It mentions above “Essentially the user experience team works an iteration ahead of the development team. A short pre-iteration planning meeting is had with the client to determine their upcoming needs for the next iteration. ”

Can you confirm if implement production as a firm team split ? What I mean by this is, do you actually commit to be part of the development team as well, to implement and support the designs. In our setup we aim to have top level design which is available to the team and we mix designers into the production teams who work on implementation, but also awareness of the next sprint where they can plan slightly ahead. These plans/ideas are discussed with the PO and team halfway through the sprint for clarification. For us this works well as we deliver a working prototype as a cross-functional team for the sprint review which invites feedback early into the product.

Also if there is a split in the teams as above, design quality can decrease by working in isolated disciplines/functional units? I have seen designs improved where designers discuss and work with developers for instance as designers can be made aware whats possible or not. On the reverse it can reduce time by providing discussion on alternatives etc.

Craig

I find that it’s best to shelter the software developers from much of the UX development. They tend to get frustrated by the lack of consensus and the delays. For that reason, I like the sprint zero approach and/or some type of parallel track for UX and software.

Thanks for sharing your insights!