Full Stack Web Development VVPCS
Software Development using Agile Methodology
Introduction to Agile Methodology
Agile methodology is a modern, flexible approach to software development and project management that prioritizes
adaptability, collaboration, rapid delivery, and continuous improvement over rigid planning and documentation. Instead of
completing projects in a single, long timeline, Agile breaks work into small, manageable units called iterations or sprints—typically
lasting 2–4 weeks where teams deliver working software continuously and respond dynamically to feedback and change
Key Characteristics
• Iterative Development: Work is divided into short cycles (iterations or sprints), with each cycle producing a working
product increment that is reviewed and improved in regular feedback loops.
• Customer Collaboration: Stakeholders, including customers and end users, are continuously involved throughout the
process, providing feedback and helping to prioritize work, ensuring the product meets actual need.
• Working Software: Delivering functional, usable software at the end of each iteration is valued over-elaborate
documentation or delayed releases. The emphasis is on real value and shipping improvements frequently.
• Responding to Change: Agile welcomes changes in requirements, even late in development. Teams are structured to adapt
quickly, minimizing rework and capitalizing on evolving business needs.
• Collaboration and Self-Organization: Agile values people and interactions, promoting trust, accountability, and a highly
collaborative environment. Teams are often self-organizing, empowered to make decisions and adjust plans as needed.
Agile Software Development Process
Agile development typically includes the following core steps:
1. Requirements Gathering: Engaging stakeholders to define and prioritize needs, creating a product backlog.
2. Planning: Outlining short-term objectives for each iteration or sprint, setting clear targets and responsibilities.
3. Development: The team builds features incrementally in short cycles, adjusting based on feedback and priorities.
4. Testing: Quality assurance is continuous, with regular checks to ensure each increment meets defined standards.
5. Deployment: Functional increments are delivered at the end of each sprint, allowing for early and ongoing use.
6. Maintenance: The software evolves as feedback is incorporated, new requirements are addressed, and improvements are
made.
7. The Agile Manifesto: Values and Principles
Agile was defined by the Agile Manifesto in 2001, rooted in four core values and twelve guiding principles:
Core Values
Agile Value Traditional Focus Swapped Out
Individuals and interactions Processes and tools
Working software Comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration Contract negotiation
Responding to change Following a plan
Agile Principles
• Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
• Business people and developers must work together daily.
• Trust motivated individuals to get the job done; provide them with the environment and support they need.
• Face-to-face conversation is the most efficient way to convey information.
• Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• Agile processes promote sustainable development.
• Maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
• Regularly reflect and adjust behaviour to become more effective.
Common Agile Frameworks
Agile is an umbrella concept, with several well-known frameworks implementing its principles:
• Scrum: Focuses on fixed-length sprints, defined roles (Scrum Master, Product Owner, Team), and structured ceremonies
(Daily Standup, Sprint Planning, Review, Retrospective).
• Kanban: Visualizes workflow on boards, limiting work-in-progress and optimizing continuous delivery.
• Extreme Programming (XP): Emphasizes technical excellence with practices like Test-Driven Development, Pair
Programming, and small releases.
• Lean Development: Adapts Lean manufacturing principles to software, emphasizing value, eliminating waste, and
optimizing flow.
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Full Stack Web Development VVPCS
Goal of the Product
A product goal is a strategic, high-level objective that provides direction and purpose for a product. It acts as the north
star for the product team, helping them focus their efforts on delivering value to the customers and the business. It captures what
the product aims to achieve, why it exists, and sets the vision for what the product team is working to accomplish over time.
The product goal helps bridge the gap between the product vision (long-term aspirations) and the product backlog (tactical
execution).
Purpose of a Product Goal
• Focus: Gives the team a shared understanding of the desired outcome.
• Alignment: Ensures alignment with customer needs, business priorities, and company vision.
• Motivation: Inspires and guides product teams by giving them a sense of purpose and direction.
• Prioritization: Assists in decision-making and backlog prioritization by providing a context for what's important.
• Measurement: Drives the establishment of KPIs and OKRs to track success.
Characteristics of a Good Product Goal
A well-formulated product goal should follow best practices similar to the SMART principle (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, and Time-bound), though not always strictly time-bound.
1. Clear and Concise
• The goal should be easy to understand and communicate.
• Avoid jargon or excessive detail—clarity ensures all stakeholders are on the same page.
• Example:
Poor: "Improve things for users"
Better: "Reduce user onboarding time by 50%"
2. Aligned with Business Strategy
• Connect the product goal to broader company goals—whether it's increasing revenue, expanding to new markets,
reducing churn, etc.
• Ensures the product contributes to strategic outcomes.
• Example:
If the business goal is international market expansion, the product goal could be:
“Enable multi-language support to launch the product in three new countries in the coming quarter.”
3. Solves a Real User Problem
• It should be rooted in user research, analytics, or feedback.
• Focus on value delivery—what problem are we solving, and for whom?
• Example:
“Enable offline access to improve productivity for field workers in low-connectivity areas.”
