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Chapter 6 • agile Modeling and prototyping 163

CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 6.4

This Prototype Is All Wet

“It can be changed. It’s not a finished product, remember,” Lather has told him is true. They need the reports, and they’re
affirms Sandy Beach, a systems analyst for RainFall, a large manu- not getting them.
facturer of fiberglass bathtub and shower enclosures for bathrooms. Later in the week Sandy approaches Lather about rerouting
Beach is anxiously reassuring Will Lather, a production scheduler the output as well as changing some of the features of the sys-
for RainFall, who is poring over the first hard-copy output pro- tem. These modifications would allow Lather to get onscreen
duced for him by the prototype of the new information system. answers regarding what-if scenarios about changes in the prices
“Well, it’s okay,” Lather says quietly. “I wouldn’t want to suppliers are charging or changes in the quality rating of the raw
bother you with anything. Let’s see, . . . yes, here they are,” he says materials available from suppliers (or both), as well as allow
as he finally locates the monthly report summarizing raw materials him to see what would happen if a shipment were late.
purchased, raw materials used, and raw materials in inventory. Lather is visibly upset with Sandy’s suggestions for
Lather continues paging through the unwieldy computer print- altering the prototype and its output. “Oh, don’t do it on my
out. “This will be fine.” Pausing at a report, he remarks, “I’ll just account. It’s okay really. I don’t mind taking the responsibility
have Miss Fawcett copy this part for the people in Accounting.” for routing information to people. I’m always showering them
Turning a few more pages, he says, “And the guy in Quality with stuff anyway. Really, this is working pretty well. I would
Assurance should really see this column of figures, although the hate to have you take it away from us at this point. Let’s just
rest of it isn’t of much interest to him. I’ll circle it and make a leave it in place.”
copy of it for him. Maybe I should phone part of this in to the Sandy is pleased that Lather seems so satisfied with the pro-
warehouse, too.” totyped output, but he is concerned about Lather’s unwillingness
As Sandy prepares to leave, Lather bundles up the pages of the to change the prototype, because he has been encouraging users
reports, commenting, “The new system will be a big help. I’ll make to think of it as an evolving product, not a finished one.
sure everybody knows about it. Anything will be better than the Write a brief report to Sandy listing changes to the proto-
’old monster’ anyway. I’m glad we’ve got something new.” type prompted by Lather’s reactions. In a paragraph, discuss
Sandy leaves Will Lather’s office feeling a little lost at sea. ways that Sandy can calm Lather’s fears about having the pro-
Thinking it over, he starts wondering why Accounting, Quality totype “taken away.” Discuss in a paragraph some actions that
Assurance, and the warehouse aren’t getting what Will thinks they can be taken before a prototype is tried out to prepare users for
should. Sandy phones a few people, and he confirms that what its evolutionary nature.

practice, they will shorten the release time by tackling the most important features first,
release that system or product, and then improve it later.
2. Forty-hour workweek means that agile development teams purposely endorse a cultural
core practice in which the team works intensely together during a typical 40-hour work-
week. As a corollary to this practice, the culture reinforces the idea that working overtime
for more than a week in a row is very bad for the health of the project and the developers.
This core practice attempts to motivate team members to work intensely at the job, and
then to take time off so that when they return they are relaxed and less stressed. This helps
team members spot problems more readily, and prevents costly errors and omissions due to
ineffectual performance or burnout.
3. On-site customer means that a user who is an expert in the business aspect of the systems
development work is on-site during the development process. This person is integral to
the process, writes user stories, communicates to team members, helps prioritize and
balance the long-term business needs, and makes decisions about which feature should
be tackled first.
4. Pair programming is an important core practice. It means that you work with another pro-
grammer of your own choosing. You both do coding, you both run tests. Often the senior
person will take the coding lead initially, but as the junior person becomes involved, who-
ever has the clear vision of the goal will typically do the coding for the moment. When
you ask another person to work with you, the protocol of pair programming says he or she
is obligated to consent. Working with another programmer helps you clarify your thinking.
Pairs change frequently, especially during the exploration stage of the development