The Road to Agile From the Bottom Up

Kevin MalleyTracey Clark

1March 20th, 2013SWOQG

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Agenda• Overview• Why change and how• What worked• What had to change• Signs of danger• Summary of benefits• Where we are headed• Conclusion

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Overview• Project was managed as Waterfall and

wasn’t meeting customer expectations• Move to Agile was influenced by

successes in other areas who were having the same issues

• Internal Project• Stakeholders where accepting to

change - opportunity for improvement

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Why changeWhat we delivered late was:

• Not what the customer wanted• Not what we had promised• Not something we where happy with• Full of unresolved defects• Same old project failure

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Change #1 – Customer InvolvementRelease Train

• What’s ready goes what isn’t catches the next train

Product Owner (representing Customer) drives work

• Involved in sprint planning• Sprint Demo

Testing Methods• Greater emphasis on exploratory

testing. Run more often and earlier in the product life cycle

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Change #1 – ContinuedDev and SV&V offset by one sprint• Strong collaboration between developers

and testers

Dev Sprint 1 Test Sprint 1

Dev Sprint 2 Test Sprint 2

Dev Sprint 3Regression

Sprint

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Lessons learned change #1Benefits

• Customer happier (Involved in sprint planning and demo)

• Less margin of error in release dates• Closer relationship between Dev and

Test• Exploratory tests yield quick results

and could form basis for regression test scripts

Pitfalls• Defects could take 4 weeks to see a

resolution• Rapid maintenance turn around• Testing reliving design weeks laterSWOSQG

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Change #2 - DesignWhy:• Reduce relearning of design

How:• Tester deployed into Dev Sprint• Build test cases• Run Exploratory Tests on dev builds• Tester then transitions to offset sprint

to conduct formal testsDev Sprint 1

Tester ATest Sprint 1

Tester A

Dev Sprint 2Tester B

Test Sprint 2Tester B

Dev Sprint 3Tester A Regression

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Lessons learned change #2Benefits

• Caught some issues earlier• Less rehashing of design

Pitfalls• Still unable to resolve lengthy defect

turn around• Length of time to deployment not

addressed

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Change #3 - TimeWhat:• Time to release• Defect turn around

How:• Testing as part of the definition of

done• Removal of offset sprints• Testing tasks tracked within User

Stories• Exploratory Tests used almost

exclusively during development --> Drive scripted regression tests

Sprint 1 Sprint 2 RegressionSprint

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Lessons learned change #3Benefits

• Monthly releases now possiblePitfalls

• Defect metrics mean far less

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What had to change• Removal of Test Plan (Emphasis on

Strategy)• Adoption of Exploratory Testing• How and when we log defects• Customer commitment• Segregation of duties• Requirements and design docs became

living documents within agile tools and wiki’s

• Relationship between dev and test• Everyone involved in Sprint Planning and

backlog grooming

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Signs of danger – Stakeholders (Chickens)

• Unclear Product Owner (Customer)• Product Owner not Engaged• Product Owner doesn’t take ownership

getting necessary requirements from multiple business groups and maintaining communication throughout project with all groups

• Timely decision making• Some stakeholders become over

committed

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Signs of danger – Core team (Pigs)• Development moves forward while

impediments block testing• Development and testing can’t agree• Don’t test everything• Scrum Master not understanding their

role• When is it time to make the decision to

move to next release• Improper Sprint Planning – Not learning

from previous sprint• Demo• Lack of Agile knowledge and training

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Summary of benefits after changes• Customer Satisfaction• Less rework• Less variance in committed production

dates• Cleaner regression runs• Quicker turn around on defects• Less defects• Stronger relationship between

developers and testers

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Where we are headed• Further support and understanding from

Senior Management • Socialize benefits – encourage the

chickens• Living lean documentation• Refining the use of Exploratory Testing• Automation• Training testers as Scrum Masters• Working out an offshore model

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Conclusion• You won’t get it right the first time• The value of applying lessons learned• One size doesn’t fit all – multiple

adjustments may be required• Major adjustment to normal practices

and processes• Importance of roles and responsibilities

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Questions

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Contact Info

Kevin Malley : kmalley@blackberry.com

Tracey Clark :

trclark@blackberry.com

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