Slow Down to Go Fast -- Lessons Learned Shipping Bing Voice Search on Xbox

Are you the tortoise or the hare? Many software teams today practice "rapid development" techniques, and while it is true that some practices and methods produce results more quickly than others, slowing down and (potentially) building less, leads to higher quality and efficiency gains in the long run. At Microsoft, "Slow down to go fast" was the mantra of the Xbox voice search team, who took on the persona of the "tortoise" to successfully deliver on our objectives with high quality. By adhering to the principles of Agile while being agile in our methodologies and practices, the team found a flexible but structured framework to work within. Here we describe what went well and what we learned, with a focus on slowing down to go fast producing early-cycle - and ultimately shipping - quality.