Agile

1. As defined by the Agile community. A family of software development methodology based on adapting to change, promoting team work, and meeting customer needs. Examples of agile methodolgies are Scrum and eXtreme Programming (XP).

The Agile Manifesto

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.

-- EirikMidttun - 17 Feb 2009

2. As viewed by designers seeking to collaborate with an Agile development project. An approach to software development based on successive refinement through iteration. In a design-driven approach, user research and prototyping are done in previous iterations to obtain specifications of what needs to be done in an iteration. In a specification-driven approach, the functionality to implement in an iteration is agreed upon in advance. In a specification-free approach, an iteration is defined in order to address a problem, and the parameters of the problem are co-discovered with the solution during the iteration.

A weakness of Agile development (as stated, for example, by Buxton at Interaction08) is that successive refinement may proceed faster than alternatives can be explored. The exploration of design alternatives is valuable for helping to ensure that the right problem is solved. The balance between exploration of alternatives and implementation of solutions is an important factor to negotiate in defining an Agile project, and an important quality to sustain through work on the organizational culture among the people who determine how the project is run.

-- BruceEsrig - 18 Feb 2009