1 / 37

I n t r o d u c t i o n s

Programmers are from Mars, Customers are from Venus: A practical guide to working with customers on XP Projects. A n g e l a M a r t i n . R o b e r t B i d d l e . J a m e s N o b l e. I n t r o d u c t i o n s.

fahim
Télécharger la présentation

I n t r o d u c t i o n s

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Programmers are from Mars, Customers are from Venus:A practical guide to working with customers on XP Projects A n g e l a M a r t i n . R o b e r t B i d d l e . J a m e s N o b l e

  2. I n t r o d u c t i o n s • … and you … Angela Robert James

  3. O v e r v i e w • We expect that by the end of this tutorial you will have gained: • A realistic understanding of the complexity and difficulty of the XP Customer role. • An understanding of the key roles required on a customer team, both what they are and why they matter. • An understanding of the nine practices that enable customers to sustainably drive XP projects to successful completion – think “XP practices” BUT for customers.

  4. A g e n d a Introduction (15 mins) The XP Customer Game (60 mins) Reflection (15 mins) Customer Team (30 mins) Break (30 mins) Customer Practices (50 mins) Summary (10 mins)

  5. I n s t r u c t i o n s • The Goal: • To allow you to explore the issues faced by a customer on an XP project in a dynamic, light-hearted and fun way. • The Set-up: • Divide into groups of 4 or 5; • Nominate someone to be the customer (our suggestion – nominate someone who isn’t typically a “customer” or analyst) • Everyone else will be the programmers • The Task: • Develop a 5 minute presentation (for a book proposal) with visual aids covering your best & worst customer experience

  6. G a m e p l a y T i m i n g • The customer has 5 minutes to write stories • An XP story is typically written on an index card and describes what the customer needs; but it is not a completely detailed requirement, rather it is a “promise for a conversation” between the customer and developer • The group should set aside 5 minutes to plan the iteration • During the XP planning game the customer describes the stories, the programmers estimate the stories, and finally the customer decides what to do in the time available • … and 20 minutes to “develop” the visual aids

  7. T h e R u l e s • Only the customer can talk to the “Big Boss” • Only the programmer can “develop” visual aids • Once the planning game is complete, each programmer should: • Pick up a card, • Follow the card’s instructions • Once complete, pick up the next card … (and repeat) • The customer should be available to the programmers throughout to ensure their visual aids are ready for their presentation at the end

  8. G a m e • Goal of the game • Walk a mile in customer’s shoes !! • Mechanism • To develop a 5 minute presentation (for a book proposal) with visual aids covering your best & worst customer experience • Timings • You have 5 mins to write stories • You have 5 mins to plan the iteration • You have 20 mins to develop the “visual aids” • Remember • Only the customer can talk to the “Big Boss” • Only the programmer can “develop” visual aids

  9. So, how did that work for you? • — “Dr Phil”

  10. T h e I s s u e o f O v e r l o a d • “I think it’s worked very well, but … I don’t know how long [I can] keep this pace up” • Customer, EagleCorp • ““Overall – I love this approach to development and I’d certainly like to use it again in any future projects I am involved in … • … We probably needed about three of me … it’s been my life for about a year … look at these grey hairs” • Customer, KiwiCorp • Visionary of start-up: “I’ve always worked at least 70 [or] 80 [hrs a week] I don’t even mind it, its like what I do” • Customer, RavenCorp

  11. So, what is the solution?

  12. The Solution • — We are proposing based on our research and experience

  13. This section outlines the nine key roles on successful customer teams that are: Programmer facing Organisational facing Skill support … and the identified customer lead (On-site Customer) T h e C u s t o m e r T e a m

  14. G e e k I n t e r p r e t e r • H3Y D00DZ, L3TZ C0D3 UP SUM ST0R1Z • Customers who are not themselves (ex-) programmers often lack expertise in the jargon of programmers • The Geek Interpreter provides a “sounding board” or sanity check for the customer

  15. T e c h n i c a l L i a i s o n • Most projects don’t exist on their own • They have to deal with existing organization technical infrastructures • Customers who attempt to deal with all of the technical liaison quickly become overloaded • This liaison task deserves a person to be responsible for it

  16. P o l i t i c a l A d v i s e r • Customers are project focused and so cannot be involved in organization politics • Customers need help to identify players & rules • Who needs to say “yes!”, Who needs to stop saying “no!” • Which rules to follow, Which rules to break • The Political Advisor(s) works with the customer to ensure they succeed: • This role is always unofficial and a wise customer will find political advisors they can trust quickly

  17. A c c e p t a n c e T e s t e r • Acceptance testers are found as assistants to Customers on almost all large standard contemporary XP projects • Original XP had programmers seconded to customer • But … real testers understand testing, are good at it, and take the customer’s side!

