Workshop on the Integration of User-Centred Design and Agile Development: Approach, Findings and Themes

Abstract

This chapter reports on a workshop held at NordiCHI 2014 on the integration of user-centred design (UCD) and Agile Software Development (Agile). The workshop brought together academic researchers and industrial practitioners to discuss challenges, success stories and future trends when working with UCD and Agile. Eight papers were accepted, of which seven reported the results of empirical studies and one presented a theoretical comparison. The workshop day was inspired by Agile methods. It was time-boxed, incremental, interactive, collaborative, used a visual workspace and a team-based approach. Post-it notes capturing features from paper presentations and discussions were written and displayed on the walls throughout the day. These were divided into two groups, one for ‘interesting points’ and the other for ‘challenges and obstacles’. At the end of the day the two groups of post-it notes were themed using an affinity diagram approach. Eight higher-level themes were identified by the authors during a post-workshop analysis. These were: People and roles, Teams and communication, Culture, Methods and practices, Time and synchronisation, Artefacts and tools, Research and problems, and Miscellaneous. Six themes were applicable to both affinity diagrams, the ‘Culture’ theme was only found in the ‘challenges and obstacles’ set and the ‘Research and problems’ theme was only found in the ‘interesting points’ set. Key elements of the themes were about practices, people, culture and time. The workshop illustrates the importance of industry-based empirical research to investigate challenges and innovate solutions for the ever-changing landscape of software development.