created on 周四, 2006-07-20 13:42 Workshop on the process of creating and managing iterative projects and applications with speaker Kelly Goto.

"Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming, feedback is the treatment"
- Kent Beck, Extreme Programming

Thoughts:

This was a great overall approach at breaking the traditional cycle of workflow to a more iterative approach. This workshop helps to determine new ways of reorganizing the development process into manageable phases that optimize customer value, business value and technical feasibility. Interaction with others in the workshop through an example process, helped participants to discover new ways of scoping project.

General comments regarding traditional and iterative workflow

• In our current market, web applications can create a big green area... trying to figure out where everyone fits into the workflow and how to make people feel like they are part of the process every single step of the way rather than having people wait around wondering about their role.
• Traditional work flow: functional requirements (business needs) -> use cases -> functional specifications -> prototype.
• Iterative work flow: scenarios, lifestyles (actual behavior) -> paper protoype -> beta prototype -> release protoype.

• Waterfall Methodology (traditional)
  • no immediate iteration
  • too many pieces waiting

• AGILE Methodology Approach (test -> iterate)
• Iterative Approach
  • communication
  • Simplicity
  • Feedback
  • Courage
  • Respect
• Incremental releases, rather than one huge release that kills the programmers in the end.
• Wireframing -> prototyping -> testing -> assesment
• Reduce disconnect through communication
  • For example, Client, Programmer, Designer and Project manager could be talking about the same thing but painting a very different picture in their mind.

Scrum Process for Interactive Planning (controlchaos.com)

• Sprint Planning (time boxed to 8 hours, limited meetings, planning for prioritized functionality that can be done within 30 days) - sprint early in the project than at the end
• Sprint - 30-day cycles of development with fully functional output
• Stand-up meeting - 15 min meeting to address progress & issues. What progress will happen within the next 24 hours.
• Sprint Review - 4 hour time-boxed meeting to present Sprint results

Daily Scrum Meetings

• What have you done since last daily scrum
• What will you do between now and the next daily scrum meeting?
• What is stopping you from performing your work as effectively as possible?
• Ideal team size is 7 people - too many team members will not work using this process

Overall Process Iterative Planning Process

• Overall Strategy & Approach
• Triangulate the Solution
• Consolidate the Team
• Apply Modular & Initiative Based thinking
• Utilize Rapid Usability Testing
• Streamline Documentation