There’s no doubt about it: the process of software development has to be efficient, timely, and cost-effective. The demands and expectations of software users are constantly changing. With traditional development techniques, it might be difficult to keep pace. The Agile methodology is a great response to today’s challenges. It’s a dynamic and adaptive approach to software development, which prioritizes flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvements.
When you’re wondering how to improve software quality, the Agile methodology might be the answer. At its core, it’s a set of principles focused on individuals and interactions instead of processes and tools. It helps you respond to change even when you follow a plan, collaborate with customers, and improve software quality during the development process.
The methodology originates from the Agile Manifesto — a set of values emphasizing iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams. Some find the concept abstract and hard to understand. So let’s explain in simple terms what Agile is all about.
Agile Principles
The Agile manifesto defines these principles that enhance the efficiency in software engineering:
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
The traditional software development process is based on contract negotiation. You hear what your customer needs, you develop a plan and negotiate around it. Then, you do your work. Agile prioritizes collaboration with the customers throughout the entire process of software development. That helps you understand exactly what they need, gather feedback along the way, and make sure that the delivered result aligns with their expectations. Through a close partnership with the customers, Agile teams can deliver products that add value to the customer’s work.
- Responding to change over following a plan
Yes; you still make a plan when developing software according to the Agile principles. However, you’ll also acknowledge that change is inevitable. You’ll embrace it as an opportunity for improvement and managing software quality on the go. Instead of rigidly adhering to a fixed plan with fixed deadlines, Agile teams continuously adapt their approach. They accept evolving requirements from their customers, and they consider changing market conditions throughout the process.
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Agile recognizes that software quality management depends on the people involved and their ability to collaborate. There are countless development automation tools and processes you can implement in your plan. But if you rely on them too heavily, the communication between team members may suffer the consequences. Agile encourages open communication, teamwork, and trust among team members. It emphasizes the human aspect of software development, which tends to be neglected by many teams.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
Agile does not neglect the importance of documentation in software development. It’s necessary for clarity and communication. However, this approach is all about the delivery of working software as the primary factor of progress. The focus on tangible outcomes aligns closely with the goal to accelerate metrics. Agile teams often rely on the DORA metrics, which Google created to maintain visibility along the process of software development. These metrics include deployment frequency, lead time for changes, mean time to recover, and change failure rate. Agile teams use the DORA metric for continuous delivery. They gather feedback from users and stakeholders early and often.
Agile Best Practices
Now that we covered the main principles, the question is: how exactly do you implement them in the software development process?
- Continuous Integration and Delivery
Continuity is the most important practice in Agile software development. It means that the developers frequently integrate code changes into a shared repository, where automated tests take place. With this approach, they can detect and address integration errors early. Through continuous delivery, the team can minimize manual errors and be faster in delivering value to the customer.
- User Stories and Story Mapping
User-centric descriptions of software features and functionality show teams how the user perceives their product. Story mapping is a collaborative technique that categorizes stories based on their importance and dependencies. With these two techniques, Agile teams decide what priorities to make to align the product with user needs.
- Cross-Functional Teams
This type of team consists of members with diverse skills and expertise. All of them work collaboratively towards a common goal. Although the individuals have different backgrounds and each works on their own tasks, they get together to address challenges and adapt to change.
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
This is a quantitative practice used for software quality control. One example of KPIs is sprint velocity. It measures the amount of work completed by a team during a sprint. With this technique, the team gets insights into their own productivity, so they can predict the future capacity for work and readjust the plan if necessary. Agile teams also use burndown charts, which visualize the progress of work during a sprint by plotting the remaining effort. They get a snapshot of how much work is left to be completed. If they are not on track, the burndown chart helps them adjust their plans.
Overview
Agile methodology offers a robust framework for streamlining software development processes. With its implementation, teams can enhance their efficiency and deliver high-quality products that meet the evolving needs of users.
First, the team defines an answer to the question: what is software quality? They define the attributes such as functionality, reliability, usability, performance, and security. Then, they adopt Agile practices to focus on collaboration, feedback, and continuous improvement. With this software development teams meet functional requirements and deliver a superior user experience.