- You can't gather all the requirements up front
- The requirements you do gather will change
- There is always more to do than time and money will allow
-- The Agile Samurai, J. Rasmusson
19% of software projects are considered "failed", 52% "challenged"
29% actually succeeding (OnTime, OnBudget with a satisfactory result)
-- 2015 study by The Standish Group
#Why Agile?
- Too many projects not delivered
- Software taking too long to get to market
- Requirements not met
- High costs to make changes after delivery
- Having to “get it right” first time/up front
- Too many defects
- Unhappy Customers
- Unhappy Developers
- "Code-fix” (or no process)
- Structured, heavy weight methodologies a.k.a. “Plan Driven Methodologies” and “Waterfall”
- Largely influenced by traditional engineering and quality processes in industries
- Desire to make software development more predictable, measurable and efficient
- Strong emphasis on detailed planning and then executing to the plan
- Is not Tangible
- Is not based on Mathematics
- Needs Knowledge Workers
###Heavy weight methodologies are most successful when:
- Requirements are stable
- Technology is well known and mature
- Everything happens as one would expect
- We are not taking on anything new or unknown
- Coding is ‘copy and paste’
Heavy weight methodologies work in some instances, but there are high costs, and the risk in using them in dynamic environments is high.
###Agile Methods are a reaction to:
- Rigidity of heavy weight methods
- Bureaucracy introduced by heavy weight methods
- Unpleasant surprises due to lack of visibility
- The myth that a well-defined process is more valuable than the people who use it
- System Thinking is a way of looking at how things influence each other as a whole and not as individual parts
- Focus on Flow, not Function
- Look at the end-to-end process and the value we deliver to our customers
- What do our customers value
- How do we respond to the demands from our customers, as a system
- Add nothing but value (eliminate waste)
- Flow value from demand (delay commitment)
- Minimize inventory (minimize intermediate artifacts)
- Optimize across the organization
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan.
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
#12 Principles of Agile
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
- Deliver working software frequently, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
#12 Principles of Agile (cont)
- Business people and developers must work together throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information is face-to-face conversation.
#12 Principles of Agile (cont)
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
#12 Principles of Agile (cont)
- Simplicity - the art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.
#(Common) Agile Project Lifecycle
- No Planning
- No Documentation
- Lacks Discipline
- Limited to Co-Located Teams
- Open Ended
#Agile 'Basics'
The Product Owner is responsible for creating a list of things he/she wants done, called a backlog. They have exclusive rights to prioritize this backlog of work.
As an end user, I want an app that:
- grabs images from twitter
- filters by hash tag
so that:
- I have a better view of the sentiment for my topic
The one person responsible for a project’s success
The Product Owner leads the development effort by conveying his or her vision to the team, outlining work in the scrum backlog, and prioritizing it based on business value
Determines what needs to be built in 30 days or less
Those responsible for committing work to the project
Builds what is needed in 30 days or less and then demos it
Based on the demo the Product Owner determines what to build next
Serves as a facilitator for both the Product Owner and the team
He or she has no management authority within the team and may never commit to work on behalf of the team
- Timeboxed to 4 hrs
- This meeting is a conversation between the Product Owner and the team
- The team has the power to push back and voice concerns or impediments
- Definition of 'done'
- Product owner leaves the room
- Team determines task breakdown and assignments
- Daily meeting to answer:
- What I did yesterday
- What I plan to do today
- Anything preventing me from doing that (blockers)