> While I haven't had the chance yet to do UCD as part of an Agile process, I > have always imagined that a rapid prototype would exist alongside but > separate from the production code. This prototype would be maybe one or two > iterations ahead of the production code, but otherwise would still follow > the same cycle as the code (e.g., one-month iterations... I actually talked > with some folks last night who work this way). This prototype would be > maintained by the UCD person/staff and used exclusively to test interactions > before they went into development.
I've certainly done it that way too, and it works pretty well. But there is also incredible value to wearing many hats in a Agile process. If your Agile cycle is two weeks and you hand over a design model in a proprietary format, someone has to turn the model into UI code. You could pull a developer off of their task to work on the presentation code... or you could do it yourself. And then after you've gone through the cycle of converting from model to presentation code a few times, you often find you're almost as fast executing new designs in the code as you are with the model. At least, that's the trend I'm starting to see. Not that it happens for anyone overnight, or that it works out in every case (interfaces where the javascript is actually all java compiled via GWT come to mind), but when it does work it's a very nice thing. Cuts down on the documentation tremendously (want to know what the visual specifications are? read my css, baby). The developers love it. And since you're also a productive UI developer, there is less pressure to move you off the project when the interaction design is stabilized -- and I can't count the number of times where developers have started freelancing the UI because circumstances required some big change and the interaction designer rolled off 3 months ago. (Thanks for the tip on Axure. We still use prototyping tools on projects where Agile isn't appropriate and for some Agile stuff too. And I hadn't checked that one out.) ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