4. Measurable (Trackable via KPIs or OKRs)
• Success should be quantifiable and monitored using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Objectives and Key
Results (OKRs).
• Enables accountability and data-driven decision-making.
• Examples of measurement criteria:
• Increase NPS (Net Promoter Score) from 40 to 55.
• Grow active daily users by 20% in Q3.
• Reduce cart abandonment rate from 60% to 30%.
Additional Characteristics:
Characteristic Why It Matters
Actionable Teams can break it down into smaller, achievable objectives
Time-bound May include a target timeframe to maintain urgency
Adaptive Can evolve based on learnings, customer needs, and market shifts
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Example Product Goals in Real-World Context
Product Type Sample Product Goal
E-commerce Platform “Increase repeat purchases by 25% by offering personalized user recommendations.”
SaaS Collaboration Tool “Improve team collaboration by introducing real-time document editing.”
Mobile Banking App “Reduce failed transactions due to network issues by 40% within 3 months.”
Online Learning Platform “Boost course completion rates by 15% through gamification features.”
Relationship to Other Product Components
Artifact Relationship to Product Goal
Product Vision Broad, long-term purpose; the product goal is a short/mid-term step toward the vision.
Roadmap Product goal helps define the major milestones on the roadmap.
Product Backlog Every item/work unit in the backlog should somehow support the product goal.
Sprint Goals Should ladder up to or align with the broader product goal through incremental value.
Epics
An epic in Agile is a large body of work that cannot be completed within a single iteration or sprint and must be broken down into
smaller, manageable tasks called user stories. Epics usually represent significant features, modules, or deliverables in a product and
are often aligned with critical business or customer objectives. In the Agile hierarchy, epics sit above user stories and features,
serving as the primary mechanism for structuring, organizing, and tracking substantial efforts across multiple sprints.
Purpose of Epics
The primary purposes of using epics in Agile product management include:
• Organizing work at a macro level: Epics group related user stories to provide a high-level view of progress and ensure
large features are cohesively managed.
• Prioritizing functionality: They help teams and stakeholders focus on high-value work by highlighting which large
features or modules are most important for product success.
• High-level planning and estimating: Epics serve as units for broad estimation, allowing teams to discuss effort, time,
and resources before breaking work into user stories.
• Storytelling and reporting: Epics provide a narrative for how major product goals are being pursued and enable
reporting to managers and executives.
• Connecting strategy to action: By grouping related user stories under shared objectives, epics keep day-to-day
development connected to the product’s broader business goals, initiatives, and themes.
Note:
Epics are dynamic; as work progresses, user stories might be added, removed, or updated to fit evolving requirements
and customer feedback.
Writing and Managing Epics
Best practices suggest the following process for creating and utilizing epics:
1. Define the Goal: Clearly specify what the epic aims to solve and the value it brings to users or the business3.
2. Write a Clear Epic Statement: Summarize the epic with a concise, understandable description, including its
objectives and boundaries.
3. Break Down into User Stories: Disaggregate the epic into smaller, actionable user stories which represent
deliverable functionality.
4. Prioritize Stories: Sequence stories based on business value, user needs, dependencies, and technical
considerations.
5. Estimate Effort: Use relative estimation (story points, t-shirt sizes, etc.) to gauge the size and complexity of each
user story, and by extension, the epic.
6. Collaborate and Refine: Engage the whole team—engineering, design, product, stakeholders—in refining and
updating epics and related stories as understanding matures.
7. Track Metrics: Define how success will be measured for the epic, e.g., completion rate, business value delivered,
customer feedback, and time to completion.
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Full Stack Web Development VVPCS
Epic Hierarchy and Structure
Agile work items are usually organized from strategic to tactical as follows:
Level Description
Theme Broad organizational goals (e.g., “Enhance User Experience”)
Initiative Major efforts towards a theme (e.g., “Streamline Onboarding Process”)
Epic Large bodies of work under initiatives (e.g., “Redesign Registration Flow”)
Feature Specific functionality (optional tier in some frameworks)
User Story Small, deliverable tasks forming part of an epic
Roadmap for Epics
A product roadmap is a strategic, visual document outlining the vision, direction, priorities, and progress of a product
over set timeframes. Road mapping with epics provides focus, highlights dependencies, and supports transparent progress tracking.
Steps to Create a Roadmap Using Epics:
1. Identify and Prioritize Epics:
Gather a list of potential epics and prioritize based on their business/customer value, feasibility, and complexity.
2. Group Epics into Releases or Milestones:
Bundle epics logically into planned product releases or major milestones, representing incremental value delivered.
3. Allocate Sprints to Each Epic:
Map which epics (or portions of epics) will be tackled in which sprints, ensuring manageable workloads and timely
delivery14.
4. Include Deadlines, Dependencies, and Teams:
Specify target delivery dates, flag technical or resource dependencies, and assign ownership to responsible teams1.
5. Visualize Progress Over Time:
Use timeline or board views to show how epics advance through each release, enhancing visibility and alignment.
