporate patient data using standards common to the provider world. HCOs cannot simply repurpose hastily-constructed solutions from earlier mandates as a foundation for future compliance. Upcoming mandates are meant to build upon those that came before. Without a scalable approach and a thoughtful architecture, HCO’s will find themselves with an ever-increasing debt burden.

Recommended Approach: We encourage leaders to identify mandates’ silver lining opportunities. After all, to remain competitive and compliant, HCOs must innovate in ways that add business value, meet consumers’ evolving expectations, build trust, and deliver equitable care and services. Achieving transformative outcomes and health experiences requires a digital strategy that not only satisfies mandates but also aligns the enterprise around a shared vision and actionable KPIs, ultimately keeping patients, members, and care teams at the heart of progress.

Therefore, we recommend that HCOs approach mandates as a set of iterations, using a strategy-first approach that holistically considers the broader mandate and regulatory landscape. Keep a pulse on what other healthcare organizations – especially new market entrants and disruptors – are doing. Adapt digital best practices from outside of the healthcare industry. And deeply understand the nuance of interoperability standards, patient data modeling, API gateways, and SMART on FHIR applications.

The most successful organizations will build a proper foundation that scales and supports successive mandates. Composable architecture offers a powerful, flexible approach that balances “best in breed,” fit-for-purpose solutions while bypassing unneeded, costly features or services. Tactically, organizations can accelerate value, privacy, and data quality with secure, compliant, and modern technology platforms and data architectures. It’s also vital to build trust in data and with consumers, paving the way for ubiquitous, fact-based decision making that supports health and enables relationships across the care continuum.

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Expert Digital Healthcare Consulting Services: Imagine, Create, Engineer, Run

In this next decade, advances in digital health, growing consumerism, and mounting financial constraints will propel how HCOs shape experiences and deliver equitable, high-quality, cost-effective care.

Perficient combines strategy, industry best practices, and technology expertise to deliver award-winning results for leading health plans and providers:

• Business Transformation: Activate strategy for transformative outcomes and health experiences.
• Modernization: Maximize technology to drive health innovation, efficiency, and interoperability.
• Data Analytics: Power enterprise agility and accelerate healthcare insights.
• Consumer Experience: Connect, ease, and elevate impactful health journeys.

We are trusted by leading technology partners, mentioned by analysts, and Modern Healthcare consistently ranks us as one of the largest healthcare consulting firms.

Discover why we have been trusted by the 10 largest health systems and the 10 largest health insurers in the U.S. Explore our healthcare expertise and contact us to learn more.

One of the biggest challenges product development teams face is bridging the gap between high-level product goals and the specific tasks needed to achieve them. How do you ensure that the broader vision is effectively translated into actionable steps? This is where features come into play.

What is a Feature?

A feature is a logical functionality or a grouping mechanism that is used in between the high-level epics and tactical user stories. It typically encompasses multiple user stories.

Why Are Features Important?

Epics can be very generic, while user stories can be very detail oriented – meaning they may not always provide the insight into what is practically being built. A feature gives a logical function that has a scoped beginning and end and some level of granularity compared to an epic.

Features can be used to define the scope of an Agile team. For example, in an eCommerce app, there might be a team specifically allocated to handle the shopping cart, credit card payments, gift card processing, voucher payments, etc. It is common for Agile teams to be organized around features.

How to Identify or Build Features?

Building or identifying features is highly subjective and involves considering the product’s length and breadth, along with the organizational structure, tech solutions, and resourcing setup. Below are several considerations to investigate:

• Do all the flows work towards building a singular purpose?
  • For example, a payment feature’s end goal is to facilitate the payment process.
• Does it provide a logical grouping?
  • For example, payment through mobile app versus payment through web app accomplish the same function, but they can be mapped to the same feature.
• Does this function have sub-flows?
  • For example, a payment feature can have a credit card flow, cash flow, voucher flow, etc.
• Are the sub-flows or flows interconnected in some way, particularly in the UI?
  • For example, the screens for payment would usually start at the same point, where the user decides to pay, selects a payment method, and then provides additional information for the mode of payment.
• Does the final deliverable for the feature take several sprints?
  • In terms of size, features generally span multiple sprints and have a specific end deliverable in mind.
• Can the feature be turned on or off from a configuration or admin perspective?
  • If you have worked on system configurations, you are likely familiar with turning features on and off. For example, when you provide access to users, they can have read only or editable access. This is the most basic feature concept in a tool.
  • For example, if I don’t want the payments module to show up, I can turn it off, but the rest of the eCommerce function will be able to continue as normal.
• Can the rest of the application continue working without this feature turned on?
  • Generally, a cohesive app will have integrated features; however, the rest of the app should still function and make sense without this feature grouping enabled.
• Will this function evolve over time to become something bigger?
  • It is not uncommon for a small function on the page to evolve into something larger and even become an independent feature or epic. For example, transaction history in banking typically begins as a basic listing of account activity. In the MVP, it starts off as a basic function. However, as time progresses, each row of transactions may begin displaying additional details, such as the ability to dispute transaction, view more information, etc. Eventually the transaction history can also be built out visually and have added functions related to personal financial management.
• Is the function naturally managed by a separate team, thus becoming a feature due to the resourcing setup?
  • This is usually applicable when you have a vendor connection or module in your app. For example, not everyone has an in-house payment module. They may be using Paypal, Stripe, or other providers.

