Being Jane Malkovich: A look into the world of an XP customer

Abstract

One of the pivotal roles in XP is the customer, but little guidance is provided in the literature on the practicalities of succeeding in this role. We used an interpretative in-depth case study to explore a successful XP project. We obtained multiple perspectives on the implementation of the customer role, and this paper includes excerpts from interviews with the customer and other development team members. We found that the interviewees provided a consistent picture of the XP customer role and they agreed that the XP customer role, especially for larger organisations, is very demanding. It requires preparation, skills, attention to detail, and the ability to make critical decisions. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.