Scrum / agile development
Some resources and useful information about this development technique:
- About Scrum (Spanish) http://www.proyectosagiles.org/
- Agile Software Development http://www.agile-software-development.com/
- Good Agile Project Management software, community / free version available http://www.rallydev.com/
- Scrum project management software, for Windows (Desktop) http://www.scrumdesk.com
- MoSCoW method to prioritize tasks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoSCoW_Method
Basic concepts:
- Sprints (iterations) last from 2 to 4 weeks, and they are released so that the client can test and provide feedback
- Every iteration is divided into small tasks planned to be achieved in less than 2 days work
- The specifications for a started sprint should not change, the client has the responsibility to define carefully the priorities; they are defined as user stories
- There is a project owner which interacts with the client, and a facilitator which helps the development team to achieve the goals
- From 5 to 9 people in every development team
- Daily meetings (about 15 min) with all the team to discuss about:
- The work done the day before
- The problems faced when doing it
- The work to be done the same day
- Only ‘pigs’ can talk, ‘chickens’ can listen, though
- ‘Pigs’ are: developers, project owner and project facilitator; chickens are: clients, users, marketing people
- Finish every new feature (sprint) at 100%; it is better off having 80% features at 100% than 100% features at 80%
