fast fish forum roundtable sessions
TRANSCRIPT
Fishbowl Artefacts6 April 2016
Discussion points for the fishbowl sessions
• Ensuring that innovative solutions are sustainable and can fit with existing systems and processes:o Is the traditional role of architecture valid in
modern software development?
• The need to deliver change that must bring about an exceptional experience for customers and users:o Integrating customer research and usability
testing into incremental software delivery
Is the traditional role of architecture valid in modern software development?
Test the business perspective of architects
How should we measure architectural success?
Architects to support and guide the process, not just “block” it
Additional challenges when not all architects
work together
Architects must align business and IT
How do we connect the dots
at the end with the team?
Compared to a blueprint of a house – upfront issues
versus not being able to do renovations
Architects should play a strategic
role
Architects should be the advisors of non-functional requirements and designs
Guiding rather than
pushing
Could the product owner be the new enterprise
architect?
What is an appropriate level
of control?
Need to get more frequent input from architects – should be
closer and part of the delivery teams
Multiple teams being led by a
“chief architect”
T / Pi shaped people
Is the traditional role of architecture valid in modern software development?
Ownership needs to be correctly allocated
Architectural skill can come from team, could be multiple people who
fulfil this
Control over-emphasised, what is correct level of touch?
It’s a function not a role, not about person in role –
about having right architectural skills
Rate of change is important
Different labels for architects make it confusing
Architects need “skin in the game”
Instead of focusing on different labels for different architects, focus on ultimate role
to ensure good alignment and direction
Organisations need to change
and structure for the change
Need to be fast and nimble, architecture part of this
Agile methodology needed –challenge is how architects fit
into that
Need to grow into business architecture role
Integrating customer research and usability testing into incremental software delivery
Limited UX skills available in South Africa
Adhere to UX principles versus standardised
templates
Drive outside-in thinking for customer centricity
Need to be doing anything greater than zero
UX doesn’t have to be specialist, can be covered by delivery team
Incorporate into “traditional” as-is analysis
Change organisational mind-set to not
see UX as part of something being done, it’s a skill in
itself
Need to ensure interviews are broader than system
being built
Are dedicated teams needed?
Multiple areas in UX
requiring skill
Decide what is enough upfront
Interviews aren’t just “do you want this or this”, need to be addressing a need
UX not just external use, as important for internal user
Ideally every person in company can input in UX
Difficult to get feedback from
external customers –
should be easy and build model
into business processes and
front end
So much value to deliver to customer if just want
to listen to them
Integrating customer research and usability testing into incremental software delivery
How much is enough research?
Customers can be wrong
Staff need to utilise UX skills and
fully immerse themselves
Should be solving real customer problems, not just enabling ease of use
Don’t want analysis paralysis, but if not enough research run risk of
being wrong
Don’t need process that is perfect, can reiterate and learn as you go along
Combining new and traditional methods
Can’t go to market with wrong information, but can with
some idea of what is important
UX and CX for product design or systems design
In today’s fast moving customer-demand driven world, BA and UX must converge
Can’t ignore customer in analytics process,
BAs must use BA methodology as part of
toolkit
Is the traditional role of architecture valid in modern software development?
Integrating customer research and usability testing into incremental software delivery
Thank you for joining us!Keep the conversation going