9. Card walls are
awesome
• ... but they’re absolutely terrible
Friday, 2 March 12
10. Card walls
• “We don't learn to do arithmetic using a
calculator. No, one starts with simple
addition and by the time your ready to
learn division it is done using pencil and
paper (long division old school). Requiring
the student to do the hard work of the
long division process may help them to
understand the conceptual division
problem and the solution technique.”
Friday, 2 March 12
12. What makes me tick
• What growing pains can we expect?
Friday, 2 March 12
13. What makes me tick
• What growing pains can we expect?
• How have others overcome similar growing
pains?
Friday, 2 March 12
14. What makes me tick
• What growing pains can we expect?
• How have others overcome similar growing
pains?
• What are the common patterns to these
solutions?
Friday, 2 March 12
27. Why not?
• Forces teams to be co-located
Friday, 2 March 12
28. Why not?
• Forces teams to be co-located
• Visibility/transparency argument not so
strong
Friday, 2 March 12
29. Why not?
• Forces teams to be co-located
• Visibility/transparency argument not so
strong
• Requires data entry to get tooling benefits
Friday, 2 March 12
30. Manifesto for Agile
Software Development
• “Individuals and interactions over processes
and tools”
Friday, 2 March 12
62. So what are the
alternatives?
Friday, 2 March 12
63. So what are the
alternatives?
• Let’s reconsider our old wallboard
Friday, 2 March 12
64. So what are the
alternatives?
• Let’s reconsider our old wallboard
• self-synchronising
Friday, 2 March 12
65. So what are the
alternatives?
• Let’s reconsider our old wallboard
• self-synchronising
• inherently distributed
Friday, 2 March 12
66. So what are the
alternatives?
• Let’s reconsider our old wallboard
• self-synchronising
• inherently distributed
• can include extras - builds, etc
Friday, 2 March 12
67. So what are the
alternatives?
• Let’s reconsider our old wallboard
• self-synchronising
• inherently distributed
• can include extras - builds, etc
• non-interactive - deal breaker
Friday, 2 March 12
71. Same goes for...
• sprint.ly
• Trello
• Scrumblr
Friday, 2 March 12
72. Same goes for...
• sprint.ly
• Trello
• Scrumblr
• any web-based cardwall/taskboard tool
Friday, 2 March 12
73. Same goes for...
• sprint.ly
• Trello
• Scrumblr
• any web-based cardwall/taskboard tool
• If you’re used to a physical card wall, the
interaction model just isn’t quite right
Friday, 2 March 12
79. Alternatives
• QR codes on your card wall
Friday, 2 March 12
80. Alternatives
• QR codes on your card wall
• batched synchronization
Friday, 2 March 12
81. Alternatives
• QR codes on your card wall
• batched synchronization
• no data entry, automated reporting
Friday, 2 March 12
82. Alternatives
• QR codes on your card wall
• batched synchronization
• no data entry, automated reporting
• stories & tasks are addressable
Friday, 2 March 12
83. Alternatives
• QR codes on your card wall
• batched synchronization
• no data entry, automated reporting
• stories & tasks are addressable
• still a problem for working from home
Friday, 2 March 12
84. Alternatives
• QR codes on your card wall
• batched synchronization
• no data entry, automated reporting
• stories & tasks are addressable
• still a problem for working from home
• no audit trail - not really a problem for
agile teams
Friday, 2 March 12
88. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Winner of 2010 ultimate wallboard
competition
Friday, 2 March 12
89. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Winner of 2010 ultimate wallboard
competition
• Pretty much the coolest thing ever
Friday, 2 March 12
90. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Winner of 2010 ultimate wallboard
competition
• Pretty much the coolest thing ever
• RFID chips for each card, readers update in
software back-end on status change
Friday, 2 March 12
91. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Winner of 2010 ultimate wallboard
competition
• Pretty much the coolest thing ever
• RFID chips for each card, readers update in
software back-end on status change
• Changes which bypass the card wall trigger
a change printout
Friday, 2 March 12
92. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Winner of 2010 ultimate wallboard
competition
• Pretty much the coolest thing ever
• RFID chips for each card, readers update in
software back-end on status change
• Changes which bypass the card wall trigger
a change printout
• A whole lot more
Friday, 2 March 12
94. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Hands-on set up - RFID cards, RFID
readers, label printer, projector, video
camera
Friday, 2 March 12
95. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Hands-on set up - RFID cards, RFID
readers, label printer, projector, video
camera
• Non-portable
Friday, 2 March 12
96. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Hands-on set up - RFID cards, RFID
readers, label printer, projector, video
camera
• Non-portable
• Minor lag of changes getting onto the wall
Friday, 2 March 12
97. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Hands-on set up - RFID cards, RFID
readers, label printer, projector, video
camera
• Non-portable
• Minor lag of changes getting onto the wall
• Contains some ‘hacks’
Friday, 2 March 12
98. Vodafone web team
card wall
• Hands-on set up - RFID cards, RFID
readers, label printer, projector, video
camera
• Non-portable
• Minor lag of changes getting onto the wall
• Contains some ‘hacks’
• Still, awesome.