Cost estimation
Cost estimation in software projects involves predicting the total financial resources required to deliver a solution,
accounting for effort, time, team structure, technology, and risk. In Agile environments, cost estimation is an ongoing, collaborative
process refined as work progresses and new information emerges.
Techniques Used in Cost Estimation
• Analogous Estimating:
Uses actual cost data from previous, similar projects as a baseline for new estimates. Often applied
early, especially when detailed requirements are lacking13.
• Expert Judgment:
Relies on the intuition and experience of team members or domain experts. It is frequently employed
when historical data is limited or for new types of projects16.
• Three-Point Estimating:
Calculates cost by averaging three scenarios: Optimistic (O), Pessimistic (P), and Most Likely (M).
Formula: (O + P + M) / 3.
This reduces bias and accounts for uncertainty.
• Story Points to Effort Mapping:
In Agile, work is measured using story points—units representing relative effort or complexity (often
established via Planning Poker or the Fibonacci sequence). To estimate cost, total story points across the
backlog are divided by the team’s established velocity (story points completed per sprint). This determines
effort duration, which is then mapped to team cost rates to produce a financial estimate.
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Factors Influencing Cost
• Team Size:
The number and skill levels of team members directly impact cost; larger or more specialized teams increase
expenses.
• Technology Stack:
Some technologies require higher licensing, support, or specialized talent, all of which affect direct and indirect
costs.
• Project Duration:
Longer projects incur more labour costs and increased risk of change. Agile projects use shorter iterations to
deliver value and refine estimates continuously.
• Risk Buffer:
Costs are adjusted to include buffers for expected and unexpected risks (uncertainty in requirements,
technology, resourcing, or external dependencies).
• Licensing and Tools Cost:
Expenses for required software, cloud services, tools, and third-party integrations must be included in the cost
baseline.
Risk Management
Risk Management is a critical process in software development and project management. It involves identifying, assessing,
prioritizing, and mitigating potential issues (risks) that might negatively impact the project's success, such as cost overruns, schedule
delays, quality failures, or security breaches.
Effective risk management enhances the quality, predictability, and success rate of software projects by helping teams proactively
address problems before they escalate.
Types of Risks in Software Projects
1. Technical Risks
Risks related to technology, architecture, tools, or platform constraints.
Examples:
• System integration failures (e.g., third-party APIs not integrating as expected)
• Data migration challenges
• Performance bottlenecks under load
• Use of unproven or outdated technologies
2. Business Risks
Risks that impact the product’s strategic, market, or customer value.
Examples:
• Changing customer needs or unclear requirements
• Shift in market demand or competitor disruption
• Product may not deliver expected ROI
• Misalignment with business goals or delays in decision-making
3. Resource Risks
Risks arising from the unavailability or inadequacy of critical resources.
Examples:
• Key team members resigning or being unavailable
• Incomplete skill sets
• Limited access to SMEs (Subject Matter Experts)
• Inadequate infrastructure or tooling
4. Schedule Risks
Risks associated with time, deadlines, and project planning inaccuracies.
Examples:
• Underestimation of task duration
• Dependence on external deadlines (e.g., regulatory compliance)
• Delays due to excessive rework or scope creep
• Incomplete task prioritization
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5. Security Risks
Risks to data privacy, integrity, and application vulnerability.
Examples:
• Unauthorized data access or breaches
• Weak authentication mechanisms
• Non-compliance with data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA)
• Open-source vulnerabilities in dependencies
Risk Management Process
Agile and traditional projects follow similar stages, but Agile emphasizes shorter feedback loops and continuous monitoring.
Risk Identification
Purpose: Proactively uncover potential risks before project execution.
Methods:
• Brainstorming with team and stakeholders
• Reviewing historical data (from similar past projects)
• SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
• Risk checklists or templates
• Sprint Retrospectives and Planning
Risk Assessment
Evaluate: Determine the likelihood of each risk occurring and assess its potential impact (high, medium, low).
Techniques:
• Risk Matrix (Probability vs. Impact Grid)
• Qualitative analysis: Based on expert judgment
• Quantitative analysis: Numerical estimates of cost/time impact
Risk Prioritization
Focus attention on high-probability and high-impact risks.
Categorize risks using labels such as:
• High Priority (Critical)
• Medium Priority (Needs Monitoring)
• Low Priority (Track Occasionally)
Mitigation Planning
• Purpose: Prepare action plans to reduce the probability or impact of risks.
• Types of Strategies:
1. Avoidance – Change the plan to eliminate the risk.
2. Mitigation – Take action to reduce likelihood or impact.
3. Transfer – Shift risk responsibility (e.g., via insurance or third parties).
4. Acceptance – Acknowledge the risk and prepare contingency plans.
Monitoring and Review
• Continuous process to track known risks and discover new ones as the project evolves.
• Include in:
• Daily standups (brief check-ins)
• Sprint retrospectives
• Review boards or governance meetings
• Update risk logs regularly, monitor mitigation effectiveness, and re-assess risk levels.
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