Documentation in Agile Development

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Documentation in Agile Development

• Christina Gu
• Jason Lee
• Stephen Smith

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Agenda

• Background
• Problem Statement
• Methodology
• Agile Overview
• Literature Search
• Case Studies
• Scrum Agile Document Development Framework
  (S.A.D.D.)
• DoDs effort to embrace Agile
• Conclusion and Recommendation
• Website
• Reference
• Questions?

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Background

• The current economic situation is driving
  contractors to look at more lean operating
  methods for project development.
• Especially true for government contractors
  working with the Department of Defense.
• One method pursued is to switch from a waterfall
  model to the more lean Agile method.

Figure 1 Defective and Wasteful Requirements in
Traditional Development Process 4
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Problem Statement

• Sponsor Boeing
• Problem statement
• Is Agile sufficient for satisfying documentation
  needs on DoD mission-critical systems?
• How is documentation impacted by adopting an
  Agile methodology?
• Deliverables
• Report on Agiles ability to meet documentation
  needs with a framework developed for
  documentation generation.

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What is a mission critical system?

• Systems critical to DoDs ability to meet its
  responsibilities and include command and control
  systems, satellite systems, inventory management
  systems, transportation management systems,
  medical systems and equipment, and pay and
  personnel systems

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Documents of primary interest
Milestone Review (Per DoD 5000) Documentation of Relevance
SRR SSS System/Subsystem Specification SRS Software Requirements Specification IRS Interface Requirements Specification
PDR SSDDSystem/Subsystem Design Description SDD Software Design Description IDD Interface Design Description
CDR TEMP- Test and Evaluation Management Plan SEP- System Engineering Plan
Figure 2 Technology or Initiative Transition to
Program of Records (MITRE, 2010)
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Methodology

• Literature research
• Ideas behind the Agile method and how it impacts
  documentation
• Existing methods for generating documentation in
  Agile
• Case studies
• Interview various companies with regards to
  projects using Agile.
• A look at the approach to documentation used in
  each of the projects.

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What is Agile

• A set of software best practices strung into an
  official set of principles in 2001 as the Agile
  Manifesto.
• Principles of Agile
• Individual and interactions over processes and
  tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
  
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Respond to change over following a plan

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Key Aspects of any Agile Methodology
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Agile Misconception

1. Agile is a Pizza Box Methodology
2. Agile is an All-or-Nothing Methodology
3. Traditional Development is Inferior
4. Becoming Agile Only Affects the Developers

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Scrum Agile

• Key Components of Scrum Agile
• Cross-Functional Teams
• Product Backlog
• Timeboxed Development Iterations
• End of Cycle
• Origins of Scrum
• Japanese OR Advancements
• Incremental Development in the U.S.
• Object Oriented technologies in software

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Scrum Agile
http//www.scrumalliance.com/pages/what_is_scrum
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Traditional Systems Engineering Document
Generation vs. Agile Systems Engineering
Traditional Systems Engineering Documents Generation
Agile Systems Engineering Document Generation
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DoDs Effort to Embrace Agile
The DoD is in the process of changing its Defense
Acquisition Guideline to better serve Agile
Software System Development
Figure 3 MITREs suggested DoD IT Acquisition
Process 2
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Principles of Agile Documentation

• Generate just enough documentation
• Should satisfy the objectives of the use for the
  documentation.
• Do not generate if not planning to be used.
• Used to transfer knowledge in the team and
  between teams.
• Agile tends to keep knowledge within the team.
• Knowledge transfer is essential for add-on
  projects

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Two Approaches to Documentation in Agile

• Method 1 Adapted Agile
• Use DoD standards as binding constraints to the
  Agile effort.
• Documentation must be generated to support
  periods of customer reviews
• Full and complete documentation expected
• Plan a full documentation update with each
  appropriate iteration with emphasis on the last
  iteration to generate complete deliverable
  documents.
• Ideal for contracts already in work with
  waterfall style program management.

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Two Approaches to Documentation in Agile

• Method 2 Aligned Agile
• Documentation is generated as needed during the
  Agile implementation.
• Customer understanding of the differences in
  Agile method is essential.
• Customer must agree to less documentation that is
  generated only to meet documentation objectives.
• In-progress reviews and supporting documentation
  are also broken down to match better with shorter
  development iterations.
• Ideal when terms of documentation can be
  negotiated with the customer.
• Suggested for company-wide migration towards the
  use of Agile methods.

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Project Case 1

• Raytheon
• Method Scrum Agile
• Documentation method Adapted Agile
• Size of Project 6 months
• Notes emphasis on generating documentation to
  meet customer review dates, heavy on
  documentation updates on the last iteration

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Project Case 2

• MITRE
• Method Hybrid Scrum Agile
• Documentation method Adapted Agile
• Size of project 3 years
• Notes Used a requirements governance council.
  Phased project according to spiral development
  ideas but fit with Agile development on every
  spiral.

