An Agile Retreat: Going Beyond Working Software to Usable Software
It's not just about working software any more
The Agile Manifesto leads us to think about the importance of working software. The definitions of "working" vary widely: in xUnit-driven projects, it means that the green bar comes up; in Scrum, it means that you have finished what was on the sprint backlog. The concept of "done-done-done" includes refactoring for the well-being of the programmer. However, in spite of its supposed focus on customer engagement, Agile rarely leads to methods that speak of usability, interaction design, or human comfort.
In this seminar we'll frame Agile development in a way that emphasizes software development as if the end user mattered. We'll focus on making sure that the user vision doesn't become lost in the process. Beyond the storied on-site customer of XP, who looks forward to a promised conversation with a developer around a user story, we'll show you how to engage your testers so that they can test the right things, how to engage user experience staff so your interfaces are appealing to your market and the user, and how your developers can implement the interfaces and the software behind them in a way that builds on sound interaction design principles. We'll show you how to design systems whose objects reflect the end user conceptual model of their business — a long-forgotten foundational principle of object-oriented design.
What: A three-day, off-site seminar that will give attendees what they need to develop and implement a user-focused vision of software development.
Where: The beautiful country house Stora Nyteboda in the Skona woods of southern Sweden, just two hours by car from Copenhagen Airport. Lodging and meals are included.
When: 8 - 10 October, 2008. You can check in the evening of 7 October. This is a great get-away and retreat location for hiking, canoe, and local culture.
Who: The focus is on the software development life cycle, in the spirit of the Agile focus on producing code that serves end users. The main areas of focus are best-suited to anyone involved in the requirements process (product owners, developers, program managers, feature owners, and testers) and in implementing code for interactive applications, especially coders involved in interaction design. The material is of particular interest for software and system architects.
Why: To go beyond the buzzword level of Agile.
How much: Cost for the entire event, including food and lodging, is 3500 Euro. Contact us for group discounts and substantial early-bird discounts if you finalize before 1 August 2008.
How: Register at scrum.dk .