Overview of the Agile Model
Agile is a software development methodology to build software incrementally using short iterations of 1 to 4 weeks so that the development process is aligned with the changing business needs. Get a complete overview of the Agile Model, its principles, benefits, and how it enhances flexibility, collaboration, and efficiency in software development.
Instead of a single-pass development of 6 to 18 months where all the requirements and risks are predicted upfront, Agile adopts a process of frequent feedback where a workable product is delivered after a 1 to 4-week iteration.
Who is Involved?
- Scrum Master − The scrum master acts as a facilitator for the agile delivery team. • Product Owner − The product owner represents the general view of the product backlog.
- Agile Team − The agile delivery team provides insights on the technical feasibilities or any dependencies.
- Stakeholders − Stakeholders like customers, program managers, and subject matter experts act as advisers as decisions are made around the release planning.
Product backlog:( Set of functional and non-functional product requirements.)
- A product backlog is a list of items to be done. Items are ranked with feature descriptions. In an ideal scenario, items should be broken down into user stories
Product Backlog Items
user stories, defects, and features that are to be developed by the Agile team.
Roles in Agile
Scrum Master
A Scrum Master is a team leader and facilitator who helps team members follow agile practices so that they can meet their commitments.
The responsibilities of a scrum master are as follows −
- To enable close cooperation between all roles and functions.
- To remove any blocks.
- To guard the team from any disturbances.
- To work with the organization to track the progress and processes of the company. • To ensure that Agile Inspect & Adapt processes are supported properly which include: Daily stand-ups,
Planned meetings,
Demo,
Review,
Retrospective Meetings, and
To facilitate team meetings and decision-making process.
Every agile team should be a self-sufficient team with 5 to 9 team members and an average experience ranging from 6 to 10 years. Typically, an agile team comprises 3 to 4 developers, 1 tester, 1 technical lead, 1 product owner, and 1 scrum master.
How an Agile Team Plans its Work?
An Agile team works in iterations to deliver user stories where each iteration is 10 to 15 days. Each user story is planned based on its backlog prioritization and size. The team uses its capacity − how many hours are available with the team to work on tasks − to decide how much scope they have to plan.
Point
A Point defines how much a team can commit. A point usually refers to 8 hours. Each story is estimated in points.
Capacity
Capacity defines how much an individual can commit. Capacity is estimated in hours.
What is a User Story?
A user story is a requirement that is formulated in a few sentences in the everyday language of a user and it should be completed within an iteration
i.e., a user story is a requirement that defines what is required by the user as functionality. A user story can be in two forms −
- As a <User Role> I want <Functionality> so that <Business Value> • In order to <Business value> as a <User Role> I want <Functionality>
During release planning, a rough estimate is given to a user story using relative scale as points. During iteration planning, the story is broken down into tasks.
Iteration
An iteration is a time-boxed collection of user stories, Iterations are defined during iteration planning meetings and completed with an iteration demo and review meeting. An iteration is also termed a sprint
Release
A release is a major milestone that represents an internal or external delivery of a working, tested version of the product/system
Relationship of User Stories and Tasks
- The user story talks about what is to be done. It defines what a user needs. • Task talks about how it is to be done. It defines how a functionality is to be implemented.
- Stories are implemented by tasks. Each story is a collection of tasks. • User story is divided into tasks when it is planned in the current iteration. • Tasks are estimated in hours, typically from 2 to 12 hours.
- Stories are validated using acceptance tests.
When a Story is Done
The team decides what done means. The criteria may be −
- All tasks (development, testing) are completed.
- All acceptance tests are running and are passed.
- No defect is open.
- The product owner has accepted the story.
- Deliverable to the end-user.
What are the Acceptance Criteria?
Criteria define the functionality, behavior, and performance required by a feature so that it can be accepted by the product owner. It defines what is to be done so that the developer knows when a user story is complete.
How are the Requirements Defined?
Requirements are defined as
- A User Story,
- With Acceptance Criteria, and
- Tasks to implement the story
Iterative/incremental and Ready to Evolve
Most of the agile development methods break a problem into smaller tasks. There is no direct long-term planning for any requirement. Normally, iterations are planned which are very short periods of time, for example, 1 to 4 weeks.
The result at the end of the iteration is a working product and it is demonstrated to the stakeholders at the end of an iteration.
Face-to-face Communication
Each agile team should have a customer representative such as a product owner in scrum methodology. This representative is authorized to act on behalf of the stakeholders and he can answer the queries of the developers in between iterations.
Feedback Loop
Daily stand-up is a common culture of any agile development; it is also known as daily scrum. It is a kind of brief session where each team member reports to each other regarding the status of what they have done, what to do next, and any issues they are facing.
What is Daily Stand-up?
- A daily stand-up is a daily status meeting among all team members and it is held roughly for 15 minutes.
- Every member has to answer three important questions −
o What I did do yesterday?
o What did I do today?
o Any impediment I am facing…/ I am blocked due to…
- Daily stand-up is for status updates, not for any discussion. For discussion, team members should schedule another meeting at a different time.
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Author:-
Prajakta Desai
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