InfoQ has an outstanding interview with Mary and Tom Poppendieck about Lean Software Development. One of the longer interviews on the topic, and full of great content. You can watch streaming video of the interview, jump around to the answers of specific questions, or read the full transcript – great format for presenting a long form interview like this.
Agile / Software development
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Explaining Agile Development…
…to your Brother-in-Law. A great article by Joe Little, on his new blog. Thanks Mishkin for telling us about it. Joe’s article serves as an excellent precursor to our comparison of agile software development methodologies. It would also be extremely effective advice for getting mindshare prior to rolling out agile […]
ROI / Software development / Usability / UX
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Software Usability and Learning Curves
Learning curves have been studied for decades when evaluating manufacturing systems and proposing cost reductions. The Boston Consulting Group did an oft-cited analysis in the 1960’s that describes how people get faster at tasks through repetition. Peter Abilla looked at the extension of this to writing software. We look at how it applies to using software.
Agile / Software development
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Agile Development Methodology Comparison
Agile project management has entered the mainstream – incremental delivery is now common and (should be) expected for any new software development project. Which agile development methodology should you use on your project? There are at more than ten to choose from. What makes them different? The risks that they try to address.
Product Management / Software development / UX
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Product Management and User Experience
There’s a buzz going around about the conflict and collaboration between product managers and user experience professionals. It started with a pair of articles co-written by Jeff Lash and Chris Baum. In short, with a user-centric view of products, both roles are responsible for the success of the user-interactions. Who makes the decisions?
Agile / Product Management / ROI / Software development
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Agile Development and Software Maintenance Costs
Over 90% of the cost of software development is software maintenance (cite). This alarming trend was predicted as early as 1972. McKinsey suggests that CIOs should spend no more than 40-60% on maintenance. Gartner’s IT Spending and Demand Survey (2002) reports that CIOs are spending 80% of their budgets on maintenance (p12 of presentation). Agile development can help reverse this trend.
Agile / Product Management / ROI / Software development
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Product Life Cycle and the ROI of Agile Development
The product life cycle is a description of the presence or behavior of a product in the marketplace over time. The framework for description is a function of the sales volume of the product versus time. Over time, products are created and introduced, and sales grow, peak and decline. The product life cycle uses phases to describe these different periods in the life of a product. Understanding the product life cycle is also key to calculating the ROI of agile development.
Software development / Usability / UX
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8 Stages of Corporate Usability Awareness
Jakob Nielsen identifies 8 levels of adoption of usability by corporations. He calls them the stages of corporate usability maturity. There is definitely a continuum of adoption and appreciation for usability in companies today. By understanding the eight levels we can determine how best to increase the commitment to usability on our projects.
Product Management / Software development / Usability / UX
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User Centered Design and Bridging The Canyon of Pain
There is such a thing as too much choice. For new users, too much choice (or control) is too much. For experienced users, too little choice is a problem. Ease of use usually comes from reduced control – but users don’t stay “new” for long. There’s a “canyon of pain” to quote Kathy Sierra in that transition from “new” to “experienced.” We call them “competent” users and we have to help them cross the canyon of pain.