Agile User Centered Design isn't something you step into lightly, it takes a disciplined approach with a strong grasp of how the user centered design methods best compliment an Agile team approach to software design.
The Limina team has complied this Agile and User-Centered Design Reference list for our readers. We're happy to talk you through our process anytime. Drop us a line!
Books
Software for Use: A Practical Guide to the Models and Methods of User-Centered Design
Larry L Constantine & Lucy A.D. Lockwood
Abstract - In the quest for quality, software developers have long focused on improving the internal architecture of their products. Larry L. Constantine--who originally created structured design to effect such improvement--now joins with well-known consultant Lucy A. D. Lockwood to turn the focus of software development to the external architecture. In this book, they present the models and methods of a revolutionary approach to software that will help programmers deliver more usable software--software that will enable users to accomplish their tasks with greater ease and efficiency.
Papers
Back to Top Process Agility and Software Usability: Towards Lightweight User-Centered Design
Larry L. Constantine
Abstract - A streamlined and simplified variant of the User-centered process that is readily integrated with lightweight methods is outlined. Extreme programming and other so-called agile or lightweight methods promise to speed and simplify applications development. However, as this paper highlights, they share with the "Unified Process" and other heavyweight brethren some common shortcomings in the areas of usability and use interface design. User-centered design is readily integrated with these lightweight methods. As in extreme programming, ordinary index cards help streamline the process of modeling and prioritizing for design and implementation in successive increments. Links to selected web resources on extreme programming, agile modeling, and other agile processes are also provided.
http://www.foruse.com/articles/agiledesign.pdf
Improving on Agility: Adding User-Centered Design to a Typical Agile Software Development Environment
Jeff Patton
Abstract - This paper describes, at a high level, the incremental development cycle typical of an agile software development environment, and how adding User-Centered Design will help this process run smoother. Specific points on applicability during the incremental development cycle are pointed out, along with the specific UCD technique to apply there. The paper assumes a basic knowledge of agile software development and User-Centered Design.
http://www.abstractics.com/papers/AddingU-CDToAgileDevelopment.pdf
An Agile User-Centered Method: Rapid Contextual Design Hugh Beyer, Karen Holtzblatt, Lisa Baker
Agile methods have proven their worth in keeping a development team focused on producing high-quality code quickly. But these methods generally have little to say about how to incorporate user-centered design techniques. Also the question has been raised whether agile methods can scale up to larger systems design. In this paper we show how one user-centered design method, Contextual Design, forms a natural fit with agile methods and recount our experience with such combined projects.
http://www.acm.org/chapters/nuchi/2005/01mtg/XPUni2004Beyer4.pdf
Online Discussion Groups
Back to Top Yahoo Groups: "Agile-usability"
Subscribe: agile-usability-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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