A great way of brainstorming for features is using the concept of affinity mapping, which is essentially listing out all the possible functions that you are looking to build in a product and then grouping them based on the best possible commonalities.

Who Manages Features?

A product leader or a senior product manager is usually best suited for managing features. Features have higher visibility and require experience in orchestrating multiple moving parts.

A feature will have multiple user stories and customer journeys that it impacts, so it requires some strategic oversight, along with the understanding of what the user stories are trying to accomplish. It is also common to build a feature level roadmap, depending on the complexity and needs of the stakeholders.

Why is Defining Features Critical for Effective Product Management?

While features are essential for managing the detailed aspects of product development, themes provide a broader organizational layer. Themes are another way of grouping user stories as well. Depending on the preference within the organization, different terms may be used. However, an intermediary grouping of requirements is necessary between the epics and user stories. As the product expands in scope, strong foundational guidance on what constitutes a feature will significantly impact managing information and logistics around product management.

Having specific experts with deep knowledge at a feature level is a good practice to ensure development of SMEs and knowledge growth.

What Are Your Next Steps for Feature Management?

Understanding and managing features effectively is crucial to the success of any product development process. Well-defined and strategically managed features ensure smoother execution, improved team alignment, and better outcomes. However, navigating the complexity of feature management can be challenging.

If your team is struggling to define or manage features, or if you’re looking for ways to improve your overall product development process, Perficient is here to help. With our deep expertise in product strategy, Agile methodologies, and feature management, we can guide your team in optimizing product delivery and aligning it with your business goals.

Reach out to Perficient to learn how we can partner with you to transform your approach to product development and help you achieve lasting success.

Let’s be honest – projects can get messy fast. It’s all too easy to get tangled up in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture. That’s where Agile epics step in, helping you think big while staying grounded in the steps that lead to success. Epics act as the link between your grand strategy and the day-to-day tasks, giving your team the clarity to drive meaningful progress. Whether you’re steering a massive project or managing smaller innovations, mastering epics is key to unlocking the flexibility and focus that Agile promises. In this post, we’ll show you how epics empower teams to think big, act smart, and deliver results.

What is an Epic?

In a hierarchy of work, epics are formed by breaking down higher-level themes or business goals. They are large initiatives that encompass all the development work needed to implement a larger deliverable. An epic is too large to be completed in a single scrum team’s sprint, but it is smaller than the highest-level goals and initiatives. Epics are intentionally broad, light on details, and flexible.

Here’s what that means: The epic is broken down into smaller pieces of work. Your team may call these smaller pieces product backlog items/tickets, user stories, issues, or something else. As conditions or customer requirements change over time, these smaller pieces can be modified, removed, or added to a team’s product backlog with each sprint. In this way, the epic is flexible, providing direction without requiring heavy investment in its plans and details.

Why Are Epics Important?

Instead of tackling the whole epic at once with a deadline in a few months, you and your teammates deliver small increments of value to your customers, users, or stakeholders each sprint. When changes are needed, you adapt the plan easily. Had your team taken on the entire epic at once, they might find that changes have rendered the epic obsolete by the end.

How to Identify Epics?

Agile epics should describe major product requirements or areas of functionality that define the user experience. You can think of them as categories or parents for user stories that may not directly relate to each other but fall under the same umbrella of functionality (e.g. UI Improvements). Epics can become unwieldy quickly, so it’s worth examining them along the following lines to determine if the size is appropriate or not. Remember, the goal is for the epic to be fully delivered!

• Does the epic span products? If so, it may be more appropriate to split the epic along product lines.
• Do the success criteria support each other entirely? If there is conflict between measurements, splitting the epic would be warranted.
• Is the epic for multiple customer segments? Targeting different customer groups is likely to lead to contention between measurement and goals.
• How risky is the epic? An effective mitigation strategy may be to compartmentalize the risk across several epics rather than concentrating it in one.
• Would working on the epic effectively shut down all other development work? This may be an indication that the epic is too large (even if the business priority is clearly highest) and could introduce an extra level of risk that may not have been considered or can be easily mitigated.

Who Creates and Manages Epics?

In Agile, the creation of epics typically starts with the product manager, who has a deep understanding of the project’s long-term vision and business objectives. The product manager identifies major areas of work, shaping them into epics that guide the team’s efforts. While the product manager leads this process, it often involves input from various stakeholders and team members to ensure that each epic aligns with overall project goals. Once established, the product manager is responsible for managing these epics, breaking them down into smaller tasks, and prioritizing them with the product owner to support effective sprint planning and execution.

