How to Implement Agile Scrum Methodology for Your Mobile App

Many mobile app development companies throw this statement and talk about the many benefits of the agile scrum methodology in mobile app development. But, what does agile mean, and more importantly, how can you evaluate if Agile is the right development approach for your app idea or not?

To be honest, Agile development is one of the most sought-after development methodologies that top development firms and independent developers follow to not only speed up the entire development process but to tackle unexpected roadblocks more effectively. Agile can help you accelerate the time-to-market and launch a customer-centric mobile app, resulting in better user acquisition and engagement. But, it’s also worth understanding that Agile development is not ideal in every situation.

To make everything crystal clear for you, we have compiled an A-Z guide about agile development, its benefits, and how you can evaluate if your mobile application needs Agile implementation or not. We have also penned down the step-by-step guide for developers to implement Agile scrum to optimize the entire app development lifecycle and deliver result-driven mobile apps for their clients.

So, if you’ve been planning to launch a groundbreaking mobile application, continue reading; this guide will help you understand the potential benefits of Agile Scrum implementation in app development.

What is Agile Scrum Methodology in App Development?

First things first; what does Agile Scrum methodology mean in mobile app development. In simple words, Agile Scrum is a practice where the developers combine two different development methodologies; agile and scrum. Both these methodologies are pretty similar in nature with a few key differences.

For instance, Agile focuses more on leadership-based teams where the tasks are executed in small iterations known as “Sprints”. Scrum, on the other hand, promotes the idea of cross-functional teams while incorporating the basic principles of Agile implementation. To make it simpler, Scrum is a practical implementation of Agile development whose primary objective is to emphasize team collaboration for better project execution.

Today, the majority of app developers prefer Agile scrum over conventional development methodologies. After DevOps, Agile Scrum is the second most popular development practice that nearly 31.8% of developers use to build mobile applications for different platforms.

The reason why Agile Scrum has gained such popularity among developers is the long list of benefits that it brings to the table. But, before we dive into these benefits, let’s first understand how an agile scrum model works.

How Does Agile Scrum Methodology Work?

When it comes to implementing any development methodology, developers usually start from the basics. An agile software development company initiates the development process by dividing the entire project into smaller iterations – known as ‘sprints’.

These sprints are allocated to the most suitable resources so that there aren’t any unexpected delays. The idea behind separating the entire project into smaller sprints is to utilize the most skilled resources for a particular task and ensure on-time delivery. In general, the sprints are completed within four to 8 weeks, depending on the complexity of the project.

For better implementation of the Agile Scrum model, it’s necessary to understand the significance of different stakeholders and their responsibilities in the development process. A full-fledged agile scrum model usually has three important stakeholders.

• Product Owner
• Scrum Master
• Development Team

1. Product Owner

The Product Owner or the client is responsible for creating a product backlog for the development team. The owner can lay down all his requirements and the objectives he wants to achieve with the product.

Keep in mind that the product owner is also responsible for communicating with outside parties such as marketing teams, investors, or even the end consumers. His responsibilities are to structure the backlog so that the scrum master and development team can prioritize high-value tasks and create dedicated sprints more effectively.

2. Scrum Master

A scrum master is someone who’s responsible for establishing a successful communication channel between the development team and the product owner. You can consider the scrum master as the director who’s responsible for conveying the story to his actors (in this case developers) and ensuring that everything gets executed as planned. The role of a scrum master is quite vital in devising a successful Agile Scrum model.

Apart from conveying the client’s objectives to the developers, the scrum master is also responsible for dividing the product backlog into smaller sprints and creating a dedicated sprint backlog accordingly. Once the sprint backlog is ready, the scrum master allocates its tasks to different resources by analyzing their competencies.

Here are some of the additional responsibilities of a Scrum Master in an Agile Scrum model.

