SXSW Panel: Waterfalls should be agile, right?
Ostensibly, this panel was positioned to debate the relative merits of an Agile Process (defended by a developer) versus a more traditional Waterfall Process (defended by a designer). But due to the fact that the audience consisted of Clients, Consultants, and Agencies. We never seemed to be talking about the same thing. For example some timelines were in years while others were in weeks. But to me, the whole thing missed the mark. It’s less a matter of process, and more a matter of roles, and our prejudices based on past experience. Ultimately, a combination of sequential and iterative milestones are unavoidable, and the difference between success and failure is contingent upon the assembled teams and their understanding of the end-to-end process. Team members with a disdain for ambiguity and a desire for job descriptions will ultimately get in the way, causing projects head sideways. Whether you are a Developer, Producer, Designer, or Planner, your ability to see things from a user perspective informed by business needs and customer requirements will be the secret to success. Specialists will always be needed, but their opportunities for upward mobility will be limited by their own self-imposed boundaries.
posted by Jay Miller on March 24th, 2009 at 7:04 am Permanent link to this post