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Project Case 3

• MITRE
• Method Hybrid Scrum Agile
• Documentation method Aligned Agile
• Size of project 1 year
• Notes Most documentation was done after the fact
  to reflect the true state of the system and to
  reduce rework on documentation. Placed heavy
  emphasis on labeling documentation as complete
  only if it can transfer knowledge to a team that
  has not previously worked on project.

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Project Case 4

• MITRE
• Method Hybrid Scrum Agile
• Documentation method Aligned Agile
• Size of project 2 years with 4-week long sprint
  cycles
• Notes Used a requirements committee to
  continuously align with customer needs. Heavy
  emphasis on documenting requirement changes.

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Key Concepts of the Framework

• Designed to align with Scrum Agile
• Integrates to become a seamless part of Scrum
  Agile
• The Core Concept
• Definition of Done

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Framework Detail (1 of 2)

• Examine Required Documents
• Perform detailed analysis of projects
  documentation requirements defined by
  stakeholders
• Finalize Contract Agreement
• Reflect any changes/additions and finalize
  contract in terms of documentation requirements
• Develop Product Backlog
• Add relevant tasks associated with documentation
  to Product Backlog

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Framework Detail (2 of 2)

• Sprint
• Work on document(s)
• End of Cycle Review
• Evaluate completed work on document against
  definition of done. Present current work to
  stakeholders for review. If completed, handle
  accordingly, if not, prep for next sprint.

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Conclusions

• The Agile methodology can be used to satisfy
  documentation needs for mission-critical software
  development for the department of defense with
  some modifications from its pure form.
• Customer interaction and acknowledgement of the
  differing needs for documentation using Agile is
  key.

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Website

• For more information please visit our website
  athttp//mason.gmu.edu/slee32/index.html

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Reference

• Larson, E., Peters, J. Preparing the U.S. Army
  for Homeland Security Concepts, Issues, and
  Options, Issue 1251. RAND Corporation, 2001.
• D. K. M. R. B. M. C. Carlton Northern, Handbook
  for Implementing Agile in Department of Defense
  Information Technology Acquisition, The MITRE
  Corporation, 2010.
• Standish Group. (2010). Chaos summary 2010.
  Boston, MA Author.
• Session R. (2009). The IT complexity crisis
  Danger and opportunity, Houston, TX Object
  Watch.
• Beck, K., Beedle, M., Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A.,
  Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., et al. (2001).
  Manifesto for Agile Software Development.
  http//agilemanifesto.org/ Accessed April 24,
  2013.

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Reference- cont.

• Scrum Is an Innovative Approach to Getting Work
  Done. The SCRUM Alliance (2010)http//www.scrumal
  liance.org/pages/what_is_scrum Accessed April 27,
  2013.
• Burton, D., Hammons, C., Lapham, M., Schenker,
  A., Williams, R. (2010) Considerations for
  Using Agile in DoD Acquisition.
  http//www.sei.cmu.edu/reports/10tn002.pdf
  Accessed March 19, 2013.
• I. G. Stamelos and P. Sfetsos, Agile Software
  Development Quality Assurance, Idea Group Inc
  (IGI), 2007. also steve figure 1
• C. G. Cobb, Making Sense of Agile Project
  Management Balancing Control and Agility, John
  Wiley Sons, 2011.
• P. Schuh, Integrating Agile Development in the
  Real World, Charles River Media, INC, 2005.

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Reference- cont.

• K. S. Rubin, Essential Scrum A Practical Guide
  to the Most Popular Agile Process,
  Addison-Wesley, 2012.
• Ralph Hughes and the Ceregenics Data Management
  Team, Agile Data Warehousing, Delivering
  World-Class Business Intelligence Systems using
  Scrum and XP, iUniverse, 2008.
• Forward, A. (2002) Software Documentation
  Building and Maintaining Artifacts of
  Communication, www.site.uottawa.ca/tcl/gradthes
  es/aforward/aforward_thesis.doc Accessed March
  30, 2013.
• DAGS (Defense Acquisition Management
  System), Enclosure 2 of DoD Instruction
  5000.02, Operation of the Defense Acquisition
  System, Defense Acquisition Guidebook
• Dr Steven J. Hutchison, Achieving Enterprise
  Agility in DoD IT Acquisition, 2010

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Reference- cont.

• K. A. Saleh, Software Engineering, J. Ross
  Publishing, 2009.
• R. Mall, Fundamentals of Software Engineering,
  PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2009.
• D. Panchal, "Scrum Alliance," 03 September 2008.
  Online. Available http//www.scrumalliance.org/
  articles/105-what-is-definition-of-done-dod.
  Accessed 27 April 2013.
• Scrum Alliance, "Scrum Alliance, Transforming the
  World of Work," Online. Available
  http//www.scrumalliance.org/pages/scrum_artifacts
  . Accessed 4 April 2013.

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Questions Comment