  18. U I D e s i g n e r • Programmers focus on the system model • UI Designers focus on the user model • …to design tothesystem image (UI) • So the UI needs its own big picture • So UI designers need to introduce requirements by being on the customer team

  19. T e c h n i c a l W r i t e r • XP downplays technical documentation but user documentation is still important • User documentation requires a special skill-set • Real technical writers end up on customer teams • Technical writers love Agile Development • At least I’ve got something to write about from the start

  20. D i p l o m a t • Customer teams require organizational representative(s), including: • Subject matter experts • End users • Senior stakeholders • Architects • They are responsible for representing their organizational area or perspective on the project • The people fulfilling this role may be full-time or part-time

  21. S u p e r - S e c r e t a r y • Is intimately familiar with the stories • Write down the stories • And keep them organized! • And track the stories through their lifecycle, often with a sticker system with different colors representing each stage • Follow up the story status with the programmers • Supports the customer team with all of the non-story tasks too • For example, organizing meetings

  22. N e g o t i a t o r • The On-site customer is always identified on the customer team • Characteristics of successful customers: • Good (active) listeners • Confident & decisive • Comfortable working at the “big picture” and detailed levels • Know their limitations and work with a customer team • Handle intense pressure … workaholics should apply! • Recognize multiple perspectives exist … and help them see each other’s world • So we are considering renaming the role to Negotiator

  23. C u s t o m e r P r a c t i c e s • Customers need to adopt practices to manage their relationships with • Programmers • Stakeholders & the big bad world outside • Customer team

  24. P r o g r a m m e r O n – S i t e • Programmers need to understand and respect their users • Very old advice – get the programmers into the field: • “Boeing offers all its avionics programmers seats on an early test flight” • “I worked with a social worker, doing a death review. This is what she does every day” • Not about making decisions! • Understanding the end user and context of use • Making your suggestions actually helpful

  25. C u s t o m e r A p p r e n t i c e • Programmers need to understand the customer • “To understand someone, walk a mile in their shoes” • So, rotate programmers to act as the Customer Apprentice: • Writing stories, being secretary • Attending meetings with users & stakeholders

  26. P r o g r a m m e r H o l i d a y • XP is intense; Sometimes Customers just need more time to get ahead of programmers. • … The stay ahead dynamic is REALLY important • Customers sometimes need to send the programmers on holiday • For example, an iteration focused on technical refactoring / debt

  27. S t o r y S t a n d a r d s • Use a common template for every story: • “persona needs something so that goal achieved” • focus template on acceptance tests (goal) • Customers need to take time to get stories right • Story decomposition is hard • Need to handle exceptions • Need to iterate

  28. S h o w & T e l l • Show the sponsors return on their investment • Programmers learn from user/sponsor reactions • Sales & Marketing needs stuff to show • And to bring feedback • Customer needs artifacts to ground negotiations • Working software helps us discover our future direction

  29. C u s t o m e r p a i r i n g • If Pair programming is good – pair customering must be good! • It works for the CUSTOMER • In every case we’ve found • Programmers can get uppity about this • Programmers often prefer one customer to another • Programmers play customers like divorced parents

  30. C u s t o m e r p a i r i n g • Techniques for managing customer pairs • Divide by functional area • “Along the grain of the domain” (Brian Foote) • Divide geographically • Distributed projects • Most extreme: like pair programming – don’t divide! • Close working relationships are key to any division of the customer role

  31. C u s t o m e r C o u n s e l o r • It is a lonely and intense role that we know has “caused” burn-out • A Customer Counselor (think ST:TNG) provides professional support to customers • “Tell me about your problems…” • Programmers get a coach • Customers need someone too!

  32. C u s t o m e r C o u n s e l o r • Customer needs: • Someone who is not on the project • Someone who is not a manager • Someone with enough IT & business experience • Someone who will not try to solve their problems • Someone whom they can trust • The Customer Counselor meets the customer: • Private place, completely confidential • Regular, but variable to suit customer • If customer gets stuck can call counselor straight away • The coach and the counselor could be the same person … but the skill-sets are very different

  33. L o o k B e f o r e Y o u L e a p • We still need a business case • We still need release planning • The thinking behind what an organization needs • Typically 2-4 weeks of customer-led analysis workshops • Include 1-3 programmers to create a shared understanding and keep the sessions grounded in technical reality • The output of release planning are prioritized and estimated stories with an initial plan • We need to do just enough analysis up-front to make decisions and set expectations

  34. T h r e e – m o n t h C a l i b r a t i o n • After three months, projects realize that their eyes were bigger than their stomachs • … And they aren’t going to deliver everything they promised. • During the crisis period: • productivity drops and • morale drops

  35. T h r e e – m o n t h C a l i b r a t i o n • We recommend that we all: • Consider planning for this • We must be more upfront about this • We must be more upfront that customer won’t get everything • We must be prepared to embrace change • They will get something but there is no guarantee that it will be enough

  36. S u m m a r y • “The customer is Kent Beck’s fantasy • Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, Monty Hall, • Jeeves, Martha Stewart (pre-incarceration) as the mother of a five-year old” • Canadian XP Expert • “The Customer is anAbsence, a hole, a nullity. The Customer Does Not Exist • New Zealand XP Expert • “But I wouldn’t do it any other way” • NZ XP Customer

More Related