In today’s business world, extended development periods can pose significant challenges in responding to the constantly changing market. Therefore, businesses are shifting to a more agile approach by breaking down products into smaller parts and dividing the development process into short phases, frequently evaluating and adjusting to enhance the product’s adaptability.

This new approach offers numerous benefits:

1. Continuous Improvement: Dividing products into smaller parts and releasing them continuously allows for early user feedback during the development process. This enables timely adjustments and improvements, ensuring the final product fully reflects the needs and desires of users.
2. Ensured Flexibility and Adaptability: This method ensures flexibility and adaptability to market changes, technological advancements, and evolving customer requirements. By releasing products in small stages, businesses can quickly adapt and respond to the dynamic business environment.
3. Risk Mitigation: Breaking down products into smaller parts helps in timely evaluation and resolution of issues, thereby minimizing risks associated with large, standalone releases. Instead of betting on a single large release, businesses can adjust and improve products incrementally, reducing unwanted risks.
4. Enhanced Collaboration: Continuous product releases facilitate frequent product introductions to stakeholders, maintaining and enhancing positive collaboration. This ongoing release process encourages contributions and feedback from the user community and partners, creating a more open and creative work environment.
5. Higher Product Quality: By releasing products in stages and continuously improving, businesses have the opportunity to optimize product quality. This process helps to eliminate errors and issues early on, while enhancing the stability and performance of the final product.
6. Increased Customer Satisfaction: Continuous updates and improvements based on customer feedback enhance the user experience. Products developed in this manner are more likely to meet customer needs and desires, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
7. Sustainable Competitiveness: The ability to quickly adapt and continuously improve products helps businesses maintain and strengthen their market position. By developing products flexibly and responding swiftly to market demands, businesses can stay competitive and thrive in an increasingly challenging business environment.

Agile Software Development Process

1. Development Planning

There are two planning methods applicable depending on the project:

• Iterative Planning: Software development in short cycles, usually from a few weeks to a month. Each development cycle is planned based on the results of the previous cycle and user feedback. This process allows for incremental adjustments and improvements while capturing changes in customer requirements and desires.
• Adaptive Planning: Long-term planning continuously refined based on new market information and user feedback. This approach allows businesses to adapt to unexpected changes in the business environment and adjust product development direction to ensure it still reflects the real market needs.

Steps in Product Development Planning:

(1) Managing the Product Backlog:: 

Requirement Collection: The product backlog is where all product development requirements (Product Backlog Items – PBIs) are gathered. The Product Owner is responsible for owning and managing this backlog. A well-managed product backlog should:

• Be the sole repository for all product development requirements.
• Continuous Prioritization: PBIs are prioritized to reflect the product strategy and market needs.
• Ensure Readiness: The number of PBIs meeting the “Definition of Ready” should be sufficient for 1 to 2 development cycles.
• Backlog Refinement: The number of PBIs in refinement should also be sufficient for 1 to 2 development cycles.

(2) Developing Minimal Viable Product (MVP): MVP is a concept used to minimize costs and risks associated with developing the wrong product. By focusing on core features that provide value to customers to gather their feedback, MVP allows businesses to maximize learning and adjustment opportunities through the “Build-Measure-Learn” feedback loop. You can read more in the book Lean Canvas.

Product Release Planning: The release plan is used to determine WHEN and HOW to release the product. A release plan includes:

• Clear Objectives: Goals for the next 3 to 6 months.
• Number of Development Cycles (Iterations).
• Detailed Release Plan: The number of releases, the value created in each release, and the expected release dates.
• Resource and Risk Management: The release plan also manages resources, dependencies, and risks during the product development process.

The release planning session occurs every 3 to 6 months, and this plan can be adjusted after each development cycle.

2. Product Development

Agile Product Management and Agile Project Management

Using Agile or Scrum methodologies: Implement agile project management methods such as Agile or Scrum to organize and manage work within each development cycle.

Using agile tools and techniques: Use agile tools and techniques like sprints, backlog grooming, and daily stand-ups to optimize the development process and ensure all team members can work efficiently.

Once the release plan is in place, the development team engages in continuous product development and release.

(1) Planning a Development Cycle

The planning session is a time-boxed event at the beginning of each development cycle, aimed at achieving three goals:

• Define the objectives of the next development cycle.
• Break down the necessary work into detailed tasks.
• Commit to completing the work within the cycle.

The success of the planning session depends on having enough PBIs meeting the Definition of Ready. This preparation happens during backlog refinement.

(2) Building the Product

During the product development cycle, the Product Owner should step back and allow the team to work autonomously. The Product Owner’s main role at this stage is to be available for questions and make quick decisions if needed.

(3) Testing and Evaluating Product Features

One of the benefits of agile product development is the continuous opportunity to gather user feedback throughout the product lifecycle. The product will be tested, evaluated, and validated through:

• PBI Acceptance, conducted by the Product Owner.
• Iteration Reviews, conducted by the Product Owner and stakeholders.
• User Acceptance Testing, conducted by users, customers, or customer representatives.

In summary, adopting a customer-centric mindset and agile product development facilitates releasing “the right product to the right people, early and often.” This approach, given the rapid changes in today’s business environment, is becoming more important than ever. It is particularly useful for startups needing an MVP quickly to test the market and refine their product.