Mashion's Pairing Rig

For me, pairing helps avoid bad decisions before it's too late. There are a lot of choices in programming and when both I and my partner agree on a path it's probably the right one. If we can't agree, usually it's because neither is better than the other.

Also not all tasks are right for pairing. Research for example can be frustrating as a pair activity. This is another reason we like this setup since it gets out of the way for non-pair tasks.

1- Programmer buy-in (preferably grass-roots) rather than management dictate

2- Collective ownership of code

3- Frequent switching of pairing partners (switch multiple times per day)

4- Comfortable pairing stations with no "owner" so people can swap partners and desks easily

5- One shared workspace per project with good noise isolation from other projects

6- Office (or two) with a door for private conversations, phone calls, or when you just need to get away from it all

7- Personal space for each person for pictures, storage, checking email, etc.

8- Sensible working hours (pairing is tiring!)

9- Mature participants without major social hang-ups or hygiene issues

10- Mutual respect

11- Thought-provoking work (TDD & evolutionary design tend to make even boring work thought-provoking)

12- Four to eight weeks to get used to it

Second, the pivotal setup is based around an iMac with a second screen. We've found this somewhat odd as everyone has their own laptop. Therefore, this setup is driven from a laptop with the key addition of an hdmi splitter to make driving two screens from the laptop cost effective.