Requirements and User-Centered Design in an Agile Context

Transcription

1 Requirements and User-Centered Design in an Agile Context

2 The Volvo Group Business Areas AB Volvo Volvo Trucks Renault Trucks Mack Trucks Nissan Diesel Buses Construction Equipment Volvo Penta Volvo Aero Financial Services Business Units Volvo 3P Volvo Powertrain Volvo Parts Volvo Logistics Volvo Information Technology

3 Our company history Established as Volvo Data First large Data Centre building set up in Gothenburg Volvo Data gets responsibility for data centres in Greensboro and Ghent Offices established in the UK and Belgium Office established in the US Study on the future of IT at the Volvo Group result is that IT resources stay at the Volvo Group Formation of Volvo Information Technology Volvo Car Corporation acquired by Ford Motor Co. Renault V.I./Mack Trucks integration Offices established in India, China, Korea, South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, Russia, Japan, Canada and Singapore incorporated Fortos Management Consulting and WirelessCar

4 milestones Mid-80s First punch card machine at Volvo First computers installed at Volvo (IBM 7070 & IBM 1401) Volvo s first computer system launched making spare parts management more effective. The system is still running. First system to handle parts and product structures (today called PLM systems) First PCs installed at Volvo First, self-developed, system (Memo) launched First special department for CAD/CAM established First customer-initiated production system launched Memo has 2 million users globally Volvo s internet site launched First standardised global PC/LAN environment Volvo s SAP installation is initiated Hand-held computers introduced at Volvo passed 1 Petabyte (1000 Terabyte) of globally installed usable online storage capacity has rolled out more than 45,000 new standardised pc clients world-wide

5 Global Presence Offshore centres Sweden Canada USA United Kingdom France Russia Poland Belgium Turkey China Korea Japan Mexico India Thailand Malaysia Singapore Brazil South Africa Australia

6 Key figures 1998/ Sales (msek) 2,800 8,700 Volvo Group 100% 85% Non-Volvo Group 0% 15% Employees 2,100 5,300 Locations 12 >

7 customers The Volvo Group Volvo Cars

8 Eva Hådding Computational Linguistics System Development User-Interface Design & Usability Process and Methods Development & Implementation Requirements Management Wordwork, Astra, Ericsson, Rational, IBM, Consulting Services/Application Development Techniques

9 My main challenge... How to make what I perceive as very simple, straight-forward logical best practice - why not talk to the people who are going to use the system understood, wanted and implemented by colleagues with very different perspectives, goals and drivers

10 Requirements

11 Definitions of Requirement by RUP: A requirement describes a condition or capability to which a system must conform; either derived directly from user needs, or stated in a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed document. UML: A desired feature, property, or behavior of a system. Elemer Magaziner, Project Linguistics International: Any want, need, or expectation, from an approved stakeholder, that is clear, unambiguous and testable.* *Elemer Magaziner, Project Linguistics International

12 From wish to requirement A wish or request turns into a requirement when it is appropriately approved. The requirements sets the scope for the project. A requirement specifies WHAT the system should do. Design specifies HOW it should be constructed to realize those requirements

13 Functional and Non-functional Requirements Wikipedia:...a functional requirement defines a function of a software system or its component. A function is described as a set of inputs, the behavior, and outputs... functional requirements specify particular results of a system. Functional requirements are supported by non-functional requirements (also known as quality requirements), which impose constraints on the design or implementation (such as performance requirements, security, or reliability). At, Business Rules and Constraints/Policies are included in non-functional requirements

14 Why bother about Requirements? The most common reason for System development errors are and originates from Requirement errors or lack of Requirements Requirement errors are also the ones most costly to fix About 70% of the rework costs are referred to Requirements errors Finding errors in the Requirements stage means you can save costs corresponding to 200:1* *Boehm

15 What is Requirements Management about? Visualize the solution by capturing, organizing and documenting requirements on a system Agreement on the solution Customer and IT supplier agreeing on the requirements throughout the project!

16 Requirements documentation User Stories Vision Use-Case Model Supplementary Specification The background and high-level requirements Mainly functional requirements Mainly non-functional requirements

17 Requirements Management Basic principles Start early and work iteratively Analyze the problems and your stakeholders Start on a high level and then let the requirements evolve Don t just document - prioritize, negotiate, set and control scope Expect, welcome and control change RM provides more information than requirements RM is about communication Don t overestimate documentation Work closely with the rest of the team Adapt RM to each project/assignment

18 User-Centered Design & Usability

19 The Usability Process Set usability vision Research user needs Include usability tasks in project plan Budget for usability Plan Analysis Develop task analysis Document usability goals Find design concepts Validate user needs early and often Evaluation Design Develop screen flow and navigation model Evaluate low fidelity prototypes with users Create low fidelity prototypes Conduct usability testing on detailed design Refine prototypes Create detailed design

20 Agile methods

21 Agile Manifesto (2001) We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more

22 Scrum Roles Scrum team Self-organized - shared responsibility Cross-functional - correct competence Trust & respect builds commitment Product Owner Responsible for the product vision, ROI and release management Owns and maintains the Product Backlog Scrum Master Protects the team The coach - responsible for the process Scrum Master is not the same role as Project Manager

23 Scrum ceremonies Sprint Planning Meeting Daily Scrum Meeting Sprint Retrospective Sprint Review Meeting

24 Daily Scrum meetings Parameters Daily 15-minutes Stand-up Not for problem solving Three questions: What did you do yesterday What will you do today? What obstacles are in your way? Scrum meetings are open

25 Scrum Sprint Backlog Daily Scrum Product Backlog Sprint Sprint Planning Sprint Review Increment

26 So What s New with Agile Development?

27 Requirements in an Agile Context Less details, less documentation - more info kept in the head Requirements distributed into test specifications and prototypes Requirements documentation does not necessarily become system documentation Better communication within team and with the Product Owner More general team roles

28 Usability Challenges in Agile Projects User-centered design can be considered waste With the lean agile teams, usability expertise could be considered too costly Stakeholders other than the Product Owner can be neglected - especially end-users! Hard to squeeze in user testing and demos in short and intense sprints Early conceptual, get-the-whole-picture work often missed

29 Advantages for Requirements and Usability in an Agile Context Customer focus! Better communication! Team integration! Prototyping drives increased usability... and requirements... and the whole development work Requirements + Usability = true

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