One bite at a time! Likewise, agile software development projects are
delivered in small bite-sized pieces, delivering small, incremental *releases*
and iterating.
In more traditional software development projects, the
(simplified) lifecycle
is Analyse, Develop, Test - first gathering all known requirements for the whole
product, then developing all elements of the software, then testing that the
entire product is fit for release.
In agile software development, the cycle is Analyse, Develop, Test; Analyse,
Develop, Test; and so on... doing each step for each feature, one feature at a
time.
Advantages of this iterative approach to software development include:
Reduced risk: clear visibility of what's completed to
date throughout a project
Increased value: delivering some benefits early; being
able to release the product whenever it's deemed good enough, rather than
having to wait for all intended features to be ready
More flexibility/agility: can choose to change
direction or adapt the next iterations based on actually seeing and using
the software
Better cost management: if, like all-too-many software
development projects, you run over budget, some value can still be realised;
you don't have to scrap the whole thing if you run short of funds
For this approach to be practical, each feature must be fully developed, to
the extent that it's ready to be shipped, before moving on.
Another practicality is to make sure features are developed in *priority*
order, not necessarily in a logical order by function. Otherwise you could run
out of time, having built some of the less important features - as in agile
software development, the timescales are fixed.
Building the features of the software �broad but shallow� is also advisable
for the same reason. Only when you've completed all your must-have features,
move on to the should-haves, and only then move on to the could-haves. Otherwise
you can get into a situation where your earlier features are functionally rich,
whereas later features of the software are increasingly less sophisticated as
time runs out.
Try to keep your product backlog or feature list expressed in terms of use
cases, user stories, or features - not technical tasks. Ideally each item on the
list should always be something of value to the user,and always
deliverables rather than activities so you can 'kick the tyres' and
judge their completeness,
quality and readiness for release.
