Scrum benefits the User Experience
The process of scrum is great for software development – but it can also have a huge impact on the user experience – in a good way!Scrum breaks down development into small intense chunks – usually 15 to 30 days – with the purpose of having something real to demo at each stage… Because of this new mentality- software development fits right into the iterative design cycles as detailed by ISO13407. What does this mean for the UX team? We’re able to do usability testing every month! The process also enables us to have more stakeholders involved in reviews. Finally, because of the iterative process – priorities are often adjusted – which often makes room for those small but elegant design concepts that would normally be prioritized off the list! After every sprint, it’s clear that innovation wins out!
But what about the time needed to analyze and apply the results? And the overworking of the UX team to deliver refreshed design plus a testable prototype AND a test plan in 15DAYS!!? Assuming of course that there is no change in architecture, task flow or wireframing.
And how do you ever deliver quality deliverables?
Scrum relies on good project management. Different tasks can be inserted into the schedule as resources become available. The goal of every scrum is to have a demo-able bit of working software. It doesn’t have to be GA-ready! The complete product might require a dozen scrum cycles. There’s lots of opportunity within these for testing, and iterations.
This reduces the need to have complete designs, prototypes, and test plans before any work begins. Also, by “modularizing” the work and properly separating the UI layer from the middle-tier, there’s a chance you can eliminate the need for a prototype – especially if the app is web-based.