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XP has several good ideas. However, I am not sure if XP is a good fit in software product development environment (versus software appliction development). In other words, I could see it fit nicely in building "inventory management system" versus building a "database engine".
The reasons -
1. On-site customer - who is the customer for a software product ? Typically, the product is shipped to multiple customers. When potential customers are asked for feedback - 50% will prefer feature "X" and rest won't. In other words, customer feedback is more like suggestion as oppossed to "requirements".
Product Manager can fill the role of "on-site customer". However, in reality for most innovative products, the requirements are generated more dynamically through several brainstorming session involving multiple people (senior technical leaders, engineering management and product management).
In other words, there is no one person who can act as an "on-site customer"
2. Pair programming - Most accomplished software designers work in a zone where I feel the presence of another person may not necessarily be ideal. And as mentioned in the article, telecommuting is a norm nowadays.
3. Continuous integration - for any serious product running the entire regression suite takes more than 2-3 hours. Trying to do this cycle, 2-3 times a day is non-productive use of time. It might be more useful towards the end of the release.
I would like to hear from people who have adopted XP practices in software product development.
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