Agile development is more talked about than well understood. Product managers are often operating within a system that assumes a traditional waterfall approach to product development where product specifications can be nailed down early on in the product development process. Making agile development work requires educating managers so they will value fast development and the virtues of learning quickly from user interface testing, early test users and initial purchasers. Attracting the best developers requires having development processes that are considered state of the art by the best candidates. Laura will discuss being an employer of choice, using the best in agile and scrum to attract and motivate employees. Transitioning from waterfall to agile is a potentially difficult process and requires planning and knowledge. An often misunderstood aspect of the transition to agile is redefinition of the roles of product owner, product developer, product marketing and scrum master, along with their interactions with the rest of the development team and internal stakeholders. A clear understanding of best practices is likely to increase the probability of product development completion on time and on budget and increase the likelihood that products developed meet key user needs.
6. I. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through
early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
II. Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development. Agile processes harness change for the
customer's competitive advantage.
III. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of
weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the
shorter timescale.
IV. Business people and developers must work together
daily throughout the project.
V. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them
the environment and support they need, and trust them
to get the job done.
VI. The most efficient and effective method of conveying
information to and within a development team is face-
to-face conversation.
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7. VII. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
VIII. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The
sponsors, developers, and users should be able to
maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
IX. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good
design enhances agility.
X. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work
not done--is essential.
XI. The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.
XII. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become
more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior
accordingly.
From: http://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/the-agile-manifesto/the-
twelve-principles-of-agile-software/
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8. Drawn by Laura Klemme
From: http:guide.agilealliance.org/subway.html8
10. Commercial software
In-house development
Contract development
Fixed-price projects
Financial applications
ISO 9001-certified
applications
Embedded systems
24x7 systems with
99.999% uptime
requirements
Software as a Service
From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
• Video game development
• FDA-approved, life-critical
systems
• Satellite-control software
• Websites
• Handheld software
• Mobile phones
• Network switching
applications
• CMMI Model applications
• Some of the largest
applications in use
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11. • Scrum is an agile process that allows us to focus on
delivering the highest business value in the shortest
time.
• It allows us to rapidly and repeatedly inspect actual
working software (every two weeks to one month).
• The business sets the priorities. Teams self-
organize to determine the best way to deliver the
highest priority features.
• Every two weeks to a month anyone can see real
working software and decide to release it as is or
continue to enhance it for another sprint.
From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
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12. • Jeff Sutherland
• 1993: Initial scrum at Easel Corp
• IDX Systems Corp, a healthcare software
technology company, 500+ doing Scrum
• Original signer of Agile Manifesto
From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
• Ken Schwaber
• 2006: Presented Scrum w/
Sutherland at ACM‟s
OOPSLA (Object-Oriented
Programming, Systems,
Languages & Applications)
• Author of 3 books on Scrum
• Original signer of Agile
Manifesto
12
13. • Mike Beedle
• Co-author of first Scrum book
• Original signer of Agile Manifesto
From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
• Mike Cohn
• 2002: Co-founder of Scrum
Alliance w/Ken Schwaber
• Author of numerous books
on Scrum
• Series editor for Addison-
Wesley Signature Series
• Founder of Mountain Goat
Software
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14. Self-organizing teams
Product progresses in a series of month-long
“sprints”
Requirements are captured as items in a list of
“product backlog”
No specific engineering practices prescribed
Uses generative rules to create an agile
environment for delivering projects
One of the Tribes, “agile processes”
From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
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19. Loss of „Product Vision‟ between idea and the launch
No single person in charge of the product
Product Marketing
Does Market Research
Writes Product Concept
Product Manager
Writes Requirements
Specification
Development Team
Writes Code
Tests Code
Project Manager
Writes Project Plan
Manages Team
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20. 20 years of planning, fundraising and
construction
Key Stakeholders:
◦ Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
◦ the MLK Jr National Memorial Project Foundation
◦ the US Commission of Fine Arts
◦ the National Capital Planning Commission
◦ Design: ROMA Design Group, San Francisco
◦ Artist: Lei Yixin, China
◦ Council of Historians
2007: Council of Historians select the
quotations, including Dr Maya Angelou
2008: Cost estimate $120 million
20
21. 2009: Conflict between 3 gov‟t
agencies and compromise,
Construction begins
2011: Dedication ceremony
Located in a 4-acres site, near the National Mall in Washington, DC
Statue is 30‟ high with the „Stone of Hope‟ and „Mountain of
Despair‟ and a 450‟ long Inscription Wall with 14 quotes.
