Agile; how does it work?

I have now talked already a lot about Agile, the Agile Methodology. You probably starting to become a bit restless. It is al very nice, but how does it actually work? Which steps do I have to take? It is all not very difficult. At its core, Agile does the same thing you and I do when faced with too much to do and not enough time.

1.      You make a list

Sitting down with your customer you make a list of features they would like to see in their software. We call these things user stories and they become the To Do list for your project.

MasterStoryList.png

2.      You size things up

Then, using Agile estimation techniques, you size your stories relatively to each other, coming up with a guess as to how long you think each user story will take.

MasterStoryListSized.png

3.      You set some priorities

Like most lists, there always seems to be more to do than time allows. So you ask your customer to prioritise their list so you get the most important stuff done first, and save the least important for last.

MasterStoryListPrio.png


4.      You start executing

Then you start delivering some value. You start at the top. Work your way to the bottom. Building, iterating, and getting feedback from your customer as you go.

MasterStoryListDelivery.png


5.      You update the plan as you go.

Then, as you and your customer starting delivering, one of two things is going to happen. You'll discover:

  • You're going fast enough. All is good. Or,

  • You have too much to do and not enough time.

At this point you have two choices. You can either a) do less and cut scope (recommended). Or you can b) push out the date, by adding more iterations or sprints and ask for more money to do so.

MasterStoryListScope.png


 The delivery of the product is iterative. This will mean that you start with the delivery of something very simple and basic (Minimal Valuable Product) and add more complex, nice to have, functionality over time.

 Once we will take the project, I want a blue car and break it down to several iterative deliveries like “I would like to travel on wheels on a blue vehicle” as the first step you see where the difference is. In the Agile methodology you are starting to deliver travelling on wheels on a blue vehicle after the first iteration. If for example after iteration 4 it becomes clear that due to congestion tax there is a need for a green vehicle suddenly (change of business requirements) there is no need to redo parts of the project. You are not “thrown” back in time

This means the customer can start using added value to the business after every iteration and it will be better and better with all new iterations.

AgileDelivery2.png