How to Craft Effective Epics?

• Define Clear Goals: Begin by identifying the epic’s objectives. Understand the problem it seeks to address and clarify how it will drive value for the project and stakeholders.
• Collaborate for Alignment: Involve key stakeholders—such as team members, users, and business leaders—to ensure the epic is well-rounded and matches user needs and business priorities.
• Maintain Flexibility: Though the epic should offer clear direction, it’s important to leave space for changes as new insights or requirements emerge during development.
• Prioritize Value: Ensure that every aspect of the epic contributes meaningfully to delivering tangible value to both the customer and the overall project.

Epic Structure: Key Components of a Well-Written Epic

• Title: The title should succinctly summarize the core of the epic, giving the team and stakeholders a quick understanding of its focus.
• Overview: Write a concise summary that outlines the epic’s objectives and the value it delivers to both the project and the end-user. Consider the target audience and competitors while framing this.
• Actionable Features: Break the epic down into smaller, actionable features that are measurable and align with the epic’s primary goals. These features should be traceable to specific user needs or project requirements.
• Success Criteria: Clearly define how the success of the epic will be measured. This should go beyond basic acceptance criteria and include broader business outcomes that may evolve over time.
• Dependencies: Identify any interdependencies with other epics, projects, or external factors that could influence the epic’s progress.
• Timeline: While the exact timeframe might not be locked, establishing a rough schedule helps prioritize the work and manage stakeholder expectations.

Next Steps

In conclusion, epics are fundamental to Agile methodology and critical to the Scrum framework. They help product managers, product owners, and key stakeholders manage and organize the product backlog effectively. Developers can also use epics to plan iterations, breaking them into manageable sprints, and systematically collect customer feedback. As outlined, epics serve as an asset for Agile teams, allowing for the grouping of user stories to aid in prioritization and incremental value delivery.

Effectively creating and managing epics can be challenging without the right approach. If you’re finding it difficult to structure your epics, align them with business goals, or manage their scope within your team, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Perficient. Our experts can help you refine your process, ensuring that your epics are well-defined, manageable, and strategically aligned with your project’s success.

Contact us today to learn how we can assist your team in mastering Agile epics!

This blog is the third and final post in a series about leveraging user stories to improve product outcomes. In this post we will explore how the utilization of just a few simple tips and tricks can help build a meaningful backlog of valuable user stories.

What are the “3 C’s” in Agile?

One of the key principles in Agile is the emphasis on the 3 C’s; Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. These 3 C’s play a crucial role in defining and prioritizing work for your delivery teams. Let’s explore each of these three C’s in more detail.

1. Card: Written on a physical card (or digitally in an Agile tool, or spreadsheet if nothing else) and may annotate with notes of the user’s need. This will essentially become your user story.
   1. Example: As a spouse, I want a clean garage so that I can park my car and not trip on my way to the door.
2. Conversation: Details in conversation with the Product Owner, Stakeholders, Developers, and Testers. This dialogue between the team and the user is necessary to clarify the details and assumptions of the story.
   1. Example: What about the bikes? Oh yeah, we can hang them up!
3. Confirmation: Is a set of criteria or tests that verify the story is done and meets the user’s expectations. This is your story’s acceptance criteria to confirm “correctness” of the story.
   1. Example: Tools have been put away, items are off the floor, and bikes have been hung.

This example may or may not be from a personal scenario so, I may or may not have a clean garage now and don’t have to worry about dying on my way in the door!

If you remember, from user story blog #1 in this series, these are all components of a user story and in Agile methodology, serve as guiding principles for effective work management. They emphasize the importance of clear, concise work items, collaborative communication, and continuous validation. This allows teams to streamline their processes, foster collaboration, and deliver customer value.

What is “INVEST” and how does it set my user story up for success?

To help ensure that your user stories are effective, they should meet the criteria of “INVEST.” This acrostic criterion is as follows:

• Independent: User stories should be independent of each other, so that they can be worked on and tested separately.
• Negotiable: User stories should be negotiable and open to discussion and change.
• Valuable: User stories should deliver value to the user and the business.
• Estimable: User stories should be estimable in terms of time and effort required.
• Small: User stories should be small enough to be completed within a single sprint.
• Testable: User stories should be testable, so that they can be validated and verified.

INVEST will help you remember a widely accepted set of criteria, or checklist, to assess the quality of a user story. If your story fails to meet one of these criteria, the team may want to reword it, or even consider a rewrite altogether. By ensuring that user stories meet the INVEST criteria, we can write more effective user stories that are focused on delivering value to the user and the business.

Are your stories “Vertically Sliced?”

Along with the INVEST criteria, it is recommended to use the “Vertical Slice” approach wherever possible within your product backlog. This means that each user story should deliver complete vertical slices of functionality across different work layers. This refers to a work item that delivers a valuable change in system behavior in which the team will probably have to touch multiple architectural layers to implement the change.