21
22. Decision to Paraphrase Quotation
◦ “I was a drum major for justice, peace and
righteousness,”
King‟s actual words
◦ “If you want to say that I was a drum major,
say that I was a drum major for justice. Say
that I was a drum major for peace. I was a
drum major for righteousness. And all of
the other shallow things will not matter.”
2011: Maya Angelou
◦ “The quote makes Dr Martin Luther King
look like an arrogant twit…”
2013: Solution approved to remove
the quote for a cost of ~$800,000
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._National_Memorial
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23. In Agile, the Product Owner is the product
visionary and follows the product through the
entire life cycle
23
24. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Product Vision
Product Roadmap
Release Plan
Iteration Plan
Daily Plan
Yearly by the Product Owner
Bi-Yearly by the Product Owner
Quarterly by the Product Owner
and Team
Bi-Weekly by the Team
Daily by the Individuals
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27. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Define the features of the product
Decide on release date and content
Be responsible for the profitability of the
product (ROI)
Prioritize features according to market value
Adjust features and priority every iteration, as
needed
Accept or reject work results
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28. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Represents management to the project
Responsible for enacting Scrum values and
practices
Removes impediments
Ensure that the team is fully functional and
productive
Enable close cooperation across all roles and
functions
Shield the team from external interferences
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29. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Typically 5-9 people
Cross-functional:
◦ Programmers, testers, user experience designers, etc.
Members should be full-time
◦ May be exceptions (e.g., database administrator)
Teams are self-organizing
◦ Ideally, no titles but rarely a possibility
Membership should change only between sprints
29
30. From: http://www.goodenoughmother.com From: http://peterrhysthomas.wordpress.com
The behavior common to Scrum: „Moving the Scrum downfield‟
Character of the team: it tries to go the distance as a unit, passing the ball
back and forth
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33. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Team selects items from the product
backlog they can commit to completing
Sprint backlog is created
◦ Tasks are identified
◦ Estimated using story points – Planning
Poker
◦ Collaboratively, not done alone by the
Scrum Master
High-level design is considered
33
34. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Team estimation for Story Points
Agree on point scale
Team briefly discusses a story
Everyone silently selects a point card
Team reveals all cards at once
If outliers exist, discuss and re-vote
34
35. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Parameters
◦ Daily
◦ 15-minutes
◦ Stand-up
Not for problem solving
◦ Whole world is invited
◦ Pigs vs Chickens
◦ Only team members, Scrum Master, Product Owner,
can talk
Helps avoid other unnecessary meetings
35
36. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Everyone answers 3 questions
These are NOT status for the Scrum Master
They are commitments in front of peers
What did
you do
yesterday?
What will
you do
today?
Is there
anything
in your
way?
36
1 2 3
37. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Team presents what it accomplished during
the sprint
Typically takes the form of a demo of new
features or underlying architecture
Informal
◦ 2-hour prep time rule
◦ No slides
Whole team participates
Invite the world
37
38. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Periodically take a look at what is and is not
working
Typically 15–30 minutes
Done after every sprint
Whole team participates
◦ Scrum Master
◦ Product Owner
◦ Team
◦ Possibly customers and others
Start / Stop / Continue
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40. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
The requirements
A list of all desired work on the project
Ideally expressed such that each item has
value to the users or customers of the
product
Prioritized by the Product Owner
Reprioritized at the start of each sprint
40
This is the
product
backlog
41. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
A short statement of what the work will be
focused on during the sprint
Database
Application
Make the
application run on
AWS
Life
Sciences
Support features
necessary for
population
genetics studies
41
42. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Individuals sign up for work of their own
choosing
◦ Work is never assigned
Estimated work remaining is updated daily
Any team member can add, delete or change
the sprint backlog
Work for the sprint emerges
If work is unclear, define a sprint backlog
item with a larger amount of time and break it
down later
Update work remaining as more becomes
known
42
44. From: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
Typical individual team is 7 ± 2 people
◦ Scalability comes from teams of teams
Factors in scaling
◦ Type of application
◦ Team size
◦ Team dispersion
◦ Project duration
Scrum has been used on multiple 500+
person projects
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