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Clash of the titans: agile and UCD

Richard F. Cecil has written an article on the potential conflict between agile and UCD methodologies. To quote:

Agile software development [1] has become fairly popular in the last few years, leaving many UX professionals wondering how user-centered design (UCD) can fit into an extremely fast-paced development process that uses little documentation. User-centered design can involve a variety of techniques that provide insights into users' wants, needs, and goals, including ethnography, contextual inquiry, contextual interviewing, usability testing, task analysis, and others. But all of these take time -- time that an agile development process might not allow. There is hope, though. Agile and UCD methods are not completely at odds with each other -- and in some cases, agile development can even enable a more user-centered approach. By taking the time to understand the differences and similarities between agile development and UCD, it's possible to devise a process that is both user-centered and agile.

[Thanks to InfoDesign.]

Posted by jamesr on December 19, 2006 09:05 AM
Categories: Usability & user-centered design