{"id":8012104,"date":"2016-05-26T18:57:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T01:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-agilealliance.pantheonsite.io\/?post_type=aa_glossary&#038;p=8012104"},"modified":"2023-03-08T15:55:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T23:55:17","slug":"quick-design-session","status":"publish","type":"aa_glossary","link":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/quick-design-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Quick Design Session"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>When a team favors \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/simple-design\/\">simple design<\/a>,\u201d developers usually handle local design decisions moment-to-moment but are on the alert for design choices that may have far-reaching consequences.<\/p>\n<p>When such a choice arises, two or more developers meet for a quick design session on the whiteboard, possibly using design aids such as <a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/crc-cards\/\">CRC cards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Some important guidelines for an effective design session are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>considering several credible alternatives (\u201cstraw man\u201d proposals don\u2019t count), ideally three or more, so that the final choice is based on considerations such as simplicity or conceptual integrity;<\/li>\n<li>assessing each alternative on the basis of a concrete, specific scenario; for instance, envisioning how the <a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/acceptance\/\">acceptance test<\/a>&nbsp;associated with a given&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/user-stories\/\">user story<\/a>&nbsp;would unfold under each possible design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Also Known As<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Also known as \u201cjust in time design\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Origins<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>2001: the \u201cquick design session\u201d is described in&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0201708426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Extreme Programming Installed<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Expected Benefits<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>In an Agile project, the design activity is spread out throughout the effort\u2019s duration rather than being an explicit up-front phase.<\/p>\n<p>However, \u201cdesign itself\u201d remains a necessary activity, and merely abolishing an early design phase is by no means sufficient to ensure that this activity is carried out.<\/p>\n<p>Quick design sessions address the need for more strategic decisions, while&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/glossary\/user-stories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">refactoring<\/a>&nbsp;takes care of local design issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Academic Publications<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Some research exists on the topic, mostly of an ethnographic nature, which tends to confirm Agile preference for quick, transient design and modeling, e.g.<br \/>\n\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/wendyju.com\/publications\/thinking_erasable_DISTRO.doc.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thinking with Erasable Ink: Ad-hoc Whiteboard Use in Collaborative Design<\/a>\u201d by Ju, Neeley, Winograd, and Leifer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When &#8220;simple design&#8221; choices have far-reaching consequences, two or more developers meet for a quick design session at a whiteboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8067461,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[904],"tags":[825],"class_list":["post-8012104","aa_glossary","type-aa_glossary","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-simple-design"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_glossary\/8012104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/aa_glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8012104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_glossary\/8012104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8067461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8012104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8012104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8012104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}