Agile UCD = User-Centered Design in Agile Software Development

Agile UCD resources

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What is this all about?

Poor communication, ignoring change and not involving end-users in software development will result in problems when it comes to scope, schedule and budget of a project. The product might be late, too expensive, of low quality and not work properly. It might not even meet the users' needs being an entirely wrong product for its intended market segment or user group.

User-Centered Design and Agile Software Development are both iterative approaches to software development that can increase the chances that a software project will be a success. While UCD concentrates on learning about the would-be users and human factors in product development, Agile Software Development concentrates on software engineering and project management.

Both approaches are potentially beneficial to software development but they alone don't cover how to develop usable, working software within the project's constraints. UCD only deals with the user research and the design and evaluation of the user interfaces of the product. Agile methodologies on the other hand seem to forget end-users and usability altogether. They both have similarities but are often considered to conflict with each other. Early literature from both camps seem to ignore the other for the most parts but lately there have been more and more discussion on how we should go on about integrating these two proven approaches. For instance in the Agile 2009 conference there was a whole stage dedicated to discussion about Agile User Experience.

Despite the increasing interest in the integration of these two approaches the there isn't a wealth of refined information waiting to be taken into practice. Thus there is a place for this thesis.