Velocity and Stories: Agile Development

“We missed that in the spec – never mind, we’ll create a new story to cover it!”

Recently,  I got the chance to work on a project which is using some of the principles from Agile Methodologies that are out there. The last time I mentioned we were using it,  I was watching Agile from an outsiders perspective. Now that I’m experiencing Agile for myself, I have to say its been quite interesting and indeed enjoyable.

So, heres the lowdown on how we’ve been doing it….

Now, where the hell is THAT mentioned in the Spec???

This will be my first actual Posting related to what I do, so please be gentle!

DISCLAIMER

Firstly, I’d like to say that this article is not intended to to have a pop at individuals, rather the problems with processes which can give developers cause for frustration. They’re just my generalised opinions, and examples are here just to put my blog entry into context.

Cups and Lids… man I’m thirsty!

I’ve just read a recent, albeit small, Blog entry which highlighted the gap between stakeholders requirements and end products delivered within the software process. They summed it up in BASIC code….it was typically succinct but it made a valid point.

It got me thinking about a lunchtime conversation I had with a fellow colleague who summed the way the traditional lifecycle works for many places, and indeed my current workplace. So I thought I’d have a go at writing about it.

He analogised with a Drinks Cup from a Fast food Restaurant. To Protect the guilty, we’ll call it FFS or Fast Food Stores, or make up your own acronym of course!

I’m paraphrasing and adding artistic license, but here’s that fictional conversation between a PM and a Developer they created in that analogy, which I hope sums up the problem…