On-Site Customer in an XP Project: Empirical Results from a Case Study

Abstract. Extreme programming (XP), similar to other agile software development methods, values close collaboration with customers. One of the XP's practices suggests that customer should be 100% available for the development team. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the XP customer role is costly, difficult and demanding. However, very few empirical studies have been published on the customer’s role in an XP project. This paper reports empirical results from a controlled XP case study where the customer was present close to 100% of the development time. Both quantitative and qualitative data will be presented. Results are in line with the common belief that the on-site customer’s role is demanding and requires a strong ability to resolve issues rapidly but offer contrasting findings in terms of required actual customer involvement in the development project. The empirical case demonstrates that while customer was present close to 100% with the development team, only 21% of his w...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: EUROSPI
• Authors: Juha Koskela, Pekka Abrahamsson
• Keywords: Customer, Customer’s Role, EUROSPI 2004, On-site Customer