What are the Agile Fundamentals and how are they associated with the Minimum Viable Product? The Lean Startup viewpoint of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) relates straight to the Fundamentals of Agile Development. In this rapidly changing world, getting a Product to Market as promptly as possible is a priority. This is required not just to beat the competitors to market, but also to stay up with digital interruption. However, the Product needs to be of Value to the client base. Quality and understanding what the Customer requires is just as important.

Agile Fundamentals and the Minimum Viable Product

The MVP is a rather impressive name for a Stripped-Down Product. This product includes the Minimum Features needed by Stakeholders. Designing and explaining the MVP is the precursor for any successful Agile Development Project. This precuror to the project positions with the Customer expectations prior to the Project even beginning. Agile calls for a “bare-bones” Product. The Agile Fundamentals echo the practices of the MVP. Here are some that are key to successful Development, which are also Fundamental to MVP style.

Agile Fundamentals: Keep Stakeholders Involved

Your Stakeholders and what they need are the reason for the Development in the first place. The Traditional approach of gathering Requirements, Development the Product, and only returning for Customer Sign-Off, is no longer appropriate. This applies to all kinds of production Frameworks. “Customer-Driven Design” is utilized to bring new Products to Market from home devices to automobile. These ideas do not always come from the Customer. In some cases Concepts or models are built and promoted to evaluate the action for the marketplace.

In Agile Development, it is Fundamental that Customers are involved and dedicated to the Project. This is emphasized in the Agile Manifesto both as a Value and as a Principle. The Customers are co-opted from the business for the duration of the Project. They provide insights, examine what is delivered (during the Sprint Review Meetings) and agree on completion.

Agile Fundamentals: Establish a Valuable Product

Keeping the Customer involved and engaged ensures that the Product being Delivered is Valued by the Customer. This enhances the chances that the product will be used once released. What would make a Product Valuable, is that it is viable, with minimal flaws, and meets the Customer expectations. This is the overriding approach of the Manifesto, as stated in the First Principle. The Scrum Framework divides work into Sprints. Sprints are small packets of Work that are delivered on a regular basis (generally every 2-4 weeks). By practising repeated and Continuous Delivery, the Customer is engaged and involved in inspecting each new Delivery. The confidence level in the Product is also high. It is provided Feature by Feature and takes shape during the Project. It is not concealed behind a locked door which is only opened when the Product is complete.

Things Change

No matter how lean the Product is, and how short the timeline is, there will be Changes. These can be for a number of reasons, for instance, an external occurrence in the Market which is a game-changer. There may also be an imperfect understanding of some of the Concepts at Project start and change is required.

As the Project progresses, Project knowledge increases. Design flaws or omissions may become apparent. An Agile Project expects Change and will accommodate them according to the Framework used. For instance, in Scrum a Change can only be applied between Sprints. Changes within the Scrum Framework can only be implemented as early as the next Sprint Planning Meeting. The result of accommodating Change is that the Product aligns better to Customer requirements. It meets their expectations at the time of delivery, and not those at the start of the Project.

Agile Fundamentals: Driven by Quality

An Agile Development Project attempts to be as proactive as possible. One of the mechanisms for achieving this is Test-Driven-Development. Within Test-Driven-Development the Test for the Software is completed before the Code is written. Naturally, the Test will fail, and Code is added until the Test passes. There are other variations of quality delivery, such as BDD (Behaviour-Driven Development), which operates in the same manner. However Behaviour-Driven Development focuses on the Requirements. ATDD (Acceptance Test-Driven Development) is another approach. The result of using such a method minimizes risk, error and rework.

A winning Team

An Agile Development Project is driven by Teamwork. Within the Scrum Framework the Scrum Team (Agile Scrum Master, Scrum Product Owner, and Scrum Development Team) is fluid and Collaborative. It is vital that the Team is self-governing and empowered to make decisions. They should not be impacted by hierarchical and autocratic choices trickling down to them. Naturally there will be conflicts and character clashes among Team members. These conflicts are only worsened by the pressure to deliver. These must be solved amicably by the Team. During the Project, the Team will accumulate and apply knowledge gained. This helps to both accelerate the Project and offer a new and improved baseline for the next Project.

We found these books great for finding out more information on Agile Scrum:

It’s not a Perfect World

This all sounds wonderful, but reality has a nasty habit of interfering. The objective is to design an MVP that can then be Developed in the Agile Project. As the Project progresses the building blocks of the Product are delivered.