Want to learn more about Agile Development and User Experience? Head to Toronto…

Last November, we had a full house for Declan Whelan’s talk on the intersection of Agile and UX. If you’re hungry for more, check out these two upcoming events in Toronto. Thanks to @meredi, coordinator of the Toronto IxDA group, for bringing these to our attention!

January 19: IxDA Toronto Discussion Panel on Agile & UX

For the latest information, monitor IxDA Toronto’s Google Groups forum.

January 20: Agile Methods and User Centered Design: The Common Denominators

8.00am – 9.30am
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Park Hyatt Toronto Hotel
4 Avenue Road
Cost: FREE
Learn more and register

ThoughtWorks’ User Experience Expert, Dave Robertson, and senior business analyst, John Johnston, will discuss the subject of marrying Agile and User Centered Design best practices.

One of the most important ways to create valuable software is to empower people. Agile practices empower development teams and their customers to create software that delivers real value for the business. User centered design (UCD) practices empower designers to create useful, usable and compelling experiences for people who use software. Agile and UCD are highly complimentary, yet many practitioners still struggle with integrating these practices and there is a common impression that agile and UCD donít work well together. Too many agile projects produce poor user interface and too many user experience projects run over time and budget.

There is a better way. Agile methods and UCD share goals and values — a commitment to iteration, value and quality are examples of common denominators that form a foundation on which designers and developers can integrate these practices successfully. But they must be willing to challenge preconceptions about their methods, deliverables and roles to succeed.