In other words, you don’t need to create a separate user story for frontend/user interface development, backend system architecture, database elements, or even testing. All these different development and quality assurance components should be worked within the same backlog work item to deliver value to the user once all “pieces of the pie” are considered done.

Conclusion

By following these Agile best practices, you will have a solid understanding of how to write effective user stories that will help development teams create high-quality products that meet user needs and deliver value to the business.

In the next blog posts we will dive into the creation and development of Features and Epics.

Agile is a Cliché, a widely used Phrase in today’s Industrial timeline. Evey Organisation, Group, Team wants to be Agile. But is it adopted in the name only???

Agile frameworks hold such promise. From focusing on value driven delivery to empowered investors or stakeholders, it is the time to be part of enthusing Software development.

There are fairy stories about what an Agile team should be like:

• It is a belief that an Agile team should not require a manager.
• The team should be able to forecast all scopes and delivery timelines up ahead.
• The team should always be self-sustaining all the time.
• Focus on the Tasks completion and make very little room for changes.

If you are agreeing to all or some of them, then it is time to change and consider the fact.

Here are some of the signs that backs-up the Agile is in name only but not a mindset

1. Requiring a large Document at the beginning

Being Agile is to choose Incremental Delivery, allowing team to learn adapt for new information and changes. Obtaining an exhaustive requirement document paves the way for traditional waterfall approaches and limits the team’s ability to think through, adapt and innovate

2. Marginalizing the Product Owner

For a consultant like us the Product Owner is the Client or the Client’s SPOC who provides the Product Backlog. Frequent and periodical communication empowers the Product Owner decide on the content and prioritizing the content in a Product Backlog, thereby giving an edge to the team for faster delivery. Remember empowering a Product Owner leads to the success of the team.

3. Micro-Management

Micromanaging the developers is contradictory to one of the principles of Agile; self-Organization, limiting the team’s ability to respond to change effectively.

4. Count of Ticket or Outcomes…Which one?

We often submerge ourselves into completing the listed Tasks than to really look upon the quality of the Outcome and value delivered. Agile success is measured not by the Volume of Tasks handled by the team but by delivering meaningful results.

5. Expecting a Project Plan Instead allowing team to adapt as more is learned

Agile frameworks prioritize adaptability and responsiveness to change. Rigid project plans do not allow for the iterative learning and adjustment that are core to agile practices.

6. Too many columns on your board

Using Tools such as Jira, Trello, YouTrack etc. are important to keep a track, however over-emphasizing on the usage and adding too many columns will only cause chaos and sometimes derail from actual collaboration and continuous improvement.

7. Lack of Continuous improvement

Agile team should constantly strive to reflect on their processes and seek ways to improve. The Agile process stagnates if there are no room for continuous improvement. It is necessary to create a feedback loop for continuous improvement through Sprint reviews. Agile methodologies promote frequent collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure the product meets the demand, undermining the same indicates shallow adoption of it.

Agile is all about finding what is the best for team for perform effectively.

For Example: A Team is forced to use the user story format to capture and document technical details in the Product Backlog when it doesn’t really make sense and perhaps extra efforts and Time spent. This is the sign the team is forced to use complementary practices when it is not needed.

Treating Agile as just a set of Practice rather than a mindset and change focused on flexibility, collaboration and continuous improvement misses the essence of being Agile.

Remember, Agile Transformation is a journey which cannot be obtained overnight. But as the wise say, every positive steps adds to the glory. Change takes time, and sometimes, a series of small improvements will get you there faster than trying to change everything at once.

Happy Agile

Health insurers play a unique and crucial role in ensuring that people have access to affordable, high-quality care. As the stewards of sensitive data and the day-to-day face of healthcare interactions for many of their members, it is imperative that they remain adaptive and forward looking, constantly evolving to meet new requirements, expectations, and demands.

Insurers must consider a number of issues when selecting a partner to assist with this digital transformation—which is crucial for maintaining operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction. Insurers require partners with a proven track record in the healthcare industry, those who can bring a deep understanding of specific challenges and requirements unique to health insurance.

Health insurers must carefully evaluate these potential digital transformation vendors against criteria such as regulatory compliance, interoperability, scalability, cost, support quality, and industry expertise to ensure they choose the best partner for their needs.

Health insurers must make sure that every dollar spent provides value to members and improves access to quality care.

Maximizing Value With Highly Skilled, Nearshore Talent and More

Our client, a leading health insurer in the Northeast U.S., wanted to reduce costs by consolidating important digital initiatives into a series of multi-year projects focused on member and broker digital interactions. This entailed switching from prior consulting firms, which required a swift and seamless integration to ensure work remained on track and on budget.

Better Health for Our Client’s Business and the Communities It Serves

Within months, we seamlessly onboarded 200+ skilled multishore resources in time zones aligned with the insurer and across a variety of digital workstreams and specializations.

