create and maintain scrum (alexandre boutin)
DESCRIPTION
In this series of talks, our panel of experts present real world examples that illustrate how Lean Production concepts are being successfully applied to software development. In particular to applications that have to meet the highest levels of safety and security.TRANSCRIPT
Create and Maintain Scrum
Documentation EffectivelyAlexandre Boutin
Lean & Agile Coach - Scrum Master and Practitioner “Process Strategy for Yahoo International Engineering”
[email protected]: +33 (0)6 45 40 23 17
Objectives
What I would like you to take out?
An “agile way” to look at documentation
Effective ideas and practices
SCRUMDOCUMENTATION
Documentation Challenges
• Time and cost consuming– To create – To maintain (more!)
• Monitoring– Versions– Accessibility
• Delivery– Validation– Ownership
“Don’t confuse documentation with understanding”Jim Highsmith
Common Guidelines
“Travel Light”
Autonomation
Visibility
“Travel Light”
• Principles always to keep in mind when you are writing or maintaining a document
• K.I.S.S.– Keep It Small & Simple– Simplicity, the art of maximizing the work you will
not have to do
• Y.A.G.N.I.– You aren’t Gonna Need It– Reviewing draft document is not WASTE!
• 2 A4 pages
Autonomation
• Technical Solutions– JavaDoc, Executable Requirements…
• Pictures– “A Picture is worth a thousand words”– Capture technical design on dashboard
and include the photo in the document
• “In” the product– User Manual integrated in final product
Visibility
• Collaborative Wiki– Everybody can access and update
any documents
• Dashboard– Much more effective than
traditional reporting
• Demo– “Working product” rather than
“Documentation”
Agile Process
• Include documentation activities in definition of “Done” (Story, Sprint or Release)
• Consider documentation writer as a member of the team
• Be as inventive as possible about ways to not produce documentation
“The primary goal is to deliver software; the secondary goal is to set up for the following game”
Alistair Cockburn
ManagingExisting
Documentation
Documentation Values
Customer?
Needs?
Documentation
Reuse?
Value added for Customer?
• Focus on Customers – Customers are users– Customers have money– Customers do promotion
• Put on customers glasses– Evaluate how much each
document adds value for customers
Evaluate value for Customer
• Create your own list of customer values• Assign a weight for each value• Evaluate each document
Fit for Purpose
Usability Deploy. Stability Scalability Maint. Certif. Value
20% 30% 5% 10% 5% 5% 25% 100%
Document A 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 15%
Document B 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 55%
Document C 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 20%
… …
Needs for documents
ASK: Who is reading/using it?
Evaluate needs for documents
• Pragmatic– This person reads/uses the document and provides
valuable feedback to the team
• Mandatory– We have to deliver this document (by contract,
according to the norm …)
• Disillusion – Nobody is reading it, but you know, it’s in our quality
process
• Foolish– I wrote it and someone should read it for sure. I’m
saying this for years now, will someone start doing things right in this company
Keep this document
Ok, let’s try to reduce it to a minimum
Stop doing it that way!
I can help you, who is the quality director?
Reuse of Documents
• A document is written for a specific purpose at a specific time
• Do not maintain all existing documentation just because it exists
• Communicate rather than document
Evaluate reuse of documents
• Reuse Metrics– Average time between 2 versions– Longevity of last version– Number of time the document is downloaded– Number of time the document is really used by
the team– Number of time the document is reused by other
teams
• At Yahoo, most documents are in a Wiki and employees accesses are collected
Evaluate Document Values
• Define acceptance criteria– Document meets criteria
• Keep it• Simplify it• Evaluate alternative options for producing same
information
– Document does not meet criteria• Stop producing this document• Change your process
A SIMPLEPRACTICE
Simplification Meeting
• All team members in a room – 1 document template
• Objectives– Keep all sections– Remove all information that does not add value
• Duplication of information• Reduce long text
– Find better ways for producing information• Screenshots or photos
• Benefits– Document is simpler– Team shares a common definition of the content – Later document production will be faster
THANK YOU
Alexandre BoutinLean & Agile Coach - Scrum Master and Practitioner
Founder [email protected] : +33 (0)6 45 40 23 17