Creating a user interface (UI) is often a part of software development. In the software industry designated UI designers work side by side with the developers in agile software development teams. While agile software processes have been researched, yet there is no general consensus on how UI designers should be integrated with the developing team. The existing research points towards the industry favoring tight collaboration between developers and UI designers by having them work together in the same team. The subject is gathering interest and different ways of integration is happening in the industry.
In this thesis we researched the collaboration between developers and UI designers in agile software development. The goal was to understand the teamwork between the UI designers and developers working in the same agile software teams.
The research was conducted by doing semi-structured theme interviews with UI designers and devel- opers individually. The interviewees were from consulting firms located in the Helsinki metropolitan are in Finland. The subjects reported about a recent project where they worked in an agile software team consisting of UI designers and developers. The data from the interviews was compared to the literature.
Results of the interviews were similar to the findings from the literature for the most part. Finding a suitable process for the teamwork, co-location, good social relations and a an atmosphere of trust were factors present in the literature and the interviews. The importance of good software tools for communicating designs, and developers taking part in the UI designing process stood out from the interviews.
