Building software these days: Design thinking, hybrid teams, and, of course, DevOps

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Design teams and software development teams haven't always worked in the same room, or more appropriate for these days, in the same virtual space. But in an era when users and customers have many digital options available to them, applications need to be elegant, easy to use, and, if possible, even invisible. 

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The growing incorporation between design and development is just one of the many changes shaping the software world. Being part of a software team means working with others in hybrid fashion, building smaller-than-ever chunks of functionality.

That's the word from Fletcher Previn, CIO of Cisco, and previously CIO of IBM, who has redesigned the company's own software operations in the wake of the COVID era. 

Also:20 IT trends that CIOs must be aware of and plan against

"I created and embedded a design team within the IT department to lead with the user experience and outcomes -- we engineer from the user back, instead of the IT department and out," he said in an interview at the company's New York offices. "Every minute people spend struggling with something is a distraction from the thing they were hired to do. So we're emphasizing those experiences, removing friction from the environment, enabling people to do their best work." 

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