Report: Integrating User Experience in Agile Development at DevWorks

This report investigates the integration of user experience (UX) design within an agile development framework, specifically for the IT company DevWorks. It explores the benefits, such as improved product quality, enhanced user satisfaction, and minimized risks through user involvement and feedback at various stages. The report also identifies potential problems, including time constraints, the impact on decision-making, and the need for effective coordination between designers and users. Recommendations are provided to address these challenges, emphasizing the importance of accurate time management, project management concepts, regular user interaction, and clear communication to ensure successful UX integration. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of continuous improvement through user feedback and the potential for increased return on investment and long-term project sustainability. The report is contributed by a student and is available on Desklib, a platform that provides AI-based study tools for students.

Business analysis and System development

Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Objectives..........................................................................................................................................2
Potential benefits...................................................................................................................................2
Potential problems.................................................................................................................................4
Recommendation...................................................................................................................................5
References.............................................................................................................................................5

Introduction
DevWorks is the small IT Company which is having specialization in system designing,
analysing, and development services provided to the users. Agile methodology is used by the
company for developing good quality software. Success of the product depends on
incorporating user experience in the development process (Chamberlain, Sharp, and Maiden,
2016). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the appropriateness of indulging user
experience in the designing of the software. Integration of user experience with the agile
methodology helps in increasing the profitability of the enterprise.
Objectives
The objectives of report are:
 Exploring the working of Agile development environment
 Role played by the user experience in the system designing
 Success of the product can be achieved by integrating user experience and agile
methodology
 Potential benefits of integrating user experience and agile methodology
 Potential problems of integrating user experience and agile methodology
Potential benefits
System development and designing process depends on the agile methodology. Quality of
services and facilities can be incorporated in the system by integrating user experience with
the agile development process (Ferriera, Sharp, and Robinson, 2012). Agile methods use
project management techniques for designing the system interface to enhance user
experience. Allocation of the resources can be effectively carried out in agile working
environment. Creativity in the system design can be added by indulging user experiences in
the designing process (Reddy, 2015). Potential benefits of integrating user experience with
the agile methodology in the development process of system designing are highlighted below:
 Periodic involvement of user in the designing system interface
 Effective communication between the user, designer, analyst, and developers
 Prototypes are prepared by indulging user experiences and feedback report
 Creativity and user requirement can be added in the system design

 Integrating project management techniques for the smooth flow of business
development process
Intervention of users at different stages of the product development life cycles minimizes the
risks of product failure and the profitability of the enterprise can be improved. Understanding
of user requirements is getting enhanced by coordinating and integrating communication
between the team members and the users. Gaps in the interface design can be minimized by
taking suggestions and feedback from the customers (Nadikattu, 2017). Redesigning can be
effectively carried out by evaluating the customer requirement in the different iteration
process. Risks of product failure can be minimized by indulging user recommendations and
experience in the design process of the system. Ignorance to the user ideas can be omitted at
first glance. Performance of the system can be improved by conducting schedule on time.
Sustainability of the project can be achieved by defining the root cause of the system failure
and taking periodic suggestions of the user for improvement. On-going working process can
be changed by using agile methodology because it focuses on coordination and mutual
understanding of developers and users to accept the behavioural changes in the software
design. Tools and techniques are emphasised for minimizing the changes in the designing
process. Satisfaction of customers get increased by indulging experiences and feedback in the
designing of the system which helps in reducing the development cost of the project and
increasing sale and turnover of the enterprise. Association of new and existing customers get
enhanced with the organization by giving privilege and value to their thoughts and vision.
Deliverables of the system can be tested by organizing the prototype. It helps in evaluating
the satisfaction of customers achieved by fulfilling their demand and requirement. Output of
the system can be verified and validated with the system requirement specification.
Accuracy and reliability can be achieved by iterating the process for fulfilling the demand
and requirement of customers again and again. Contents of the user demand can be evaluated
by identifying the gaps in the system output through the prototypes (Schwartz, 2013). These
gaps can be filled by inducing user experiences and their demand which helps in minimizing
the risks associated with the project completion and delivery. Revenue and return of
investment can be accelerated by improving the need and requirement of customers according
to their demands and requests.

