User-Centered Agile Method

118 Pages·2013·14.72 MB·English

by  Dominique Deuff

User-Centered Agile Method
FOCUS SERIES IN NETWORKS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Series Editor Marcelo Dias de Amorim
User-Centered
Agile Method
Dominique Deuff
Mathilde Cosquer
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Contents
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Jean-MichelPORTUGALandClaudeDALOZ
CHAPTER1.INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER2.INTRODUCTIONTOTHEMETHODSEMPLOYED. . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.Theagilemethod−Scrum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1.Fundamentalelementsofagilemethods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.2.Scrummethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.3.Scrummethodasaframeworkfor
theUser-CenteredAgilemethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.User-CenteredDesignmethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3.Usertestingmethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
CHAPTER3.SOURCESFORTHISWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1.Stateoftheart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1.1.Existingmodels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.1.2.Recurringelementsbetweenfeedbackreports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2.FeedbackonapplicationofthefirstversionoftheUCAmethod . . . . 36
3.3.ElementsretainedfortheconstructionoftheUCAmethod . . . . . . . 38
CHAPTER4.DESCRIPTIONOFTHEUSER-CENTEREDAGILEMETHOD . . . . 41
4.1.Rolespresent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.2.Ceremonies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3.Artifacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.4.Progressionofthemethod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
vi User-CenteredAgileMethod
4.4.1.Phase1:designofaglobalviewoftheproduct. . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.4.2.Phase2:development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.4.3.Phase3:validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.5.Implicationofthemethodintermsofworkload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.5.1.Phase1:designofaglobalviewoftheproduct. . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.5.2.Phase2:development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.5.3.Phase3:validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
CHAPTER5.CASESTUDIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.1.ApplicationoftheUser-CenteredAgilemethod
ontheCat’sEyesproject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.1.1.Overviewoftheproject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.1.2.Actorsinvolvedintheprojectandtheirroles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1.3.Descriptionoftheprogressionoftheproject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.1.4.Feedbackrelatingtothemethod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
5.2.ApplicationoftheUser-CenteredAgilemethod
ontheBindproject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.2.1.Overviewoftheproject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.2.2.Actorsinvolvedintheprojectandtheirroles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5.2.3.Descriptionoftheprogressionoftheproject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
5.2.4.Feedbackrelatingtothemethod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.3.Balancedevaluationofthecasestudies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Foreword
Agile development methods began to emerge around twenty years ago
now. However, it was not until the early 2000s that they began to be widely
used in industry. This growth was often due to the advent of Internet
services, requiring faster cycles of development in order to heighten the rate
at which an ever-burgeoning number of functionalities were made available.
In parallel, User-Centered Design (UCD) methods were also becoming more
and more widely used. During this period, in the field of
telecommunications, the explosion in the number of connected terminals,
Web applications, new use environments (particularly in a domestic setting),
etc.meantitwascrucialtogainafullerunderstandingofusers’requirements
and better evaluate the relevance and acceptance of these services’ attempts
tocaterfortheserequirements.
Hence,UCDandagilemethodswereboundtocrosspaths,atleastforthe
telecoms industry! Yet it is the combination of an engineer/ergonomist
specializing in agile development and an ergonomist who is an expert in
communication interfaces which has been able to demonstrate the relevance
of the complementarity of these two methods. Throughout this book,
Dominique Deuff and Mathilde Cosquer put forward a consistent strategy to
bring together the best of the two approaches, applying them to the design
anddevelopmentofcommunicationservices.
viii User-CenteredAgileMethod
To begin with, the UCD method is used for the phase of design
definition, with regularexchanges between designers and evaluators in order
to takeaccount of the viewof theend-users.Thenthere is a long“tunnel”of
development, at the end of which a new round of user testing will validate
the design that has been developed (or not!). Unfortunately, it is often very
late in the day, and above all, costly, to take account of the users’ comments
and apply them to the already-finished product… The agile methods, by
their very approach, make it possible to control, or at least segment, this
tunnel effect by performing rounds of development in successive iterations.
Thus, from a very tenuous initial definition of the design, on the basis of
