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Collaborative Events and Shared Artefacts
Agile Interaction Designers and Developers
Working Toward Common Aims
Judith Brown
Gitte Lindgaard, Robert Biddle Department of Psychology and School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Canada
Interaction Designers on Agile Teams
• Agile teams are more multidisciplinary over time • Problem
– Multidisciplinary collaborations are not taught – Result: culture clashes , miscommunications
• Questions – How do successful collaborations occur in real agile teams? – What purposes do these collaborations serve? – How can these collaborations be supported?
• Research focus – The positive, effective, artefact-rich interactions between the
two team members whose task is to generate executable software, i.e. interaction designers and developers
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Agile Teams in our Study
Org Size Team Size Num Des.
Num Dev.
Product Market Process
40 7 6 1 Learning games Canada-wide
Agile techniques
15,000
11 2 5 Network service configuration Software
Global Scrum
1,000
4 1 3 Consumer calculator
Canada-wide
XP
1,000+
> 5 3 > 3 Business analyst’s tool
Global Scrum
Observation period: 85 days • 18/85 days observing • 11 interviews, 368 photos, 7 videos Judith Brown 3
Tensions in Designer-Developer Interactions are Inevitable
1. An implementable design is a necessity for a successful outcome, therefore work is intertwined
2. The control of the user interface design terrain is disputable. It seems like the designer’s role, but …
3. The control of the user interface implementation terrain is also disputable. It seems like the developer’s role, but …
4. A unified process for creating software is not easily arrived at
5. Communication through artefacts is problematic in both directions
6. Lack of knowledge and understanding of each other’s disciplines is common
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Two Modes of Work
Working Alone Collaborating
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Three Types of Collaborations
Scheduled Impromptu
Work-related chats
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Gap between Ideals and Reality
Designers and developers will use all three means to collaborate, if able.
• How does the physical attributes of your organization’s workplace facilitate or impede these three types of collaborations?
• Are there any systemic rules (written or unwritten) that are part of the workplace culture that facilitate or impede these three types of collaborations?
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What happens when interaction designers and developers collaborate?
Collaboration Type Org A Org B Org C %
Scheduled 8 5 7
Des + Dev 7 3 6 80%
Planning 0 0 3 19%
Alignment 7 3 3 81%
Impromptu 0 11 5
Des + Dev n/a 4 1 31%
Planning n/a 0 0 0%
Alignment n/a 4 1 100%
Work-Related Chat 0 28 11
Des + Dev n/a 13 5 46%
Planning n/a 0 0 0%
Alignment n/a 13 5 100% 8
Designer-developer
collaborations:
not disorderly or chaotic,
but a series of common steps
Closing the
Meeting
Assessing
the Project
Presenting
Simulating
Exploring
Enacting
Opening the Meeting
resumingWinding dow n
opening or
closing may
move to any
meeting phase
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Alignment work is
pervasive in all steps
Closing the
Meeting
Assessing
the Project
Presenting
Simulating
Exploring
Enacting
Opening the Meeting
resumingWinding dow n
opening or
closing may
move to any
meeting phase
PROJECT-level alignment work
PRODUCT-level alignment work
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Artefacts
• Tools used to advance joint work
• Ubiquitous in the workplace
• Support planning and alignment work
• The same types of artefacts were used in all workplaces we observed
In one two hour meeting, with 3 designers and a developer, 150 artefacts were used
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Artefacts: Audible, Visible or Experiential
Let’s organize all the buttons in an array.
If our doctors see all relevant ICD10 conditions they’ll be overwhelmed. They need to be able to see a subset.
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Most commonly found artefacts
Exercise: Recall one artefact of each type used to collaborate in your workplace as we go through the following 12 slides …
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Design Idea suggestions for evolving the interface or application
Positive Negative Constraining
We need a new type called the “Are you feeling lucky” type.
We’re going to have to remove this facilitator idea [from the game].
We should model it the way the consumer would expect it to be.
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Design Question a potentially challenging inquiry about the interface or application
Is [keeping track of everything] part of the game?
You’re teaching [our users] to tie actions to employees, is that [what we want]?
