AGILE METHODOLOGY?
Agile methodology is one of the methods used in software development that allows the development team of a project, and their prospective clients, to collaborate in each phase of the software development life cycle (SDLC) and throughout the project until it is finished.
Agile assists in building better software by responding to business needs before the finishing phase of the development process.
You can check for other software development methodologies here.
BENEFITS OF AGILE METHODOLOGY
Superior quality product: Agile tends to produce a superior quality product because of its continuous improvements, thus minimizing loopholes to their barest minimum.
Faster launching: Unlike waterfall, where projects can take up to 2 years before launch, working rations of the project can be launched within 6 months.
Fails faster and cheaper: When some failing features are discovered in the market, the agile development team can make changes before the project is completed, unlike waterfall where after finally launching the whole project, it may contain failing features that were not attended to during the development stage.
Reduces risk: You tend to reduce the risk of a failing software every time you make changes to the software based on what needs the customer want. The earlier, the better!
Satisfied customers: Customers end up being satisfied most times because the product will meet their needs, have the functionalities and features they want based on what they have given as feedback to the development team. After all, customers are the reason for developing a software product in the first instance.
Project predictability: Agile can ensure project predictability, which means stakeholders(everyone involved in the project) can have a well-defined and clear vision of the scope and value the software product should produce. Requirement gathering in agile can also them figure out exactly what they should do and how they should do it to ensure meeting clients' satisfaction.
Project Flexibility: As projects are executed in stages, there is a low chance that your project will fail. Also, if there are features on the software product that need to be amended, they can be done quickly before the entire software product is complete.
Project Transparency: Because the stakeholders are involved in every phase of the project, they are aware of every step and initiative that has been taken, hence, leading to transparency in the project workflow.
Incessant focus on end-users: Softwares are originally supposed to satisfy users. Getting potential users' feedback concerning how the software should work and working towards that will focus on end-users, hereby meeting their satisfaction.
Continuous improvement: This is identifying opportunities and developing software that is in line with these opportunities or features, thus, reducing wasted effort, increasing flexibility, boosting teamwork, and customers satisfaction.
REQUIREMENT GATHERING
Requirement gathering is the process of researching and discovering the requirements of a software product from all stakeholders. Understanding the scope and purpose of any project before diving into it is a good practice to reduce the chance of the project falling below expectation after it is completed.
There are several ways to gather techniques for the agile product team, some of which include:
- Questionnaires and Surveys
- Interviews
- User Observation
- Brainstorming
- Workshops
REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS
Analyzing all the requirements that have been gathered helps to:
- Identify the core features that will be streamlined with the software product.
- Ensure there are no loopholes in the software.
- Identify its potential users.
- Develop alternatives to existing features, design, and ideas.
- It also helps to clear out any competing features in gathered requirements
CONCLUSION
Agile methodology is the best of the methods used in the software development process. It is an effective way to embrace frequent changes that will lead to the improvement of the software product and minimize risks.
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