[IxDA Discuss] Introducing UX design in an agile environment

Wed May 2 20:30:24 PDT 2007

I took a look at the description for the seminar offered by Constantine. Frankly, the description seemed to not really address the core issues of integrating UX processes into the developer-centric Agile method. I'm less concerned with the "understanding of my users" (via the method) than I am in accomplishing a significant amount of change  to in a release than Agile typically provides.

I see user research as being on a completely different track of Agile and is a long term proposition (speaking as an "innie" not a consultant). 

I'd like to know more about how larger leaps forward (in improving UX) can be accomplished in a framework that is focused on bite size pieces and endless iterations. 

Anyone have any resources out there that would help me better understand that dilemma?

mK

----- Original Message ----
From: David Malouf <dave.ixd at gmail.com>
To: IxDA Discuss <discuss at ixda.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 4:07:49 PM
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Introducing UX design in an agile environment

Here's one:
http://foruse.com/articles/agiledesign.htm

But there are also a few papers on Abstract Prototyping that I think
are relevant as well.

- -dave

On 5/1/07, Dmitry Nekrasovski <mail.dmitry at gmail.com> wrote:
> Bruce, Andrew, and Dave - thanks for your responses.
>
> Bruce - I have looked at Leisa's deck, and it is great. But, to abuse
> her "washing machine" analogy, I'm looking for more resources that can
> help me tell my team the story of how the UX detergent can help them
> get their laundry cleaner than ever before. :)
>
> Andrew - I have to admit that I'm a bit skeptical that rapid
> contextual design is actually applicable in my situation. RCD seems to
> be focused on user research rather than design or validation, which is
> unfortunately a luxury I can ill afford at present. Furthermore, the
> authors' definition of bare bones RCD is "a two-person team with only
> a few weeks to spare", which is how my team builds whole features. :)
>
> Dave - was there a specific Constantine & Lockwood paper you had in mind?
>
> Thanks again and more suggestions welcome!
>
> Dmitry
>
>
> On 5/1/07, David Malouf <dave.ixd at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I know that Lockhart and Constantine (foruse.com) have a paper about
> > Agile and UX stuff and in fact Larry Constantine will be giving a
> > course on the topic of IxD and Agile environments at UI12 (I know a
> > ways off) this coming November.
> >
> > Info for the specific workshop is here:
> > http://www.uie.com/events/uiconf/2007/program/#constantine
> >
> > As an attendee and speaker I can tell you this is one of the best
> > weeks I have ever spent at a UX conference. The quality of the program
> > is like nothing you'll get at a professional association conference.
> > All good, no bad!
> >
> > And!!! if you register now you get an iPod video AND a major discount
> > on the event.
> >
> > Ok, I'll stop. Seriously, I'm not speaking or attending this year ...
> > I'm just a fan.
> >
> > -- dave
> >
> >
> >
> > On 5/1/07, andrew_hinton at vanguard.com <andrew_hinton at vanguard.com> wrote:
> > > The book "Rapid Contextual Design" goes to some pains to integrate
> > > contextual design practices (most of which we consider to be standard UX
> > > discovery, analysis and visioning methods) into Agile, and how to explain
> > > that to IT professionals. You may want to check that out. (It's a great
> > > book to have anyway.)
> > >
> > > http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Contextual-Design-How-User-Centered/dp/0123540518
> > >
> > > ---
> > > Andrew Hinton
> > > www.inkblurt.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Bruce Esrig <esrig-ia at esrig.com>
> > > Sent by: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
> > > 05/01/2007 03:38 PM
> > >
> > > To
> > > "Dmitry Nekrasovski" <mail.dmitry at gmail.com>
> > > cc
> > > IxDA Discuss <discuss at ixda.org>
> > > Subject
> > > Re: [IxDA Discuss] Introducing UX design in an agile  environment
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I recently completed a project in which the development team was changing
> > > over to an Agile approach. We divided the problem space up into domains,
> > > each addressed by a solution team.
> > >
> > > On this project, there were two roles to talk to: systems engineers and
> > > developers. The systems engineers seemed to think about a lot of the same
> > > issues that a user experience designer would, but from a systems point of
> > > view: what goes on each page ... to feed the needs of the system. The
> > > developers were very interested in getting enough specifics so they could
> > > go off and prototype.
> > >
> > > The role of the user experience person was to perpetually raise the level
> > > of discussion. What does the user need most today? What is the user's
> > > goal?
> > > What do we need to engineer into the user's world view to best reflect
> > > that
> > > goal? What approximation to that can we easily add to the user interface,
> > > in a way that will permit us to continue to migrate towards the ideal
> > > later?
> > >
> > > With that introduction, perhaps you would enjoy Leise Reichelt's slide
> > > deck
> > > from the IA Summit, which is available at
> > > http://www.slideshare.net/leisa/waterfall-bad-washing-machine-good-where-does-ia-fit-in-the-design-process/
> > >
> > >
> > > There are a few slides of background, and then you can see her main idea
> > > starting at slide 16. She shows a correspondence between some Agile
> > > approaches and some user experience techniques. The way I understand it,
> > > if
> > > the user experience person fits in well with the rapid-turnaround life
> > > cycle of an Agile methodology, the team will be happy to have the benefit
> > > of the guidance that personas and user stories can provide.
> > >
> > > Best wishes,
> > >
> > > Bruce Esrig
> > >
> > > At 03:05 PM 5/1/2007, Dmitry Nekrasovski wrote:
> > >
> > > >I've recently started a new role as the first UX designer in a company
> > > >practicing an agile development process. I'm now working on an
> > > >internal presentation to introduce UX principles within an agile
> > > >context.
> > > >
> > > >So far, I've found a number of resources that aim to explain agile
> > > >approaches to UX practitioners, but very little along the lines of
> > > >explaining UX principles and practices to agile developers. Does
> > > >anyone have any pointers they'd be willing to share?
> > > >
> > > >Dmitry
> > >
> > >
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> > --
> > David Malouf
> > http://synapticburn.com/
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-- 
David Malouf
http://synapticburn.com/
http://ixda.org/
http://motorola.com/
________________________________________________________________
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