I met a really interesting woman, Aerlyn Weissman, at an Women in Science and Technology event hosted by SCWIST earlier this week. She was telling me how she teaches workshops to non-profits and NGOs about utilizing the agile methodology. Whatever your feelings are towards UX + Agile, you’ve got to admit, it’s really intriguing that a software methodology can be broadened and applied to other contexts. It was rather a coincidence that I also saw the Good Experience post earlier this week referencing an Economist article about interesting problems crossing boundaries and disciplines.
If you look at the Agile manifesto and imagine it in this new context/strip out “software”, you can definitely see the potential. All in all, very cool.Agile Manifesto principles (courtesy of Wikipedia) —
- Customer satisfaction by rapid delivery [of useful software]
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
- Working [software] is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
- Working [software] is the principal measure of progress
- Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace
- Close, daily co-operation between business people and developers
- Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)
- Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
- Simplicity
- Self-organizing teams
- Regular adaptation to changing circumstances