This change could have significantly delayed our client’s progress in creating a more consumer-centric experience and care model. But our meticulous preparation and multishore delivery model ensured that our teams were immediately contributing to the health insurer’s mission.

“It was great to see how Perficient’s transition and leadership teams came together to ensure we had all the right resources.” – Head of Engineering at Client Subsidiary

READ THE FULL SUCCESS STORY: Equipping People and Processes for a Capacity-Based Vendor Consolidation

Perficient + Healthcare

Have questions? We help health insurers navigate intense technological and regulatory requirements while controlling costs and improving the user experience to support and delight members. As a leading global digital consultancy, Perficient has been trusted by the 10 largest health systems and 10 largest health insurers to deliver transformative results. Contact us today, and let’s discuss your specific needs and goals.​

This blog is the second post in a series about leveraging user stories to improve product outcomes. In this post, we will explore how acceptance criteria can be used to define the scope and requirements of user stories.

What are Acceptance Criteria?

Acceptance criteria, or AC, are the minimum level of expectations that need to be met to mark a user story as complete. It contains the situations, triggers, expected outcomes and the user role. In a way, they are an extension of the user story, which helps to clarify the expected outcome before development work begins.

Why is Acceptance Criteria Important?

As a Product Owner, acceptance criteria are a valuable tool for effectively communicating the expectations of a user story when working with cross-functional teams. An AC helps the developers and testers understand what needs to be accomplished, while the user story provides the original business and user context. Developing an AC allows you to think in absolute terms, almost like system instructions, to give developers the necessary context to execute a user story. This eliminates any ambiguity and helps both developers and testers understand what is expected.

Adding acceptance criteria increases transparency between a business scenario and the desired outcome. It sets the basis for what is expected to be tested. It is important to note that acceptance criteria are not the same as test cases, however, they can be used to inform test cases.

How to Format Acceptance Criteria

Similar to writing user stories, practice makes perfect. Agile provides frameworks and guidelines that can be used as the building blocks of a successful acceptance criteria. These are great as starting points, but it is important to adapt the framework to the unique needs of your organization and teams.

The Gherkin method, as demonstrated below, is the most common approach to creating acceptance criteria.

GIVEN a certain scenario/context,

WHEN a certain trigger/action is taken,

THEN an outcome must be observed.

For example:

GIVEN a user is in any step after step 2 in the payment flow,

WHEN the user clicks on the exit button

THEN the system will display a confirmation prompt to confirm if the user wants to proceed.

The other options to capture AC are:

1. “The system shall…” format, for example, The system shall display a confirmation prompt when the user clicks on the “Cancel” button.
2. Supplemental requirement statements, for example,
   1. The confirmation prompt must have the following UI components:
      1. Two options for the user
         1. To continue with the selected action
         2. Cancel the selected action
      2. The prompt must follow the branding guidelines of the organization as in the Market.
      3. The UI must follow the web accessibility standards as outlined in the Accessibility Document <insert hyperlink>.

Acceptance Criteria Best Practices

Here are some best practices for creating acceptance criteria that make an impact:

• Be as specific, precise and concise as possible.
• Try to check if the steps you have described are indeed testable.
• Use visual flows, if it makes sense, to help readers understand the larger picture.
• Use references to relevant documentation or user stories you are building on. For example, business value, if it is not already obvious.

As with any other agile documentation or ceremony, collaboration yields the highest quality output. A Product Owner may be responsible for building out the initial draft of the AC’s, but reviewing with the rest of the team during grooming or refinement or one-off ceremonies is a good practice.

It is also important to note that most of user stories will be approved or signed off by the Product Owner, so it is in the best interest of a Product Owner to thoroughly understand the expectation, impact and risk associated with the user stories and how they will test the ACs. In some cases, the PO may not be the person to sign off should make sure the right stakeholders are looped in.

Conclusion

Developing acceptance criteria is an essential step in the product lifecycle to define the scope and requirements of your user stories. It provides the necessary context to approach the user story from a different perspective, to ensure all expectations have been clearly communicated.

The next blog post in this series will dive into additional tips on user stories.

Perficient has built innovative digital product solutions for Fortune 500 enterprises for over 25 years. Contact us today to learn more about or Innovation + Product Development consulting services.

This blog is the first post in a series about leveraging user stories to improve product outcomes. In this post, we will explore how to write compelling user stories to quickly deliver value to your customers.

The User Story – Your Key to Unlocking Product Value

Picture this. It’s demo day. You’re excited to finally see what the development team has been working on for weeks, and you’re confident this work will bring value to your customers. There’s only one problem. It’s not really what you were expecting, and it’s definitely not going to bring the value you were hoping for. So, what happened?

Chances are, if you work in product development, you have experienced this. Helping the developers understand what you want need can sometimes feel like you’re painting abstract expressionism upside down. This can get very frustrating, and not to mention, burn through valuable time and resources.

