Agile methodology has gained immense popularity in today’s project management practices. The benefits that this method offers such as faster go to market, better quality management, greater transparency, and increased business value has pushed numerous business to adopt this approach for their projects.
If you are planning to adopt agile methodology in your mobile app project, this article is meant for you.
Use of Agile Methodology in Mobile App Project
The purpose of using agile methodology in the development of mobile apps is evident, with Scrum being the most common subdomain. It is used to handle complicated projects that would usually take a lot of time.
A large number of app development projects use the scrum technique to break down their projects into smaller steps. These steps are designed to cover two-week rounds, known as ‘sprints’. After each sprint is completed, the team develops the app on which they continuously work and improve until the final product is delivered.
How to Use Agile Methodology for Your Mobile App Project?
Agile methodology can be classified into the following steps for easy understanding.
1. Scrum Roles
The effectiveness of your agile methodology-based project depends on the distribution of roles. The basic scrum roles include:
Product Owner: Overlooks the team’s work to ensure that the backlog is regularly updated.
Scrum Master: Ensures proper follow-up of the scrum by the entire team. Also responsible for overseeing the performance of the team and resolving any issues that may arise.
Scrum Team: Performs all the tasks and drives the development and testing parts of the project.
2. Product Backlog
The backlog refers to the list of tasks that are assigned to the team to work on by the product owner. The modifications and priorities are decided as per the requirement. The basic idea is to get the list of backlogs ready before the beginning of the sprint.
3. Sprint Backlog and Planning
The next step involves the developer’s team narrowing down the backlogs that they wish to target during the current sprint. The backlogs contain a list of things that the team is planning to deliver after the sprint is over. The backlog is divided into workable actions. Once the team agrees on all decided backlog items, it is time for the Sprint to begin.
4. Regular Scrum Meetings
Once the team starts working on the backlog, daily scrum meetings are held for a period of 15 minutes to update the team on the last day’s plan and how much the team was able to achieve it. This practice lets the whole team know how the entire project is progressing.
5. Agile Sprint Review
After the end of each sprint, the team demonstrates the app features that have been developed as per the client’s requirement. The team then reviews which features worked well for the project and which didn’t. The results obtained from one Sprint, known as increment, are used as the action plan for the next Sprint.
6. Learn, Improve and Repeat
The same cycle is repeated for the next Sprint and all upcoming Sprints. The Sprint Planning then picks up the next list of items from the backlog and the sprint cycle begins all over again. While the developers are working on the Sprint, the Product Owner ensures that the top items of the backlog are completed first.
This iterative cycle works as an excellent opportunity for the app development team to continually learn and improve.
Benefits of Using Agile Methodology in Mobile App Projects
Agile methodology is considered the best approach in app development today. Due to its multifold benefits, it is loved by the developer community as well. The primary benefits of using agile methodology in your app development projects include:
1. Improves App Quality
The testing and QA process integrates at each sprint and the different facets of the app are checked at all stages. This helps ensure that the app is developed according to the requirement of the app owner and the standard of quality set by the team. Thus, The agile methodology helps ensure acceptance and high performance of the app.
2. Enables In-Depth Planning
It can be quite challenging to develop a plan for the entire development process. However, using the agile methodology, we can set up a plan for each sprint separately so we don’t end up wasting time and resources on fixing bugs. So, a comprehensive plan can be prepared for each stage and in the end, we will end up with a high-quality product.
3. Ensures Deadlines are met
While using the agile methodology, the goal is not to complete the entire project as soon as possible. Instead, the functionality is tested and checked after each sprint to see if it is working properly. Thus, this method helps ensure that the developer team keeps up with stricter deadlines.
4. Enables Quick Changes
When using the Agile methodology for your mobile app project, it becomes quite convenient to make any required changes in the app. Since the development process is divided into sprints, the changes can be made quickly without hampering the development process. Once the entire project is finished, revisions can become more challenging and cause the wastage of money as well. Agile methodology is useful in such situations.
5. Efficient Risk Management
Any app with bugs will be a complete failure as users will not use an app that doesn’t work properly. Using agile methodology, the app can be released one step at a time. The beta version makes it possible for users to assess the app and notify in case any bugs are found. The developers can then make the required changes accordingly and in a timely manner. This methodology helps ensure that existing bugs are detected and fixes quickly and efficiently.
6. Ensures Complete Transparency
The agile methodology helps the development team to be in continuous touch with the product owner. The customer is provided with the app after each sprint and any required changes can be made quickly without hampering the app development process.
When doing mobile app development for your project, you must ensure that it is developed in the most efficient manner possible. The best way to ensure this is to make sure that your mobile app is being developed following the Agile methodology. Some popular tools are Jira, Trello, Slack are widely used for agile development. Not only will this help you get the best possible product and it will also help you save time and money.
