Facilitation of Regular Communication between UI Designers and Developers through a Continuous Pipeline Tool A Design Science Study
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Publicerad
2020
Författare
Lindström, Jesper
Mrkonjic, Luka
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
As a result of ever-increasing user expectations on software, UI designers have a
vital role to play in software development projects. Modern software is often built
by cross-functional teams consisting of both engineering and design expertise. As
a result, the number of UI designers for every developer has increased drastically
in the past years, signaling their growing influence. However, the collaboration between
the two disciplines comes with its challenges. This study aims to improve the collaboration between designers and developers during
the UI implementation process. An iterative Design Science Research methodology
was used to understand the problem, propose a solution, and evaluate its
effectiveness. Data was collected in collaboration with our industry partner, Intunio,
using a variety of methods, including a focus group, a questionnaire, and several
interviews.We identify a total of six problems that relate to the process of implementing user
interfaces. Most notably, we find that UI designers are often not fully aware of the
UI implementation progress, which causes design errors to be detected late in the
process. Furthermore, the two disciplines were hesitant to initiate communication
in order not to disturb the other person. In an attempt to mitigate a selection of
the problems, we propose a novel software artifact, Screeny, that facilitates regular
communication between designers and developers. The intention is to catch design
errors as early as possible. Furthermore, the solution enables the designers to track
the implementation progress of the UI. The evaluation of the artifact was performed using interviews in conjunction with
an artificial simulation approach. The data indicated that the solution might successfully
mitigate the problems to some degree. In particular, the solution appears
to shorten the feedback loop and reduce the barrier of contact between designers
and developers.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
cross-functional teams , designer-developer collaboration , design handoff , design breakdowns , design science research , automated gui testing , visual regression testing , software artifact , screeny