May7,2012 FormulaOneRacingTeamSpeedstoAgileDevelopment KimNash Youhearalotaboutorganizationsthatmustmakesplitseconddecisionsorrisk losingtocompetitors.Splitseconds?That'susuallyanexaggeration,unlessyou're talkingaboutFormulaOneracing. Duringthe90to120secondsittakestorunalapinFormulaOne,engineersinthe pitcrewusetelemetryandbusinessanalyticstoolstofindadjustmentstomakeona carracingatspeedsofmorethan185mph.Everyfractionofaseconddoescount, saysGraemeHackland,ITdirectorforLotusF1,athreedriverteamcosponsored byLotusCarsandRenault.AtarecentraceinBahrain,aLotusF1driverlostfirst placebyjustthreeseconds.

NoonesaysITwastoblamethedriversaidafterwardthatheusedhisbrakesat thewrongmoment.ButHacklandsayshewantstomakesurethatITrunsfriction freeandthatapplicationdevelopment,inparticular,goesbetterthanithas."If softwareiscausingproblemstoendusersordistractingthemfromtheirmainjob, that'stheworstpossiblescenarioforus."

RacingtoAgileDevelopment LotusF1recentlyditchedtraditionalapplicationdevelopmentmethodsforagile development,includingscrumandvisualization.Thegoalistoproducebettertools fasterforbothpitcrewandcardesigners.Hacklandsayshealsowantedtoerasethe perceptionthatsometimesITdoesn'tunderstandeverythingabouthowthepit crewandcardesignersliketowork."Theywantedustodelivermorerightthefirst time,"hesays. Thecontinuouscommunicationbetweendevelopersandusersunderagile developmentcanclarifyhowtheendproductshouldlook,feelandworkmuch earlierintheprocess,saysMargoVisitacion,ananalystatForresterResearch.But organizationsunderestimatethecultureshockofgoingagile."Collaborationisalot differentfromtakingrequirements,throwingthemoverawallandexpecting perfectionmanymonthslater,"shesays.

LotusF1Team's2012car,theE20,hasshowngoodpacethisseasonsofar, accordingtoLotusF1Team.(PhotocourtesyofLotus.) TheLotusF1teamhasfinishedfifthontheFormulaOneracingcircuitforthepast twoyears.Nowthey'redrivingtowardachampionshipwithinthenextcoupleof years,Hacklandsays.There's"anoutsidechance"theteamcouldtakeitthisyear, LotusAmbassadorEmersonFittipaldihassaid. InFormulaOneracing,12teamscompetein20raceseverytwoweeksincities aroundtheworldbetweenMarchandNovember.Eachteamdesignsandbuildsits

owncar.Somespecificationsandruleschangeeveryyear.In2014,forexample, turbochargedenginesandnewfuelflowrestrictionswillbemandated.LotusF1is workingonthoselongtermdesigns.Buttheteamisalsofocusedontheminuteby minuterushofracingtoday.ForHackland,thatmeanspumpingoutfasterandmore sophisticatedanalyticstoolstogivetheteamanedge. Halfofhis14memberITgroupisdedicatedtosoftwaredevelopment.Evenso,the traditionalwaterfalldevelopmentmethodtheteam'sdevelopershadbeenusing couldgetslow,hesays.Gatherrequirements,createafunctionalspecification, createatechnicalspecification,buildandtest.Theultimateusersofthesystem wereinvolvedmainlyatthebeginningandend,butnotduringthewholeprocess. Yetit'sallthattimeinbetweenwhensmallcorrectionsandadditionscanoccurthat maketheendproductmuchbetter,saysVisitacionatForrester."Whenyousee somethingtangiblefaster,itcreatesastrongersenseofrealityofwhat'sgoingtobe valuabletoyouandwhat'sgoingtobeextraneous.Itallowstheteamtofocusonthe essenceoftheproject." UnderLotusF1'snewagileapproach,usersattenddailymeetingswithdevelopers andlookatprogresseverythreeweeks.Testersareinvolvedallthewaythrough. "Bythetimewedeliver,there'sbeenahugeamountofinteraction,whichwenever usedtohave,"Hacklandsays. VisualizationinthePit HisteamrecentlyusedvisualizationsoftwarefromiRisetoimproveakeysoftware tool:aracestrategysystemthathelpsthecrewdeterminewhentopitcars.Thetool considersfactorssuchaslapnumberandspeed,positioninthefield,wearonthe tires,whatcompetitorsaredoinganddatafromthe200sensorsonLotusF1'scars. Itcancalculate10,000racesimulationsinthetimeittakestorunalap.Ifcrew engineershavetofiddlewithaclunkyuserinterfaceorwaitforananalyticsresult thattakesafewminutestocompute,theywastetimeandopportunity,Hackland says.

LotusF1usevisualizationsoftwarefromiRisetodetermineinracestrategy. ThevisualizationhisdevelopersproducedwithiRiseletpitcrewmembersinteract withnewfeaturesintheuserinterface,givingfeedbacktoincorporateintothe finishedproduct.Testerscouldtrytheunfinishedcodetogetabetterideaof whetheritwouldworkforthem.Intheoldway,usersmayjusthaveseenstatic screenshots,ornothingatall,duringdevelopment."Itwasdifficultforuserstosay whethertheylikeditorfounditeasytouse,"hesays. Hacklandsaysheexpectshisstafftorefineitsapproachtoagileasworkcontinues. "If[ITchanges]reducetheamountofmanualworkengineershavetodo,theycan focusonthecaranddriver,"hesays.Theteam,meanwhile,preparesforthenext tworacesinSpainandMonacothismonth.MaybeLotusF1willfindthatthree seconds.