[Sigia-l] How agile is agile?

[Livia Labate]

> consultant found acceptable. (Bitter? Moi?) It's way too late to start
> over with someone else's idea of the Correct Process and full menu of
> Acceptable Deliverables (each with its price tag attached). 

 From a quality and business perspective it is never too late. From a 
solely financial perspective, it might be.

> But we would
> still like someone new to pass an experienced eye over the screen
> layouts and IA in light of some basic user test results. Is it too much
> to ask a new person to step in after things are already in motion?  

That's a good thing!

I was once in a similar situation and was asked to perform that review 
you describe. My feedback was interpreted by the business not only in 
term of the short-term fixes (how we could tweak what went wrong in the 
previous phase with the other consultant), but helped myself and the 
internal team make the case for taking over with "the right process". 
(Note "taking" over, not "starting" over - starting over assumes there 
are no learnings from the previous experience).

I was a consultant back then, now I'm an innie in the company. I became 
responsible for that project after that initial consultation, and after 
14 months we have turned it around completely, making it a success it 
definitely could not have been had it followed the path it started on.

It's never too late to ask the right questions. No matter when you're 
called in to contribute, if you provide the feedback that trully 
contributes to the end goal of the project, ther are no barriers, 
financial or otherwise, to turning things around and making them work. 
My approach to any of these situations is that nothing is ever hopeless.

Note: Get a skilled person to do this. Only a seasoned professional 
knows what are the right questions to ask, *specially* in an 
unconventional situation like that. Invest in a good consultant; this 
person's input may salvage a project you thought doomed.

Cheers,

Livia Labate