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38 BERENTE AND LYYTINEN

Table 4.1

Iteration Framework
Cognitive iterations
The design • evolving perspectives of the design in the minds of the
designers
The design process • conceptions of design practices in the minds of the
designers
Stages in the design process • conceptions of progress or location within the design
practices
Iterations of representational artifacts
Documentation • material artifact representing some aspect of the design or
design process
Software code • the design object itself, which acts as both a
representational artifact and the fundamental component of
the anticipated system

sis and design literature and soliciting the main findings through a literature review. We aim to
offer readers an understanding of how iteration has been defined and treated in both prescriptive
and empirical studies of design in order to determine what we know and do not know about the
impacts of different types of iterations under different design contingencies.
The remainder of the chapter is organized as follows. First, we provide a description of our
sampling of the theoretical literature associated with this framework and then review the sparse
empirical body of research on the effects of iteration. We observe that empirical research on
iteration focuses almost entirely on one type of iterating artifact: the evolutionary prototype.
The findings associated with evolutionary prototyping are generally consistent with expected
outcomes.
We conclude the chapter with a new perspective on iteration in systems analysis and design.
As iteration forms a fundamental property of all systems analysis and design, then we must ask
what, exactly, is the difference between iterative or agile, and traditional, “noniterative” develop-
ment? If it is not the presence or absence of iteration, we need to have a more refined vocabulary
to analyze differences among iterations and the criteria that can be used to spell out those differ-
ences. We accordingly suggest that these differences lie in the criteria that define the content and
outcomes of iterative behavior as defined by notions of (a) iteration visibility—who can observe
it? (b) control—who can control it? (c) granularity—what is being iterated and at what level of
detail? and (d) timing—when do the iterations occur?
This insight challenges researchers to be mindful of the perspectives that designers and other
stakeholders assign to various forms of documentation and to the executable code itself. The timing
and level of detail where evolving artifacts are made visible affect the perspectives of the various
stakeholders associated with the project, and these perspectives, in turn, affect project outcomes.
We stress that iteration must be understood in terms of multidimensional, dynamic behaviors that
are central to design, not as an unproblematic “thing” that either exists or does not.

ITERATION DEFINED

We need to carefully explore the concept of iteration because it underpins all systems develop-
ment practices. The term “iteration” is common in a variety of disciplines. It can be defined as