Corealisation

The most agile of all development practices. It has its origins in the early 2000s when the ink on the Agile Manifesto had not quite dried and we were still struggling to overcome traditional staged models of software development.

The idea behind corealisation is very simple: develop software right where it is being used. Let developers observe the context of use directly instead of separating them from it and feeding them "user stories". Deploy whenever appropriate but hopefully within days, not months and years.

Not only does corealisation cut out the middleman, it fosters a close, collegial working relationship between users and developers. Within the actual context of use it becomes possible to explore together what is possible and what is feasible. Care can be taken to be respectful of the rights and needs of all people involved.

As the Agile Industrial Complex has perverted the original ideas that the manifesto contained, perhaps it is time to revive corealisation?

Service

Contact me if you have need for a system that you imagine could be developed in this way. I am happy to talk about the approach, provide advice and explore the feasibility of a project.

Publications

• Hartswood, Mark, Rob Procter, Roger Slack, Alex Voß, Monika Büscher, Mark Rouncefield, and Philippe Rouchy. Co-Realization: Toward a Principled Synthesis of Ethnomethodology and Participatory Design. In Resources, Co-Evolution and Artifacts: Theory in CSCW, 59–94. Computer Supported Cooperative Work. London: Springer, 2008.

• Voss, Alexander. Corealisation: A Radical Respecification of the Working Division of Labour in Systems Development. University of Edinburgh, 2007.