Potential problems
Creativity of the software can be enhanced by the thinking process of the member
participants in the development product cycle through agile methodology. It is the
prerequisite to have clear idea about the mission and goal of the enterprise. Team efforts help
in achieving the goal in predefined time. Deliverables of the project can be changed
according to the change in requirement of the user. There are some problems faced in
integrating the user experiences in the agile working environment for developing the system
design. In agile methodology, emphasis is given on speed in developing design in minimum
time which can affect the quality of decision taken. Iteration period is very short to complete
the prototype without any error. Time is the major constraint in the agile methodology
because relevant and sufficient feedbacks are not collected to take a required action.
Designers develops the design on guessing the user requirement which can affect the level of
satisfaction of customers by not providing relevant features and technical requirement as
desired by them. Decision making process is getting affected due to the little feedback
collected on the system design (Sharma, Sarkar, and Gupta, 2012). Customer experiences are
dominated by the designers due to the limited period of time given to design a prototype.
Planning of the iteration process is not properly done which creates the bugs in the system
requirement specification file. Sometimes the designers, ignores the feedback and queries
posted by the user which directly affect the sale of the product and profit earned by the firm.
Proper coordination between the user experiences feedback and designing team is not
organized in the systematic order. Designers are not able to analyse different constraints
which are associated with the process. System designing depends on the though process of
users and skills and expertise of team members to understand the requirement and demand of
the users. It is sometimes difficult by the working team to have a clear idea about the
requirement because perceptions of different users are different. Strength of the user usability
depends on the knowledge about the newly designed interface. Integrating human computer
interaction creates complexities in achieving the desired results within the desired time and
cost. Quality of the software depends on the expertise of the team members in solving the
issues and complaints of the users. Clear understanding of the user experience helps in
improving the accessibility of the developed software by the user.

Recommendation
System performance and productivity of the DevWorks can be improved by combining the
user experiences with the agile methodology adopted by the company in completing the
system development. It is recommended to indulge the user experience with the agile
methodology with the association of project management concepts. Scheduling of time
required to complete the given process should be accurate. Proper time management plan is
developed so that required time for completing one sprint can be awarded. It helps in
increasing the quality of service and output of the prototype developed by incorporating
negative and positive feedback of the users. Good quality of the product can be achieved
which helps in satisfying the customer requirement and demand. Satisfaction of the
customers is enhanced by having periodic discussion about the quality of services and
facilities provided to them with the project team members. It gives the feeling of oneness and
responsibility to give correct suggestions and feedback to get required output. Risks of
product failure can be minimized by indulging user recommendations and experience in the
design process of the system. Ignorance to the user ideas can be omitted at first glance. It
helps in managing feeling of oneness and trust between the customers and business and
results in achieving long term sustainability and acceleration in the return on investment.
Face to face interaction with the users brings cooperation and technical excellence in the
designed output. Cost of the development process can be minimized by having regular
discussion with the customers in different interaction and receive the final and desired output
at the completion of the system development cycle. Contents of the user demand can be
evaluated by identifying the gaps in the system output through the prototypes. These gaps can
be filled by inducing user experiences and their demand which helps in minimizing the risks
associated with the project completion and delivery. Sustainability of the project can be
achieved by defining the root cause of the system failure and taking periodic suggestions of
the user for improvement. Deliverables of the system can be tested by organizing the
prototype. It helps in evaluating the satisfaction of customers achieved by fulfilling their
demand and requirement. Emphasis should be given on managing the proper coordination
and cooperation between the users and working team with required time so that effective
designing of the prototype can be done. Time constraints can be resolved by developing and
preparing plan for proper schedule of iteration process

References
Chamberlain, S., Sharp, H., and Maiden, N. (2016). Towards a framework for integrating
agile development and user centred design. 1st ed. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42791405_Towards_a_Framework_for_Inte
grating_Agile_Development_and_User-Centred_Design
Ferriera, J., Sharp, H., and Robinson, H. (2012). Agile development and user experience
design integration as an ongoing achievements in practice. 1st ed. Retrieved from
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6298087
Nadikattu, S. (2017). Integrating user experiences development with agile software
development practices. 1st ed. Retrieved from
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1049900/FULLTEXT02
Reddy, S. (2015). Integrating user experiences development with agile software development
practices: A survey. 1st ed. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287336064_Integrating_User_Experience_
Development_with_Agile_Software_Practices_A_Survey
Schwartz, L. (2013). Agile user experience design: An agile and user centered process?. 1st
ed. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271384513_Agile-
User_Experience_Design_an_Agile_and_User-Centered_Process
Sharma, S., Sarkar, D., and Gupta, D. (2012). Agile processes and methodologies: A
conceptual study. International journal o n computer science and engineering.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267706023_Agile_Processes_and_Methodo
logies_A_Conceptual_Study
Silva, T., Silveiria, M., Maurer, F., and Hellmann, T. (2012). User experience design and
agile development: From theory to practice. Journal of software engineering and
application, 2012(5), pp. 743-751. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d0c1/9c377aa4a83eff665d6afced37f3d15de6d2.pdf