Successful product development requires effective communication with the development team. In Agile product development, the main tool we have at our disposal is the user story. This simple, yet elegant, instrument can make or break how quickly you deliver value to your customers. It’s vitally important for every product manager or owner to know how to write a great user story.

What is a User Story?

In simple terms it’s a method of communicating business requirements to a development team. What often happens in the real world though are people conflate “user story” with this thing they have to talk about in Jira or Azure Dev Ops (or name your tool). They miss the importance of what the actual user story is.

The user story is a one-line sentence that details the purpose of the work itself. The purpose of the story is to give a development team and testers clear context on the goal of the work to be completed.

The 3 Components of a Compelling User Story

There are three components to writing a compelling user story:

1. User Role – a user story is written from the view of the user that wants/needs the story (i.e. health plan member, website user, etc.). The role used should be as specific as you can be to provide a clear direction to the development team on who benefits from this work.

2. Activity – this is a high level summary of what needs to be delivered with the story (i.e. submit a payment, upload a document, etc.). Similar to the user role, this should be as specific as possible.

3. Value – the last piece of the user story is the user value. This is where you write out the “why” behind the work. This gives context to the scrum team on why the user cares about this work, how it brings the end user/customer value, and how it relates to the overall product goals/vision.

How to Structure a User Story

Now that you know the pieces of the user story, there is an easy format for how to write the user story. A good user story contains the 3 pieces and is written as one sentence like below:

As a [user role], I want [activity], so that [value].

What I’ve found in my experience is many user stories leave out the value part. Either the product owner doesn’t think it worthwhile to include, or the development team feels they don’t need it. When this is left out, the team doesn’t understand the “why” behind the work. A good development team wants to know why the work they’re doing is important to the product. That can influence how they solve for the problem and code the requirements.

In Conclusion

Writing a good user story is not difficult on the surface, but you’d be surprised how many experienced product development professionals miss this foundational concept. Well-written user stories can help you communicate much more effectively, which allows your team to deliver value faster.

The next post in this series will dive into acceptance criteria.

Perficient has built innovation digital product solutions for Fortune 500 enterprises for over 25 years. Contact us today to learn more about our Innovation + Product Development services.

Our colleagues in Atlanta had the wonderful opportunity to step into the world of competitive gaming as they met, and even got to play against multiple eMLS champion Paulo Neto! Paulo Neto represents Atlanta United and is a renowned eSports athlete Known for his prowess in FIFA. Paulo shared his insights into his journey as an esports athlete, shedding light on the skills and mindset required to succeed in the increasingly competitive world of eSports. 

As Paulo spoke about the dedication, strategic thinking, and adaptability necessary to thrive in the world of competitive gaming, we couldn’t help but draw parallels to our experiences in product development. Like in competitive gaming, success in product development requires a holistic approach, combining innovation, flexibility, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. 

Strategic Vision and Adaptability 

In both areas, success begins with a clear strategic vision. Paulo continuously adapts and evolves his game before, during, and after the game.  Before each match, Paulo comes up with a specific game plan for the opponent he will play to best optimize his performance. During the game, Paulo constantly adapts and adjusts his tactics based on what he sees throughout the game. Lastly, Paulo constantly evolves his game. Each opponent he plays evolves their game, so Paulo must continuously evolve his game in order to maintain his competitive edge.  

Similarly, our product development teams constantly adapt in all three phases, before, during and after. They must remain adaptable, agile, and constantly evolve to reimagine technological solutions to meet ever-evolving business needs. This requires a deep understanding of marketing dynamics, user expectations, and emerging technologies.

Fast Reaction Time

High level eSports gamers need to have a lightning-fast reaction time to succeed in competitive gaming. In FIFA, where split second decisions determine the outcomes of games, having quick reflexes to make your next move is essential. Whether it’s anticipating an opponent’s next move, executing a precise juke, or taking advantage of a hole in the defense, Paulo Neto must have a great reaction time, which is mastered through practice and experience.  

Similarly, product development teams must have quick reactions and adaptability to navigate through complex, ever-changing landscapes. In today’s fast-paced business environment, market conditions, user preferences, and technological advancements can change rapidly, meaning that product development teams need to react quickly to these changes in order to succeed.

Data Driven Decision Making 

In today’s data driven world, data goes into everything we do. Competitive gaming and product development are no different. Paulo Neto analyzes gameplay statistics such as possession percentage, pass completion percentage, and shots on target to identify his and his opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.  

In the product development world, our team look at outcome driven metrics, user centric metrics, and platform integration metrics to understand user behavior, measure product performance, and identify areas of improvement. By harnessing the power of data-driven insights, both competitive gamers and product developers can make well informed decisions and optimize outcomes and drive success.  

Scoring Big with Our Product Development Team 

We bring decades of experience delivering cutting-edge digital product solutions to the world’s leading brands. Our product development consultants have the deep cross-industry experience and technical experience to bring your product vision to market. Our product development teams remain with you throughout the life of your product. Learn more about how our product development team can help you score big! 

