Agile for Mobile App Development

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1 Agile for Mobile App Development Michael Hall Three Beacons

2 Well Known Agile Techniques Short iterations Engaged customer Iteration planning one at a time Release planning - based on team velocity Prioritized backlog User stories Burndown charts Test-driven development Continuous integration 2

3 3 Techniques for Mobile App Development 1. Hyper Prototyping 2. Community Code Scrounging 3. User Design Studio 3

4 Hyper-Prototyping

5 Hyper-Prototyping Rapid Prototyping Create pieces of the software system Unofficial solutions To obtain feedback To prove merit of solution approach Typically big chunks of functionality Hyper-Prototyping: Rapid Prototyping on steroids! 5

6 Hyper-Prototyping Hyper-Prototyping Similar goals as Rapid prototyping Much faster, tighter feedback loops, heavy collaboration Often 5 10 times per day As a solution attempt is made, team huddles to review and discuss - Whoever is available - Software team, PM, customer proxy, marketing, etc. Especially useful in UI and app behavior efforts 6

7 Hyper-Prototyping italk to God iphone app 7

8 Hyper-Prototyping - example iphone Nav Bar UI design challenge: Add favorites capability - user designates verse as a favorite Add share capability - user s verse to a friend iphone Tab Bar 8

9 Hyper-Prototyping hyper 1 envelope in Nav Bar, Favorites star near verse reference (Designated favorite) Feedback: envelope flies in when user advances to next verse, some verse/comments require scrollable screen but star does not scroll with the text, star must be re-positioned based on verse length, etc. 9

10 Hyper-Prototyping hyper 2 envelope and Favorites star at top before verse Feedback: too crowded at top, difficult to see, looks unbalanced. 10

11 Hyper-Prototyping hyper 3 Re-position start of verse to reduce crowd Feedback: better, but buttons look odd at top. 11

12 Hyper-Prototyping hyper 4 Integrate envelope and Favorites star within bottom Tab Bar Feedback: too crowded at bottom, violates iphone Tab Bar purpose for context switching only. 12

13 Hyper-Prototyping hyper 5 New Tool Bar at bottom Feedback: takes too much extra space, 2 icons on top of 2 icons looks a little odd. Is there really a need for the bottom Tab Bar at the verse level? No. 13

14 Hyper-Prototyping hyper 6 Remove iphone tab bar, add new Tool Bar at bottom using same style as top Nav Bar, use hollow icons for dark background Feedback: bottom Tool Bar balances the top Nav bar very well. Good balance on new Tool Bar icons. Icons are intuitive. 14

15 Hyper-Prototyping - results Final solution Hyper-prototyping result: 6 fast iterations Updated UI design and code Highly collaborative Intuitive user solution Duration: less than 1 day! 15

16 Introspective Challenge How long are your prototype loops? Could they be shorter? Are you leveraging collaboration to find the best solution early? Do you tend to accept a subject matter expert s design without constructive challenge? 16

17 Community Code Scrounging

18 Scrounge definition Scrounge intransitive verb to search about and turn up something needed from whatever source is available

19 Community Code Scrounging Worldwide community of software developers on Internet Code examples Code solutions New patterns New learning paradigm New development paradigm! 19

20 Recent Examples iphone: Facebook integration Objective-C : how to append to a string Android: handling different display sizes 20

21 Recent Examples iphone API: how to center text within a rectangle Windows Mobile: scrollable list with background Objective-C: how to display an image from a file 21

22 Example Facebook Integration FB integration to existing app My Personal Motivator 22

23 Example Facebook Integration Facebook Objective-C API code Scrounged helper classes My Personal Motivator source code -(IBAction)callStatusUpdate:(id)sender { // call FBPostStatus method of FaceBookStatusUpdate class DrillDownAppAppDelegate *AppDelegate = (DrillDownAppAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedapplication] delegate]; [AppDelegate.statusHelper FBPostStatus]; } -(void)designateorundesignateasfavorite:(id)sender { DrillDownAppAppDelegate *AppDelegate = (DrillDownAppAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedapplication] delegate]; // code to flag the verse as favorite or not favorite int i; int currentversealreadyafavorite = 0; NSInteger locationofundesignatedcomment = 0; for ( i = 0; i < [AppDelegate.arrayOfFavoriteItemThree count];i++) { tempstoreofarrayverse = [AppDelegate.arrayOfFavoriteItemOne objectatindex:i]; tempstoreofarrayversereference = [AppDelegate.arrayOfFavoriteItemTwo objectatindex:i]; tempstoreofarrayversecomment = [AppDelegate.arrayOfFavoriteItemThree objectatindex:i]; 23

