Development cycle
Every development go through the cycle of Design, Build and Test.
The solutions shortlisted from the previous phase are designed, built and then tested to meet the desired level of user satisfaction. Over the process, some solutions get discarded, while the others are continued with the feedback from the Test flowing into the next cycle of Design. The cycle continues till the solution meets the user's need, measured through success criteria defined for the test. The key aspect of Development cycle in Design thinking is that it must be agile in its approach, continuously adapting to the feedback and change, so as to ensure that the solution remains user-centric during the development.
For the IT Products and Services application scenarios, the development follows Agile methodology, where a solution is built and released in short increments, giving product managers the opportunity to adjust the plan along the way. However, each release undergoes the same cycle of design-build-test.
Agile methodolgy of product development
The Agile methodology is an iterative approach of product development that focuses on releasing the solution in multiple increments.
Agile methodology prioritizes speed, flexibility, cross-team collaboration, and frequent feedback. The product development process is divided into multiple short and periodic time frames (called Sprint) that usually last from 1-4 weeks depending on the complexity of the solution. During each sprint, a part of the final solution (Theme, Epic or User stories) is developed and released for the user. Each sprint is like a small development project that includes all the stages of the product development process. It starts with a planning meeting where cross-functional teams come together to discuss and prioritize the tasks that needs to be done. Every release solves some pain points of the users. The next release incorporates feedback from the earlier one, as well as addresses new pain points of the users.
Agile Methodology is the best approach of product development in complex and dynamic environment, due to following benefits:
1. Learn from users throughout the development cycle
2. Continuously adjust the near-term roadmap to meet user needs
3. Deliver value to users in an incremental way
4. Respond quickly to new and changing requirements
5. Collaborate with developers to quickly deliver work
In the next sections, we will go through various elements of Agile Methodology of Product Development.
theme, epic and user stories
As part of Agile methodology, depending on the complexity, the solution is split under multiple Themes, Epics, and User stories.
Starting with a brief recap of earlier phases of Design Thinking - For any given Use case, there are multiple pain points observed over the User journey and by all the users involved in the process. These Pain points are converted into the root-cause problems and then clubbed in some problem statements, which forms the basis of solution development. Therefore, an expected solution always caters to multiple problems or pain points. Though the end state of the solution must solve all these pain points through its various features and functionalities; in Agile Methodology, the solution is developed and released in incremental way with combination of features, so that each release addresses a set of problems and pain points of the user.
Themes: A solution is first split into Themes, where each theme covers a problem area consisting of multiple sub-processes.
Epics: Themes are broken down into Epics, where each Epic represent one sub-process. Each incremental release of the solution is done, usually, in form of an Epic.
User stories: Epics are further divided in User stories, where each User Story represents a task user should be able to do by using the solution. User stories are the smallest piece of work in the agile framework, written in form of the features required in the solution, from the end user’s perspective.
AGILE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: T-shirt sizing
T-shirt sizing in agile is a project estimation and capacity planning technique that helps evaluate how much time or effort a Theme or Epic will take.
Agile often starts with a high-level estimate or a macro view of the development effort required for the solution. This helps teams plan for the development, estimate timelines, and decide on the sequence and priorities of Themes and Epics. One of the ways Agile does this high-level estimate is through T-shirt sizing. T-shirt sizing is a relative project estimation technique to estimate what a project will need in terms of time, budget, and energy.
Each User story is assigned a t-shirt size from XS to XXL, to represent that task’s relative effort. These are aggregated at Epic or Theme level to decide on how much effort and time is required for the development. For assigning T-shirt size, each User story is evaluated based on following criteria:
Design Related - Do we have to learn new things before starting the design/HTML/jQuery etc.?
Coding Related - Do we have any code class library ready or we have to write it from the scratch?
Testing Related - Any specific setup required for unit testing?
T-shirt sizing technique helps in quick estimates for substantial number of items, and effective for the first level of estimating and large backlogs. However, it should not be used for delivery commitments. In some cases, T-shirt sizes are also converted into numerical value if velocity (number of releases within a sprint) needs to be estimated.