ABSTRACT
Agile methods are becoming increasingly common in application design, with their collaborative customer focus and iterative, test driven approach. This chapter introduces practical techniques such as the use of stories to capture information needs; collaborative planning; visual modelling; rapid, time-boxed iterations; stand-ups and retrospectives. It advocates how using such techniques, useful and usable applications can be developed at greater speed with less business risk. Agile methods are lightweight software development processes that employ short iterative cycles, involve users to establish, prioritise and verify requirements and rely on knowledge within a team rather than documentation. At the centre of Agile user-centred design is facilitated communication. Rather than producing long, wordy documents which are so often produced at the early stages of a project this process instead uses visual techniques that are engaging and allow all stakeholders to give rapid feedback. In Agile the stories are written on index cards and are physically shuffled according to their priority and business value.