• Agile Sprint Backlog and Planning

The most basic requirement of an Agile Scrum model is to follow the iterative development process. It means dividing the entire work into smaller tasks and constructing a dedicated sprint backlog for better execution. For readers who don’t know, the sprint backlog contains a list of tasks that the scrum team plans on achieving within a specific period. The Scrum Master overlooks the designing of the entire Agile Sprint backlog and also handles resource allocation.

• Daily Scrum Meetings

Daily Scrum meetings are conducted to discuss the previous day’s activities and the to-do list for the current day. These meetings are necessary to ensure that nothing from the sprint backlog gets overlooked and all the tasks get executed on time. The scrum master conducts these meetings with the development team; however, in some situations, the product owner may also be a part of these meetings.

3. Development Team

A development team is a group of professional developers who manage the technical aspects of building a mobile application. They are responsible for utilizing the right technologies to bring clients’ vision to reality. The development team is usually led by a dedicated project manager who communicates with the scrum master and distributes tasks among the team members. The development team in an agile scrum model handles all the technical decisions and gives estimates regarding development costs and the projected time-to-market.

Every time the development team completes a task, it goes to the ‘review’ stage where different stakeholders review it and provide their feedback. Based on the feedback, the task goes back into the loop – following a successful iterative model – and developers make the required changes to achieve perfection.

What are the Benefits of Agile Scrum Implementation?

As we mentioned earlier, the Agile Scrum methodology in mobile app development brings forth multiple benefits. From speeding up the entire development process to incorporating complete transparency, the Agile Scrum implementation makes app development a hassle-free task for everyone.

Let us walk you through some of the top benefits of implementing the Agile Scrum development approach for your mobile application.

1. Better Quality

When compared to the conventional waterfall model, Agile Scrum offers better product quality. Why? Because in an Agile scrum model, software testing and quality assurance are a regular part of the development process.

Instead of testing the entire application at the end of the development cycle, agile scrum focuses on testing each sprint individually to ensure that there aren’t any unexpected bugs that might hinder the user experience. These bugs are eliminated right away and the final product is a high-performance, bug-free, and user-centric mobile application. So, in terms of quality, the agile scrum software development process is a complete winner.

2. Makes it Easier to Meet the Client’s Objectives

The truth is that when you hire mobile app developers for a project, you want a team that could meet your expectations and build a personalized mobile solution accordingly. You would not want to work with an incompetent team that doesn’t understand how to meet the client’s requirements.

Instead of testing the entire application at the end of the development cycle, agile scrum focuses on testing each sprint individually to ensure that there aren’t any unexpected bugs that might hinder the user experience. These bugs are eliminated right away and the final product is a high-performance, bug-free, and user-centric mobile application. So, in terms of quality, the agile scrum software development process is a complete winner.

This client-centric development approach is what makes agile scrum the preferred development methodology for many mobile app development companies. At every step during the development process, the client requirements are met, resulting in a completely personalized mobile solution.

3. Faster Time-to-Market

Faster time-to-market is another reason why developers choose the agile scrum model for their projects. When the entire project gets divided into smaller sprints, each team member knows his responsibilities right from the beginning. This eliminated unexpected chaos and the project can be completed before the deadline.

Also, when the entire team knows the final objective right from the beginning and has a full-proof development plan, it becomes easier to avoid unexpected roadblocks. So, if you want to launch your application at the earliest, it would be beneficial to hire a development team that follows the agile scrum methodology.

4. Complete Transparency

Again, since everyone, including product owners, scrum masters, and developers, is a part of the development cycle, the agile scrum model ensures greater transparency. The product owner is familiar with every task in the sprint backlog and actively communicates with the scrum master to provide his feedback. Complete transparency eliminates unexpected blunders and ensures that developers can achieve the desired objectives more conveniently.

5. Easier to Implement Changes

Thanks to the presence of dedicated sprints, an agile scrum model also makes it easier for developers and the QA team to make required changes to the app. Instead of going through the entire code, the dedicated team member (who’s overlooking the particular module) can directly implement the changes and customize the app to meet client requirements.

