Preventing a Customer Representative from 'Going Native'
publish date: 2026/06/04 22:55:39.703832 UTC
A known risk of having a customer representative embedded closely with an agile development team is that they may 'go native' — adopting the outlook of the development team and losing sight of the needs of their user colleagues. Which of the following approaches could help prevent this problem? Select all that apply.
Correct Answer
Explanation
Three approaches to prevent 'going native': (1) Rotate the customer representative role — cycling different users into the team prevents any one person from becoming too embedded in the development culture; (2) Regular meetings with end-user colleagues — structured contact with the wider user community keeps the representative grounded in real user needs; (3) User panel or advisory group — a formal consultation mechanism ensures the representative's prioritisation decisions reflect broader user perspectives, not just their own evolved viewpoint. Preventing stand-up attendance or enforcing formal-only communication would undermine the agile collaboration model.
Reference
Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 9th edition
