Agile, Art, and the Combination with other Disciplines

Combining Art in a Story with Engineering and Test??

In a traditional development company, there are engineers and testers with other parties (such as Architects, UX, etc.) that can be a part of the team or be used as SMEs. 

Now, imagine a creative project, like a video game, that has artists who also contribute to the product. It would be easy to create Art as a silo and have them create the look of a game, hand it off to engineering to implement the art, then hand it off to testing to test it. 

Artists create, polish, and polish some more. So, how do you combine art with the other team members into one story if there is constant polishing that needs to be done? And, why is it important to include art in the team?

Agile builds products in an Iterative, Incremental, and Concurrent Fashion; so does Art

Art can and should be iterative, incremental, and concurrent with engineering and test. Stories can be broken down iteratively by creating a skeleton, then a prototype version, then a final version. Too many or too few passes? Break it down to what makes sense for your game, as long as the user story still delivers valuable functionality and is sized appropriately within an iteration's time frame.

Some user stories will not have art included, and that is A-OK

There are times when the story deals with backend functionality, and art is not included; it's okay. The goal is to include art at times where engineering and test can also be combined to deliver a valuable piece of functionality.

Write titles of User Stories to reflect who is included

I coach that when Art is included in the User Story, the word, "Create" is used. If engineering is included, use the word, "Implement". A story that reads, "Create and Implement the LAP Attracts" tells me that art and engineering are both involved in this story (testing should always be involved).

Combining disciplines into one user story provides Collaboration, Accountability, and a Sense of Urgency

By combining disciplines into one user story, people start working as a team and collaborate more. Everyone knows what is going on at all times in the project. Handoffs are minimized. People feel accountable to their team members, and thus work to get more work done.

This is a high level finding on combining art with other disciplines. If you'd like to know more on how to do this at your organization, leave a comment, and I'd love to get your thoughts and/or provide feedback on struggles I deal with as well.