Healthcare organizations (HCOs) are doubling down on business resiliency, cost optimization, and better experiences for their consumers and employees. To operationalize the important tasks at hand, many of these teams are adopting more modern, Agile methods to streamline and speed that progress.

And importantly, health plans and systems increasingly rally digital, IT, and marketing teams as important partners in this transformation work.

While Agile methodology’s roots are in software development, it has evolved into a top choice for project (and product) managers across functions and industries, including healthcare.  

What is Agile project management?  

Agile project management uses an iterative approach to boost productivity by delivering work in small increments, known as sprints. Teams leverage this technology to position their products for optimal performance and effectiveness by incorporating transparency into their project management efforts.  

The Agile approach enhances HCO’s dynamic mission–centric environment and streamlines work toward project milestones that can positively influence healthcare experiences and outcomes.  

Benefits of Agile project management in healthcare 

Agile is one of the most popular approaches to project management, yet healthcare teams sometimes still struggle to fully adopt the methods and reap its rewards. Following are some key benefits we’ve witnessed as we partner with leading HCOs to drive transformational progress and outcomes for their business and consumers:   

1. Increased productivity and sense of ownership

Agile project management boosts efficiency and productivity by allowing healthcare team contributors to efficiently self-organize and plan a path forward. By breaking down large projects, teams can identify and address problems more efficiently, ultimately speeding up the development and deployment of healthcare solutions. Plus, the autonomy to self-organize fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment. 

2. Better stakeholder engagement

Agile promotes efficient collaboration among cross-functional, matrixed teams. In healthcare, this can lead to improved coordination across functions and the broader care ecosystem. Health providers and insurers can engage with stakeholders to gather feedback, ensure alignment with business objectives, and make informed decisions that more positively impact experiences and care. 

3. Enhanced patient, member, and care team outcomes

Agile methodologies emphasize a user-centric approach. By involving patients, members, care teams, and other key stakeholders throughout the development process, healthcare solutions can be tailored to better meet important needs. Regular feedback loops ensure that the end product aligns with user expectations, ultimately leading to better experiences.  

4. Innovation

The healthcare industry is subject to constant change, whether it be regulatory updates, technological advancements, or shifts in consumer expectations. Agile project management supports strategic ideation and experimentation, enabling organizations to adapt more quickly to this change. By testing and iterating on solutions in a short timeframe, organizations can identify and implement innovative features or services that set them apart in an increasingly competitive marketplace. 

Taking It Even Further: The Move From Project to Product 

Rather than siloing progress into projects, progressive HCOs are evolving their approach to a more adaptive, outcomes-centered product approach. This shift from a project to a product mindset is particularly relevant for health insurers and healthcare providers as they aim to enhance their agility, responsiveness, and consumer-centric focus. Read my blog “10 Ways Agile Supports Product-Driven Healthcare” to learn more. 

Boost Your Agility  

It’s clear that an Agile approach can be a critical component in any HCO. Agile project management improves day-to-day operations, creates an efficient and productive work environment, and ultimately, enables experiences that build trust and support better business and health outcomes.

Interested in learning more? Our healthcare experts are here to help.

Many times, in my career when performing QA, I’ve dealt with many times where I’ve felt uncertain about my efforts. Through my work at Perficient—and with the help of my team—I’ve learned over time how to persist and show grit in testing to be able to ensure the highest quality of work delivered throughout a project.

Here are some tips to help your breakthrough any blockers you may have when performing QA.

Trust the Process and Be Patient

There can be many factors working against you when performing QA: several test cases to resolve, a difficulty in getting to the right testing instructions or even understanding what to test and what the right result is.

From my experience, the best way to overcome these blockers is to have a firm process for manual QA, taking as much uncertainty and ambiguity out of your case as you can.

Here are ways to solidify your QA process:

• Make sure your test cases, conditions and satisfaction requirements are clear, concise, and easy to understand.
• Highlight the most relevant information to look for and focus on this specific point during your test to avoid any confusion.
• Ensure before each test that your tools are configured to the right settings, and that you see the most accurate information.
• Methodically go through each step of the process, whether you’re performing the test for the first time or thousandth time.
• Always have a list of contacts to whom you can direct any questions about the case or process to, including developers, PMs, or any other involved party.
• Document any failures, concerns or access issues in a list or table format depending on each requirement.
• Frequently review the overall requirements and account for both present and hidden factors in your testing.
• For every test failure, work with your developer to understand the failure and resolve it.

Once you’ve solidified your process, you can be certain that you’re performing each QA with a standard that eliminates any uncertainty with your testing.

However, even with the best process, you may be stuck due to factors outside of your control, such as access issues, development work or even bugs within your work that prevent you from moving forward.

When this happens, remember these things:

• It’s outside of your control. Things will happen, and you should always strive to remain calm and collected whenever you encounter an obstacle or blocker.
• Try to remove as much of the human element as possible. With a firm process, you’ll be able to handle any blocker that comes your way. This should also apply to any emotions your personal investment you have in the project.
• Be adaptable all the time. As things change and the project alters over time, you should be the same, making sure that you always strive to execute the process in the same way no matter what case or requirement you’re on.

