Are Agile Projects Doomed to Half-Baked Design?

Are Agile Projects Doomed to Half-Baked Design? Alex Chaffee [email_address] Leslie Chicoine [email_address]

Introduction What is Design What is Coding XP and Agile Programming Agile Design: How to merge Agile processes and design principles Q&A

Web 2.0 = ?

Web 2.0 = play

Web 2.0 = play faster

Design Methods Design

Design Methods Strategy Graphics User Centered Front End Coding User Interface Information Architecture Interactive Interaction Research User Flow Concepts Design

Design Methods I design.

Design Methods Research Thought Modeling Communication Play Re-design I design.

Coding Methods Coding

Coding Methods Model-View-Controller Databases JavaScript Java Debugging CSS Version Control IDEs Research Coding Ruby Design Patterns UML Diagrams Deploying Perl Object-Oriented Design Best Practices Scripting

Coding Methods I code.

Coding Methods I code. Research Thought Modeling Communication Play Re-design

The Big Idea “ Design is finding the problem, not the solution.” —Leslie Chicoine

The hard problems are…
people problems
(mis-) communication
(not enough) feedback
(not fully) comprehending constraints
process problems
deadline and resource management
design flexibility in the face of frequent change
Where can we find a people-oriented process, and process-oriented people?

Extreme Programming is an Agile Process
Motto: Embrace Change
Other Agile Processes include Scrum, Crystal Clear, Adaptive Software Development, Feature Driven Development, DSDM, Agile Modeling
XP Defined

Extreme Programming is an Agile Process
Values
Feedback
Communication
Simplicity
Courage
XP Defined

XP Practices XP Practices Collective Ownership Pairing Continuous Improvement Continuous Integration testing refactoring simple design High code quality
Sustainable Pace
On-site Customer
design by discussion
frequent spontaneous
working sessions
Suggest and agree to process changes
” Ask the room” “ Don’t be stupid.” retrospectives Incremental design, development, deployment Weekly demos

XP Cycles
Rapid Iteration, small releases
Frequent planning/design sessions
Iteration Planning, Release Planning
Break down requirements into stories into tasks
Daily Standup
Regular All-Hands Retrospectives
Frequent (weekly) demos
of deployed, 100% functional software
real code, real db, real ui, but only some of the stories
coders, clients, designers, PMs are all in the room
XP Cycles

XP Meets Waterfall Design Extreme Programming Waterfall Design

XP Meets Waterfall Design

The three things we do in XP that any team should do
Weekly demos
Daily standups
Pairing
Caution: May provoke resistance and hostility
XP Staples

Agile Design Agile Design

Agile Design “ Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower

Agile Design Embracing change Communal design ownership Evolving solutions

Agile Design

Agile Design “ Make it OK for people to challenge an idea or two, the good ideas can withstand it and the weaker ideas fall away and make room for something [better].” -Brad Bird, Writer/Director of the Incredibles

Agile Design “ He’ll take good ideas from wherever they come from.” “He asks you, he wants to know what you think.”

Scales of Design Scales of Design

Scales of Design Concept Business Goals User Tasks / Motivations Site Flow & Wayfinding Supporting Systems Navigation Widgets Global Styles Language Buttons Graphics Fonts Large Scale Small Scale

Scales of Design The Large Scale is tested in the Small Scale. The Small Scale reveals if the Large Scale ideas are solid.

Scales of Design Play faster.

Scales of Design Concept Business Goals User Tasks / Motivations Site Flow & Wayfinding Supporting Systems Navigation Widgets Global Styles Language Buttons Graphics Fonts Large Scale Small Scale

Problems vs. Solutions Problems vs. Solutions

Problems vs. Solutions “ Design is finding the problem, not the solution.”

Problems vs. Solutions Documents as communication space Not as blueprints

Problems vs. Solutions

Problems vs. Solutions Expose and flesh out the problems While manage constraints

Problems vs. Solutions Suggest solutions Share the outcome to create buy-in

Open Design Open Design

Open Design Agile demands open: it’s got to be flexible and extensible.

Open Design Expose to create depth .

Scales of Open Design Concept Business Goals User Tasks / Motivations Site Flow & Wayfinding Supporting Systems Navigation Widgets Global Styles Language Buttons Graphics Fonts Large Scale Small Scale

Open Design

Open Design Small Scale as reflection of Large Scale Design emerges from simple rules

Designers should…
Design a week in advance of coding
Not make your mockups pixel-perfect
Work literally side-by-side with coders when implementing mockups
Allow coders to participate in IA/UI design — Especially after the coding has already started

Coders should…
Coders should ask designers… or else
time is wasted re-working solved issues
solutions are implemented that don't work with other parts of the designed system
coders make assumptions based on mockups
Coders should give frequent live demos… or else
designers don't know what parts of the design are/aren't working
designers don't know what parts of the design aren't working together
coders don't know their code has bugs or needs tweaking

How to integrate with an outside design company?
Communication and feedback are naturally more stretched out
Some unnatural (or at least un-Agile) barriers are imposed
Time and space
Signoff procedures
Documentation / specs
Perfectionism
Mistrust
Bring them in to your process as much as you can
Don’t force them to adapt too much or they’ll resent and demonize you
Iterate per-month at first, then per-week
Invite them to your demos (remotely if need be)

Say Hi. Alex Chaffee [email_address] Leslie Chicoine [email_address]

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Are Agile Projects Doomed to Half-Baked Design?

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Are Agile Projects Doomed to Half-Baked Design? Webinar Transcript