At Essential Designs we employ an Agile Software Development methodology. There are a number of benefits to using an Agile process to manage software development projects. As the name suggests, one of the major benefits is that it lets you move quickly and pivot easily when needed to ensure a high product quality on delivery.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why use Agile Software Development for our projects:

Stakeholder Engagement & Transparency

Requirements often cannot be fully collected at the beginning of the software development cycle, therefore continuous stakeholder involvement is very important. With an Agile approach, the client is involved in every step of the project and they are able to see work-in-progress. This provides more opportunities for the project team to understand the client’s vision, builds trust in the project team’s ability to deliver and increases the client’s engagement for a successful project.

Faster Feedback Cycle

With traditional development approaches, often the software solution is built exactly to match requirements but it turns out that’s not what the stakeholders wanted. Instead of finding out months into the project, an Agile approach helps you avoid that by providing something tangible to show users at the end of every sprint. Iterations are built based on this immediate feedback which keeps everyone on the same page.

Responding to Change

The key benefit of the Agile methodology is that it acknowledges the reality of a software project –things can, and will change. The Agile framework keeps changes from disrupting a project and instead turns them into a positive outcome. The project team can stay focused on delivering a subset of features during each iteration but with the opportunity to constantly refine and reprioritize backlogged items for the next iteration. Changes can be delivered within weeks.

Predictable Costs & Delivery

By using fixed schedule sprints (usually 1-4 weeks), the cost is predictable and limited to the amount of work that the project team can perform in each duration. This also helps the client better understand the rough cost of each feature, helping them make better decisions on how to prioritize additional features. The Agile approach sometimes provides the opportunity for an earlier-than-planned release of the software if there is enough business value.

Focuses on Business Value & Users

No one knows their business better than the client and their team. By allowing the client to determine the priority of features, the software development team can deliver the features that maximize business value. In addition, the Agile methodology often uses business-focused acceptance criteria to define features, which ensures that the end product will meet the needs of real end users.

Improved Quality

Agile software development breaks down the project into manageable components so that the project team can focus on delivering quality development and testing throughout the process. Not to mention, with frequent builds, integrated testing and stakeholder reviews after each iteration, quality is improved since problems are identified and fixed early. We recognize that each project is unique, so our approach at Essential Designs can vary based on the requirements and existing setup. However, in general, our Agile software development process for new projects follows a systematic timeline in order to ensure the best results.

Get in Touch

Whether you are looking for a custom web application or a new mobile app, we’re application developers who’ve been at it long enough to know how to build a breadth of software systems from beginning to end – efficiently and reliably. Talk to our team to learn how we can support your next software development project.