Introduction

Abstract

Agile methods have transformed how developers think about organizing the development of a project. Rather than months (or years) of development, followed by months of field test leading up to a release, agile methods organize development into short iterations with continuous testing and a flexible release date. The agile approach promises to produce more useful and more reliable software, more quickly, and with better control than traditional development. Incorporating strong, user-centered techniques in agile development can only make the project stronger. But the origins and perspectives of agile methods are different from those of user-centered design, and this leads to confusion. It is the objective of this monograph to show how the two can be brought together into a powerful project development approach.