Even after the product is launched into the market, the maintenance team can customize the code without spending too much time evaluating the source code. In short, agile scrum makes it quite handy to build an easy-to-customize solution.

Does Your Mobile App Idea Require Agile Development Approach?

Now, even though the agile scrum framework brings a plethora of advantages to the table, it isn’t an ideal approach for every mobile application, especially if we are talking about an extensive team working on a large-scale mobile application.

Too many team members can result in unwanted conflicts, which might bring the entire productivity to halt, or worse, bring the productivity down.

From the above snippet, it’s clear that when the team size exceeds 10 members, the overall effectiveness to complete tasks experiences a sudden downfall, which makes it challenging to meet deadlines.

For large-scale applications that require large teams, you would be better off with a comparatively more flexible development approach such as DevOps – an evolved version of the traditional agile scrum model.

If you want to decide if the agile scrum is the right choice for your app idea, it would be better to communicate with your developers properly. Share your vision with the development team and analyze if agile scrum could benefit the development cycle or not.

Best Agile Development Practices You Can Follow to Build a Remarkable Mobile App

At this point, you’re familiar with the basics of agile scrum, its benefits, and how to evaluate if it’s the right development approach for your app idea or not. The next phase is to familiarize yourself with the best development practices to implement agile scrum effectively.

Despite its endless benefits, if you don’t know how to incorporate the agile scrum model properly, you are most likely to wreak havoc on your project and delay the entire development process. So, to stay on the right path and make agile scrum advantageous for your project, make sure to follow the following agile scrum development practices.

1. Don’t Undervalue the Stand-Ups or Daily Scrums

While these 15-minute daily scrums may seem unnecessary at first, they are probably the most crucial attribute of the agile scrum framework. These meetings help the entire team ensure that everyone is on the same page.

During the daily stand-up, the scrum master can evaluate what has been done and how many tasks are pending. The general thumb rule says that you should not try to resolve any problems during stand-up meetings. The only goal of these daily scrums is to discuss the progress of the project and analyze the backlog.

Here are some golden rules you must follow to execute daily scrums without making them monotonous.

• Everyone must discuss their previous day’s tasks and the to-do list for the current day
• Keep the stand-up short (15-20 minutes) and do not stretch them unnecessarily
• Make sure that every team member is present in the stand-ups to avoid conflicts and ensure everyone is on the same page

2. Always Keep the Backlog Updated

An outdated product backlog can be the biggest obstacle for the agile approach as it can easily break the momentum of the entire team. With the product backlog, your goal should be to list enough tasks so that every team member has a dedicated task to complete. This will keep the entire development process running all the time.

Now, keeping the product backlog up-to-date can be a bit tricky as the product owner may not have sufficient technical knowledge to list down the tasks. That’s why it’s always advised that the scrum master must communicate with the product owner to design a product backlog in such a way that at least one task can be assigned to each team member. This will also make it easier for the scrum master to design his sprint backlog and assign each sprint to the most suitable resource.

3. Maintain Necessary Documentation

One of the primary goals of an agile model is to eliminate unnecessary documentation to save time and speed up the process. But, it’s worth understanding that less documentation doesn’t mean you can survive with zero documentation.

Irrespective of the development approach your team follows, maintaining the necessary documentation will help you prevent uninvited roadblocks more effectively. Start by documenting the overall architecture of the mobile app and make sure to share it with each team member. Once the architecture is ready, you can move toward documenting the key values of each sprint so that everyone has an idea of what needs to be done.

Conclusion

Scrum is one of the many ways developers can implement Agile methodology for their mobile applications. But, it isn’t the only Agile development approach out there in the market. Based on your vision and the scope of your mobile application, you might even have to choose a different agile model as well. The goal is to pick a development approach that caters to your business requirements and can help you launch a high-quality product more rapidly. If you have any queries regarding agile scrum methodology, contact our experts and they’ll answer all your questions to decide if the agile scrum is the right approach for your app idea or not.