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

Judith Brown 2

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

Judith Brown 4

Two Modes of Work

Working Alone Collaborating

Judith Brown 5

Three Types of Collaborations

Scheduled Impromptu

Work-related chats

6

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?

Judith Brown 7

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

Judith Brown 9

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

Judith Brown 10

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

Judith Brown 11

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.

Judith Brown 12

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 …

Judith Brown 13

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.

Judith Brown 14

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]?

Judith Brown 15

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

Judith Brown 17

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)

Judith Brown 19

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?

Judith Brown 20

Context Proxy provides access to the product environment

a textual description a depiction of a work context

Judith Brown 21

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.

22

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

23

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

Judith Brown 25

Plan a statement about intended future work

Judith Brown 26

Software under development an intermediate version of the software

A functional prototype treated as though it was the software under development

Judith Brown 27

Stipulation a comprehensive description of something

Requirements, detailed designs, or content documents,

An XML specification for a game

Judith Brown 28

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

29

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

Judith Brown 30

Collaborative Events and Shared Artefacts

Agile Interaction Designers and Developers Working

Toward Common Aims

Judith Brown: mmjbrown@gmail.com Gitte Lindgaard, Robert Biddle

Department of Psychology and School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Canada

Backup Slides

Judith Brown 32

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

Judith Brown 33

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

Judith Brown 34