With these principles in mind, you’ll be better equipped to handle anything that comes in the way of your QA work.

Balance Between the Details and Big Picture

When performing QA work, it’s always expected to focus on the small details. This is especially true when going through a set process or replicating a result through test conditions. However, it’s important to always understand the outcome of your results, and how the quality of what you’re seeing ties into the value of what the end user sees.

When working throughout a project, you should align your process with the needs of the project but allow yourself time to look at the entire system holistically to see if there are quality issues that can be proactively resolved or caught to streamline your QA process.

Here are some ways to accomplish this:

• Develop an understanding of the ecosystem in which your project lies—this includes dependencies, patterns or external factors that could positively or negatively influence the outcome of your project.
• Try to merge your case requirements within a table to get a bigger picture of how the entire process works—you can work with your developers and architects to understand each functionality within the project.
• Inquire about the development process or codebase within the project to see if there are any areas or issues that may affect the quality of the final output or lead to issues with your testing.
• When documenting the result, try and tie in your result within each requirement to see if there are opportunities of improvement or patterns that emerge within your project.

With these tips, you’ll be able to go above and beyond in providing the best quality possible throughout the lifecycle of your project. Happy testing!

The shift from a project to a product mindset is particularly relevant for health insurers and healthcare providers as they aim to enhance their agility, responsiveness, and consumer-centric focus. Agile methodologies play a crucial role in facilitating and supporting this transition in the healthcare industry.

Agile’s role in product-driven healthcare

1. Continuous Improvement in Healthcare Services: Agile emphasizes iterative development and continuous improvement. For healthcare organizations (HCOs), this means an ongoing focus on refining and enhancing healthcare services and products to meet changing patient needs, regulatory requirements, and industry standards.
2. Adaptability to Regulatory Changes: In the healthcare industry, regulatory changes are common. Agile provides a framework that allows health insurers and providers to adapt quickly to these changes. Through iterative development and regular feedback, organizations can ensure that their products and services remain compliant and aligned with evolving regulations.
3. Customer-Centric Healthcare Solutions: Agile methodologies prioritize customer collaboration and feedback. Shifting to a product mindset enables HCOs to better understand patient and member needs. By incorporating user feedback into product development, organizations can create healthcare solutions that are more aligned with the preferences and requirements of their customers.
4. Enhanced Cross-Functional Collaboration: Agile promotes cross-functional collaboration among different teams, including healthcare professionals, administrators, IT specialists, and others. This collaborative approach is essential in a product-oriented setting, fostering effective communication and teamwork across diverse functions within health insurers and providers.
5. Agile Product Ownership for Healthcare Solutions: The concept of Agile product ownership becomes crucial in ensuring that healthcare products and services align with business goals and patient needs. A dedicated product owner, representing the interests of both the organization and the end-users, helps guide the development and evolution of healthcare solutions in a way that maximizes value.
6. Health-Centric Design and Innovation: Agile principles support health-centric design and innovation. Shifting from project-based to product-oriented thinking allows HCOs to continuously innovate in response to needs of their patients, members, care teams, and broader care ecosystem. By prioritizing features and improvements based on feedback, organizations can enhance experiences and outcomes.
7. Outcome-Oriented Healthcare Metrics: Agile encourages the use of outcome-oriented metrics rather than merely tracking project progress. Health insurers and providers can measure success based on factors such as patient satisfaction, quality scores, health outcomes, and the overall impact of healthcare products on the well-being of individuals and communities.
8. Efficient Resource Allocation in Healthcare: Agile practices, such as capacity planning and sprint planning, assist in efficient resource allocation. Shifting to a product mindset enables HCOs to allocate resources effectively, ensuring that the right skills and expertise are applied to ongoing product development and improvement initiatives.
9. Faster Time-to-Market for Healthcare Innovations: Agile’s emphasis on delivering incremental value aligns with the need for faster time-to-market in healthcare. By releasing improvements and innovations iteratively, HCOs can stay ahead of the curve and provide cutting-edge solutions to healthcare consumers.
10. Cultivating a Learning Culture in Healthcare: Agile methodologies foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. In the healthcare context, where staying informed about medical advancements and best practices is critical, Agile practices support a mindset of learning and adapting to new information and research.

Move from project to product with expert guidance

Agile methodologies play a pivotal role as health insurers and healthcare providers shift from a project to a product mindset. This shift enables these organizations to be more responsive to consumer needs, regulatory changes, and industry trends, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in the delivery of healthcare services and products.

Is your healthcare digital organization truly product-driven? In this blog, we explore the brass tacks of product-driven healthcare and offer pro tips that can be applied at the portfolio and the team level.

If you’re interested in truly becoming outcomes-driven, we’re here to help. Learn more here.