Friday, 2 March 12
101. Potential alternatives
• SAP research InnoBoard
• Cool tech, really nice potential card wall
replacement
Friday, 2 March 12
102. Potential alternatives
• SAP research InnoBoard
• Cool tech, really nice potential card wall
replacement
• Platform developed, ref-app is based on
collaboration, not agile development.
Friday, 2 March 12
103. Potential alternatives
• SAP research InnoBoard
• Cool tech, really nice potential card wall
replacement
• Platform developed, ref-app is based on
collaboration, not agile development.
• They want to do other applications on
top of their platform, agile makes sense
Friday, 2 March 12
105. Commonalities
• Bi-directional propagation of changes
Friday, 2 March 12
106. Commonalities
• Bi-directional propagation of changes
• Real-time (or near-to) updates
Friday, 2 March 12
107. Commonalities
• Bi-directional propagation of changes
• Real-time (or near-to) updates
• Central and tangible
Friday, 2 March 12
108. Commonalities
• Bi-directional propagation of changes
• Real-time (or near-to) updates
• Central and tangible
• Allow for changing status, assigning to
someone, adding new cards (kanban
specific)
Friday, 2 March 12
115. We’ve tried this before
• My colleague Shihab and I worked on this
last year
Friday, 2 March 12
116. We’ve tried this before
• My colleague Shihab and I worked on this
last year
• Blinded by cool tech, we lost sight of the
“solve one problem and solve it well” ideal
Friday, 2 March 12
117. We’ve tried this before
• My colleague Shihab and I worked on this
last year
• Blinded by cool tech, we lost sight of the
“solve one problem and solve it well” ideal
• Shipped a tech demo, got some positive
feedback, went nowhere with it
Friday, 2 March 12
119. Keen to try again
• But curious as to whether analog-or-death
types agree with me that there’s value
Friday, 2 March 12
120. Keen to try again
• But curious as to whether analog-or-death
types agree with me that there’s value
• Feel free to share your thoughts afterwards
Friday, 2 March 12
122. Recapping
• Card walls face problems, not just as the
team grows, but also as the organisation
the team exists within grows
Friday, 2 March 12
123. Recapping
• Card walls face problems, not just as the
team grows, but also as the organisation
the team exists within grows
• Current alternatives can’t solve every
problem, but they might solve your’s
Friday, 2 March 12
124. Recapping
• Card walls face problems, not just as the
team grows, but also as the organisation
the team exists within grows
• Current alternatives can’t solve every
problem, but they might solve your’s
• No silver bullet
Friday, 2 March 12
125. Recapping
• Card walls face problems, not just as the
team grows, but also as the organisation
the team exists within grows
• Current alternatives can’t solve every
problem, but they might solve your’s
• No silver bullet
• No free lunch
Friday, 2 March 12