which,developmentcanbegin,itispossibletoprogressively takeaccountof
the expectations, changes or new functional requirements throughout the
course of the cycle. By combining these two methods, the users take their
placethroughouttheprocessofdesignanddevelopment,andtheircomments
can be taken into account as soon as possible. It is an exciting challenge to
bringtogetherthefuturecustomersandtheorder-givers!
Yet while it may seem obvious that the opinion of an end-user about a
product for which he will ultimately become the customer will be relevant,
adopting this approach means breaking down many barriers internal to the
company and agreeing to change habits which are firmly entrenched.
Bringing UCD and agile methods together means the designers have to go
less far in terms of the specification phase, on the one hand, and impress on
the business owner the need to heed the opinion of the user during the
development process, on the other! So much flies in the face of the
established powers! Can people agree to relinquish a certain amount of
power, in the interests of moving towards a better and more satisfactory
product? Can they accept that knowledge is not unique but rather is diffuse
and shared between the actors involved in the design and development
processes? Finally, explaining to the “revered authorities” of the established
methods and convincing them that such methods can change may be the
most difficult task that the authors of the present book have had to face, and
whichanyonewishingtoimplementtheUser-CenteredAgile(UCA)method
willhavetoface.
Thus, it is a great adventure that is offered us in these pages, because the
challenge is one that is truly worth rising to. Beyond a methodology, it is a
philosophyandaglobalapproachtoservicedesignwhichispresented.More
than a way of handling a few projects, this is an entirely new vision of
Foreword ix
enterprise. To place the user at the heart of the design process, to give him a
voice in the very early phases of an innovative project, and in particular to
listen to his opinions whilst continuing to heed the various professionals in
thecompany,isarealchallenge.
Jean-MichelPortugal
ClaudeDaloz
March2013
1
Introduction
The constant evolution taking place in the field of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) means that an ever-broader range of
users are employing this technology in increasingly flexible, changeable and
varied cases of use. In parallel to this trend, owing to our demand for the
provision of useful and usable solutions, the design of systems, services and
products are becoming more and more complex. In response to this
demanding context, the User-Centered Agile (UCA) method, which is
presented in this book, is conceived to include both User-Centered Design
(UCD) and agile development methods, taking full advantage of the
particularitiesandassetsofeachoftheseapproaches.
The foundation for the UCD method is the frequent and iterative
participation of the user throughout a design project. Generally speaking,
projects which operate on the basis of this approach are divided into three
phases (see Figure1.1): an analysis and design phase, a development phase
and a validation and evaluation phase. An ergonomist, who is a specialist in
UCD, usually makes a contribution at the earliest design stage, and is also
involved in the final phase by way of user testing, but has little input during
the intervening development period. However, the design phase, which is
sometimes rather short, does not always allow for the involvement of real-
world users. Furthermore, because the evaluation phase occurs only after the
developmenthasalreadytakenplace,thepossibilitiesformodificationstobe
madearelimited,forreasonsoftimeandfinancialcosts.
2 User-CenteredAgileMethod
Figure1.1.Divisionofprojectsintothreephases
In parallel, for a number of years, agile methods (in particular the Scrum
method) have become widely used by development teams. These are models
whichinvolveiterativeandincrementaldevelopment,intendedtorespondas
faithfully as possible to the needs expressed by the project commissioners,
offering a high degree of reactivity to their demands. These approaches
facilitate rapidity in the development of a service, and flexibility to apply
adaptations which appear necessary to this product during the development
phase. Nevertheless, the end-user is not formally involved in the pursuance
of these methods, meaning it is of limited use from the point of view of
UCD.
UCDandagile methodshavepointsincommon:inparticulartheconcept
of iterations and the search for feedback. We can, therefore, envisage
mutually integrating these two methods, with the aim of strengthening the
taking into account of a “user” perspective. If a partial functional product is
delivered at the end of each iteration, regular evaluation by users is possible,
and, therefore, UCD can continue during the development phase and be
presentthroughoutthedesignprocess.Agilemethods,fortheirpart,cantake
account of the needs of the end-users, rather than just those expressed by the
commissionerofthedevelopmentproject.
Put more clearly, the UCA method which was described briefly in the
article [DEU12] and which we are suggesting here is intended, primarily, to
adjust the design phase to include a hybrid method wherein UCD and the
agile Scrum method are interlocked, giving an overall view of the product.
Then, in the development phase, the aim of the UCA approach is to enable
anergonomisttocontinuetoapplytheUCDprocessbywayofregularmini-
user testing sessions. Finally, in the validation phase, the method advocates
that “conventional” user testing be employed. Figure 1.2 illustrates the logic
ofthesethreephases.