Understanding Agile Software Development

This assignment delves into the fundamentals of Agile software development. Students are tasked with defining a team charter, analyzing videos on Agile methodology by Rajamanickam, and answering questions regarding its advantages over traditional software development approaches like Waterfall. Key topics covered include requirements planning, change management, and user involvement throughout the development lifecycle.

PRODUCT BACKLOG
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Product Backlog
Part A: 4 Points
In preparation for creating the Team Charter, write a paragraph, what it is, why it is
important to a project and a team and what content should be in it.
A team charter is a document that is formulated in a group setting to show the direction of the
team while at the same time establishing certain boundaries. It also educates other people by
informing them of the group purpose and objectives. The team charter contains various sections
like group purpose, stakeholders involved, team members and each of their responsibilities, how
decisions will be made and team name. It also tells one the life span of the team, how
communication is to be done, and the financial requirements1.
Part B: Watch the following 3You-Tube videos
Part C: 12 Points
Based on the You-Tube video, answer the following questions.
1. According to Raj, requirements changes are inevitable in Software Development.
One of the major problems of traditional software development is change resistance
mentality. How does agile methodology allow for requirements changes?
There is change resistance mentality in traditional software development as it is viewed
to be costly. Customers are therefore charged for adding additional requirements once the
project has started2. Agile allows new ideas to be incorporated at any time as the project
progresses, without passing unnecessary costs to the customer. Ideas emerge at any time
and agile gives leeway for this; hence, customers do not have to be worried about strict
change control3.
1 Aaron, Joshua R., William C. McDowell, and Andrew O. Herdman. "The effects of a team charter on student team behaviors." Journal of
Education for Business 89, no. 2 (2014): 90-97.
2 Rajamanickam, M. “4.Seven Reasons for Agile: Reason No: 2”. Posted [ December 2013]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XpnZu_3SNOc&index=4&list=PL9MIlke8ddNt_bE4phBFuncI5BibC9S0_
3 Kruchten, Philippe. "Contextualizing agile software development." Journal of Software: Evolution and Process 25, no. 4 (2013): 351-361.

2. Big, upfront planning is not practical in software development. When the
requirements are not fully known in the beginning of the project, the effects of that
will reflect on the planning. What type of requirements planning does agile use?
Big upfront planning leads to a large percentage of challenged or impaired projects. Agile
focuses on just in time planning where requirements are updated as the project goes on4.
Agile applies all the requirements needed for a project to succeed by focusing on
scheduling, scope, cost, quality and staff5.
3. In the discussion of why only 16% of all software projects are successful, Raj
mentions the Standish report that says that user involvement contributed the
highest to project success. How does Agile differ from waterfall in user (client)
involvement?
Waterfall does project development in a sequential manner hence customers have to sign
for requirements at the beginning of the project6. Most customers are unhappy doing this,
as they prefer to first review a working sample of the model. Agile allows customers to
review working software and incorporate their feedback on the same7.
4 Rajamanickam, M. “5.Seven Reasons for Agile: Reason No: 3”. Posted [ December 2013]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XpnZu_3SNOc&index=4&list=PL9MIlke8ddNt_bE4phBFuncI5BibC9S0_
5 Kruchten, Philippe. "Contextualizing agile software development." Journal of Software: Evolution and Process 25, no. 4 (2013): 351-361.
6 Rajamanickam, M. “6.Seven Reasons for Agile: Reason No: 3”. Posted [ December 2013]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XpnZu_3SNOc&index=4&list=PL9MIlke8ddNt_bE4phBFuncI5BibC9S0_
7 Kruchten, Philippe. "Contextualizing agile software development." Journal of Software: Evolution and Process 25, no. 4 (2013): 351-361.

Bibliography
Aaron, Joshua R., William C. McDowell, and Andrew O. Herdman. "The effects of a team
charter on student team behaviors." Journal of Education for Business 89, no. 2 (2014):
90-97.
Kruchten, Philippe. "Contextualizing agile software development." Journal of Software:
Evolution and Process 25, no. 4 (2013): 351-361.
Rajamanickam, M. “4.Seven Reasons for Agile: Reason No: 2”. Posted [ December 2013].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XpnZu_3SNOc&index=4&list=PL9MIlke8ddNt_bE4phBFuncI5BibC9S0_
Rajamanickam, M. “5.Seven Reasons for Agile: Reason No: 3”. Posted [ December 2013].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=kXpOPWWKbWM&index=5&list=PL9MIlke8ddNt_bE4phBFuncI5BibC9S0_
Rajamanickam, M. “6.Seven Reasons for Agile: Reason No: 4”. Posted [ December 2013].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAr-
tvN7QBQ&index=6&list=PL9MIlke8ddNt_bE4phBFuncI5BibC9S0_