Over two decades ago, agile methodologies were merely a set of best management practices set for developers. These methodologies in today’s day and age have spread out across several verticals of an organization.
What is Agile Design?
In layman’s terms, ‘Agile’ is a member-oriented management system, intended to make different teams considerably more versatile to changes. The purpose of the introduction of Agile is to shift focus from inflexible processes to more real human interaction.
Agile Design is an exceptionally cooperative method of developing and planning new products that break large undertakings into gatherings of subtasks to be acted in short time-boxed periods – referred to as ‘Sprints’. These tasks are consistently reported to the teams in casual scrum meetings driven by a – Scrum Master.
Reason for the popularity of Agile Design
The major reason for the soaring popularity of Agile Design is due to its iterative nature. Iteration in agile refers to the process of repetitive refining until a satisfactory product has been developed. Through agile, teams can improve their product with every iteration and decide on improvements needed with every short iteration.
Approximately 90% of business units that had fully adopted an agile model before the pandemic performed better than the other business units which had not adopted an agile model.
Benefits of Agile Design Methodology
The Agile Design plan has an expansive range of advantages. Some of these benefits include:
- An iterative interaction both permits to recognize issues and answers them swiftly
- An iterative interaction creates a more transparent work culture
- Clients are more included in the process and give groups significant input at all means of the overall agile process cycle
- Constructive feedbacks during iterations assist teams in staying motivated
- Agile helps in the early identification of bugs or design issues during the development process, which helps in saving time and cost.
Incorporation of Agile Design Process
As mentioned earlier, the agile design process involves an iterative approach but also uses an incremental approach; under which, the system segregates the work into smaller parts and comprehensively focuses the attention on individual parts. Incorporation of this approach helps in the following:
Changeable: Any changes within the design process are possible assuming that any progressions are expected in the plan. There is an appropriate capacity for the changes, and any alterations in the design are fairly feasible.
Feedback: Effectively communicating with the client to know their prerequisites and get the input of the client in regards to the product and roll out vital improvements according to the feedback provided.
Development: Delivery of small portions of the design to the development team allows a swift implementation process. The teams do not spend time on allied processes, which further facilitates a smooth process.
Steps undertaken in Agile Design Process
An Agile design process includes the following steps:
Design: It is the initial task at the inception of the project and requires adequate attention. The best design is that which is customer or client-driven and results in more productive outcomes. Additionally, the team that takes the responsibility for making a superior agile design and pays appropriate vigil on the project so that no time and resources are wasted.
- Analyze: When the design is finished and work is on target, appropriate analysis is required occasionally so that the extent of the shortcoming can be eradicated and the quality of the product can be sustained. Analysis of the design is also useful for the teams to finish their respective work in the given time.
- Develop: After the analysis of the design, the product is ready to be developed. Develop here however refers to the development of the required project management software, which is a key element of the project after its conclusion. Management of the product and project is crucial, especially after the execution of the project and thus, appropriate management protocols are required.
- Implement: The last stage of the agile design process is the implementation of the project and its execution. In this stage of the process, the feedback on the design is crucial as any feedback can be incorporated by the team. Likewise, the fulfillment of the customer/client is another crucial agenda after implementation.
Methodology of Agile Design
Various methodologies are utilized to make the work more straightforward and smoother; for the various activities, there is an alternate methodology. Some of these methodologies include:
Agile UX: The UX variant or this sort of methodology centers around the result of the task as opposed to the negative perspectives on whether the product is successful or not.
Scrum: It is the broadly used methodology in the market when enterprises contemplate working in agile. Under this type of methodology, both the preparation and execution of the task occur simultaneously. Along these lines, it is one of the more straightforward methodologies to be worked in agile.
Crystal: This methodology centers around the key areas of the project and focuses on the project’s significant needs. Customer satisfaction is the main objective of this methodology.
Extreme: This methodology focuses mainly on the end product and is utilized majorly for software development to ensure that the product is well suited to the needs of the client/customer.
Road Ahead
Agile design and its methodologies involve their own set of pros and cons. Even though the benefits and the features provided are exponential, there is some scope for improvement expected in certain areas. The execution and implementation prove to be a strenuous process due to difficult protocols and due to the process being more customer-centric. Nonetheless, through its combination of both iterative and incremental approach, the Agile design process surpasses any conventional iterative design processes and are a better option for enhanced productivity along with customer satisfaction.