24 Warnings Scrounged code may have problems! Run-time exceptions Memory leaks Poorly written Ownership make it yours! Fit it into your coding standards Alignment, style Naming conventions, etc. Fit it into your quality plan Zero memory leaks Code reviewed, etc. 24

25 User Design Studio

26 User Interface challenges UI Challenges in Agile Compressed schedules Short iterative cycles Multiple team members Disparate ideas and visions How to establish UI vision quickly and early? 26

27 User Design Studio - background Agile 2008 and 2009 presentations - Jeff White, Amazon - Jim Unger, Jewelry TV - Todd Warfel, Messagefirst Agile User-Centered Design Analogy: art studio - People come in and critique the work - Positive and constructive Any product UI web page, smart phone, PC utility, etc. 27

28 User Design Studio - goal 1 day effort Collectively and collaboratively establish the UI design! Deliverable initial UI design Q: how does your team currently obtain the UI design? 28

29 User Design Studio - technique Present ideas Then, critique Then, discuss alternatives Then, make decisions. Decisions are team-based, wisdom of the crowd 29

30 User Design Studio - prep Prep work: Obtain vision or list of high-level features from customer Ask for volunteers for design studio session Mock up some design ideas (if possible) Interview end users (if possible) 30

31 User Design Studio - announcement UI team lead announces Design Studio Invites 4 10 people Engineers, QA, PMs, stakeholders, creative thinkers, etc. Identifies session facilitator 31

32 User Design Studio technique (AM Session) AM session PM discusses project vision PM hands out vision statement and/or 2 or 3 user scenarios for review Questions, discussion Each team member works individually - Draws their best attempt at a set of UI screens - Big sheets of paper, lots of pencils with erasers - Develop as many screen alternatives as time permits 32

33 User Design Studio technique (AM Session cont) Each team member presents one at a time - Round-robin fashion - This is my initial thinking. I m open to your suggestions. - Facilitator Insures all ideas are considered Tracks GOOD ideas and CONS Insures positive experience - If time, cycle back for alternatives 33

34 User Design Studio - technique Working Lunch More open discussions 34

35 User Design Studio - technique PM session Team collaborates - Creates a new UI design - Take all GOOD ideas that mesh well - Park others Refine / Repeat UI team lead decides on impasse 4:00PM dialog - Team presents vision and screen mocks to stakeholders - Takes feedback and reacts Project is off and running, coding begins! 35

36 User Design Studio - benefits Benefits Rapid exploration of design alternatives UI development can begin immediately! Unified understanding and ownership of design vision Collaboration of all good ideas Identification of not-so-good ideas and why Team building Builds trust Energizes team 36

37 Introspective Challenge How do you develop UI designs? Is it as collaborative as it could be? Do you rely on subject matter experts? Would you agree that crowd wisdom can actually help subject matter expertise? When is your initial UI vision ready? Do you need improved team morale? 37

38 Questions? Agile Software Product Development Partner Hemant Elhence, Short/Long term Agile coaching Agile Methods training: Mar 25-26: Intro to Agile & Scrum (Dallas) Scrum Team Training User Stories Product Owner All courses can be delivered onsite at your location Michael Hall,

39 Synerzip in a Nut-shell 1. Software development partner for small/mid-sized technology companies Exclusive focus on small/mid-sized technology companies By definition, all Synerzip work is the IP of its respective clients Deep experience in full SDLC design, dev, QA/testing, deployment Technology and industry domain agnostic 2. Dedicated team of high caliber software professionals Seamlessly extends client s local team, offering full transparency NOT just staff augmentation, but provide full mgmt support 3. Actually reduces risk of development/delivery Experienced team - uses appropriate level of engineering discipline Practices Agile development responsive, yet disciplined 4. Reduces cost dual-shore team, 50% cost advantage 5. Offers long term flexibility allows (facilitates) taking offshore team captive aka BOT option 39

40 Synerzip Clients 40

41 Thank You! Call Us for a Free Consultation! Agile Software Product Development Partner Hemant Elhence hemant@synerzip.com Michael Hall mike@threebeacons.com

42 THE END Michael Hall Three Beacons