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Interface Proxy represents look, feel, navigation or flow of the future software
A link to a new web page A powerpoint deck conveys look and feel
A standalone, developer-built game widget The interaction designer must use this look
Interface Proxy (cont.)
A designer presents three options and his rationale
1 2 3
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Story a narrative that binds together a character, action, and setting
So let’s say I’m at the very beginning of the game and I’m going to select the create button …
Human actor
So if your [software] manager managed more than one object type, then ….
Software actor
Story card
A dramatic enactment of a game Stories in tabular form
There are fewer of these next 8 artefact types
(Fewer does not mean less important)
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Computational Proxy a stand-in for the computational back end of an application
Which variables to use in our game?
What are the steps in our computation?
Exactly how should the back end compute the final value for these cases?
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Context Proxy provides access to the product environment
a textual description a depiction of a work context
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Context Proxy (cont.) provides access to the product environment
Previous versions of the software in purpose-built labs were used by designers and developers to understand contextual issues.
The context of the users’ experiences can be identified through site visits and these become the topic of meetings.
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Exemplar another artefact that is like the software being designed in some way
Like the previous non-web version of the product
Standardized designs for common tasks like searching
Windowing mechanism like in Eclipse
Like tech trees in Civilization
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Framework a digital artefact that supports the development of other software
A UI framework
A CSS stylesheet
an API
The software produced in a sprint
A set of HTML templates for web pages
Model knowledge of a thing, a process or a representation of such
A model of flow
A model of learning
A software model
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Plan a statement about intended future work
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Software under development an intermediate version of the software
A functional prototype treated as though it was the software under development
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Stipulation a comprehensive description of something
Requirements, detailed designs, or content documents,
An XML specification for a game
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Closing the
Meeting
Assessing
the Project
Presenting
Simulating
Exploring
Enacting
Opening the MeetingProduct
or project
tension
triggers
Ideas
generates
Stories
Product Proxy or
Computational
Proxy
Context
ProxyElements of
the Context
Proxy
uses
organize
organizes
uses
Project
Tensions
raises or
resolves
resumeWinding dow n
opening or
closing may
move to any meeting phase
Plans
Ideas
generates
clarif iesStep
s an
d A
rtef
acts
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Takeaways
• The agile team: a system of people, things, events
• Designer-developer interactions: an essential aspect of this system because their work necessarily overlaps
• Common steps: advance joint work
• Project and product alignment work is pervasive
• Optimal work conditions support scheduled and impromptu collaborations and work-related chats
• Consciously reflecting on the quality of the artefacts used has the potential to improve collaborative processes and therefore final outcomes
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Collaborative Events and Shared Artefacts
Agile Interaction Designers and Developers Working
Toward Common Aims
Judith Brown: [email protected] Gitte Lindgaard, Robert Biddle
Department of Psychology and School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Canada
Backup Slides
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Photo Credits
• Impromptu meetings: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marckc/4690772377/sizes/m/in/photostream/
• Scheduled meetings: http://www.elearnerengaged.com/begin-an-agile-project/ • Doctor’s office: http://www.featurepics.com/online/Young-Girl-Doctors-Office-773359.aspx • Documents: http://www.iconarchive.com/show/sleek-xp-basic-icons-by-deleket/Document-
icon.html • To do lists: http://www.thechangeblog.com/24-daily-habits/ • Office enactment: http://atriangleofneed.blogspot.com/2008/10/office-drama.html • Computer room: http://123jjb.com/home_sweet_home.html • Site visit: http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources/glossary_usab/index2.html • Gui interface: http://www.markpascua.com/2008/03/26/feng-gui-heatmap-what-are-people-look-
at/1367/ • Standardized Search: http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mysql/article.php/3880961/Top-
10-MySQL-GUI-Tools.htm • CSS Style sheets: http://www.roaddust.org/css/ • A framework: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Seattle_library_framework.jpg_inside.jpg • Java AWT API: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Easy_Java_AWT_example.jpg
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Cultural-Historical Psychology
• An 80-year old psychology:
– many theories to explain the development of individuals and group activities
• Value:
– Theoretical underpinnings for this study
– Focus on important elements, relationships, and processes that contribute towards the achievement of group aims through a combination of individual work and group interactions
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