Agile Approach
At Acrux Technologies, we mostly employ agile approaches (An iterative development model that works best for fast-moving projects with vaguely defined and likely-to-change requirements) in software development projects. Plus, it is ideally suited to the user-centric applications and projects with multiple stakeholders.
Our preferred Agile methodology is Scrum, which is an iterative and incremental approach to software project management. It provides the best mix of control and visibility while also allowing flexibility in the software production process, factors that make it ideal to manage software development.
Scrum Framework
Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together. At Acrux Technologies use of Scrum encourages our teams to learn through experiences, self-organize while working on a problem, and reflect on their wins and losses to continuously improve.
Scrum is structured as it help our teams to adapt the changing conditions and user requirements, with re-prioritization built into the process and short release cycles so our team can constantly learn and improve.
Scrum Artifacts
In Scrum, there are following three artifacts/tools to solve a problem which our teams implement in projects :
Product Backlog
It is the master list of work that needs to get done maintained by the product owner or product manager. This is a dynamic list of features, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that acts as the input for the sprint backlog.
Sprint Backlog
It is the list of items, user stories, or bug fixes, selected by the development team for implementation in the current sprint cycle. It may be flexible and can evolve during a sprint. However, what the team wants to achieve from the current sprint – cannot be compromised.
Increment or Sprint Goal
It is the usable end-product from a sprint. At Acrux Technologies, we usually demonstrate the “increment” during the end-of-sprint demo, where the team shows what was completed in the sprint.
Scrum Ceremonies or Events We Do
Below are few well known components of the Scrum framework which Acrux Technologies teams follow
Organizing the Backlog
This event is the responsibility of the product owner and his main jobs are to drive the product towards its product vision and have a constant pulse on the market and the customer.
Sprint Planning
The work to be performed (scope) during the current sprint is planned during the meeting by the entire development team.At the end of the planning meeting, every scrum member needs to be clear on what can be delivered in the sprint and how the increment can be delivered.
Sprint
A sprint is the actual time period when the scrum team works together to finish an increment.It varies from one week to two weeks usually and sometimes a month depends on the project and team.
Daily Scrum or Stand Up
This is a daily super-short 15 minutes meeting that happens usually daily in the mornings. The goal of the daily scrum or stand up meeting is for everyone on the team to be on the same page, aligned with the sprint goal, and to get a plan out for the next 24 hours.
Sprint Review
At the end of the sprint, the team gets together for an informal session to view a demo of, or inspect, the increment. The development team showcases the backlog items that are now ‘Done’ to stakeholders and teammates for feedback.
Sprint Retrospective
This is where the team comes together to document and discuss what worked and what didn’t work in a sprint, a project, people or relationships, tools. The idea is to create a place where the team can focus on what went well and what needs to be improved for the next time, and less about what went wrong.
If you favor structure, and you already have clear vision of the future application, we can also organize processes with traditional (Waterfall) approach and deliver the whole solution at once.