Tag Archives: scrum

Mockup Madness

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I haven’t really had much time to write in my blog lately because I’ve been so busy creating mockups for the Sprints at work. I’ve been using Twitter much more actively than before, but I don’t really discuss Usability Topics on there. So far I think the integration of the Scrum process has been going very well. It’s encouraged communication, collaboration and exposes design issues much earlier in the process than waterfall.

There is one thing that has been in the back of my mind lately. It seems like the process tends to allow for the constant bandaging and improving of software that already exists. Some of the design issues that exist seem like they are ready for a complete redesign. Every time I see a project rushed out the door it makes me think of Alan Coopers quote: “There’s no group of consumers waiting for you to ship your bad product to market.” Not that I think we ship bad products, I think I work on a fantastic product that is extremely powerful and flexible. I would just like to see the UI updated. Being first to market seems to take a priority to the UX.

Looking for a better way…

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Over the past year, I have been trained in User Centered Design techniques by some of the leading names in this country. It seems the whole Contextual Design process is very time consuming. I have a hard time making users visits because I do not access to a solid repertoire of customers from my work site. The application I do UX for requires lots of hardware and setup. I have received great UI feedback from trainers, but even some of their requests are hard for me to test in my current environment.

Because of the previously stated issues, and the fact that I’ve been reading up on the IXDA website, I am getting interested in Action Centered, or Behavior Centered design. This takes the User–the most inconsistent and unreliable element out of the equation. I am looking for good resources on ACD, and how I can integrate the ACD workflow and methodology into the scrum process that we are initiating at my location. I am even interested in doing maybe a hybrid of methods, because I believe it is important to know the users, and listen to their needs, it just seems like it may not be practical 100% of the time.

Scrum, an Agile project management methodology

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Today I attended a 2 hour session on Scrum. Apparently the concept of Scrum is derived from the sport Rugby. The concept is that you have a team of people working together to achieve a common goal in small iterations. The scrum process consists of periods of development known as ‘sprints’, and are moderated by people called ScrumMasters. Yes, it all sounds strange, but the concept is that if you design something iteratively, that you can change development direction as needed and determined by the Product Owner.

I was partially exposed to an Agile development methodology working from a remote location, and it seemed rather chaotic. Hopefully this will run smoother since most of the people involved are in one location. One of the most important elements to Scrum are daily stand-up meetings. These are 15 minute long meetings to monitor progress on a day to day basis.

Tomorrow I will be giving a presentation on Interaction Design integration into the Scrum process. This integration may prove to be a challenge for me as I am the only HF/UX Designer at this facility, and there may be several Scrum projects going on concurrently. I will need to determine when and how I will be involved in each of the projects. I’m sure that my role will evolve throughout time. I am interested to see how this all pans out.  For more detailed information on scrum, you can check it out on wikipedia here.