"We decided that design doesn't really own all," Mahajan said. "Normally in traditional game design, the designer creates specs, which are then passed over a 'wall' to developers who are then required to implement those specs. Why not give developers just as much ownership of the feature as the designer?

FarmVille developer explains their process, which, as my colleagues also noted basically sounds like a case of agile methodology even if he does not use the word - in any case, gives proof that development methods need to emulate the nature of the product, i.e. service.