jevnin.com

Category: agile development

  • Screen-placement testing tool

    All sorts of automated tests happen on projects at ThoughtWorks. There are Unit Tests, Functional tests, GUI tests, and others that make sure the software we’re building runs well from the most back-end function all the way to the user’s interface. One thing we don’t test, however, is where particular elements land on a screen.…

  • Creating Visual Design Options

    One of the ideas that I try to progress when I join a new project is that much of my job will simply be about exploring options. If I do my job right, more than half of the options will end up in the trash bin, so that’s to be expected. Many people have a…

  • Evolution vs. Revolution in Digital Design

    iPhone presentation Originally uploaded by Dan_H. One distinction many people make when defining a design project is whether the design will be another evolution of an existing technique, set of tools, or technologies, or if it will be a revolutionary implementation. This decision is most often made implicitly, generally without any direct thought about revolutionary…

  • With a Good Pair

    There’s just something about working with others that makes the job so much more enjoyable. In many agile development frameworks, the idea of “Pairing” prevails as a key concept. When pairing occurs, two developers work together to progress a single user story, working together weave code into coherent, valuable functionality. There are many reasons why…

  • What kind of User Experience Professional am I?

    Friend and colleague Jeff Patton floated an idea a few weeks ago around the thought that there are 3 types of User Experience Professionals: Before-, During-, and After-People. I think this is a brilliant way to characterize UXers…simple and to the point, with no big-giant-confusing-wordiness. Of course, all the qualities of these different types of…

  • In Response to Kevin

    In response to me beaming about my job, Kevin wrote: Would you say that you are doing all the things you were trained to do at the School of Informatics? I got to see Matt and Apurva over the weekend, and one of the things that came up was how little their jobs resembled what…

  • Agile + User Centered Design

    So, Marc says User Centered Design is compatible with Agile. I think I agree, but with a caveat or two. They’ve Got Different Foci The User Centered Design methodology is based on one simple concept: the person who will eventually use the system should be the focus of the design process. There are many processes,…

  • All Employees Deserve GREAT Software

    I’m not here to help build mediocre software. Quite the opposite, actually. No one should be subjected to sub-par tools, whether they’re using their software at home, school, work, or somewhere in-between. One of my UCD-minded colleagues pointed out to me last week that often business users are considered a “special” set of users because…

  • Fantasy Dev League

    I’m sure the ThoughtWorkers will love this:

  • The ThoughtWorks “Sign”

    Over the last 2 days, I’ve met damn near a million people at my current project. The project has been going on for a few months now, so everybody else knows everybody else, and there’s a constant rhythm that comes from people knowing what they’re supposed to be doing. Everybody works together, and each person…