So what’s the point of Scrum anyway? As I’ve said in a previous the single goal is simply:
Get working software in front of the user, faster.
Really, that’s it. All of the roles, processes and artefacts are there to help you achieve that goal. Neat isn’t it?
Iterations vs Increments
To continue with some basics (following on from my definitions post) here are some diagrams that I’m sure are familiar, that try to make the distinction between what is thought of by an iteration and an increment.
Oil Painting
Jeff Patton’s Mona Lisa diagram is pretty well known:
I think this illustrates the point pretty well, but you could argue it’s a bit simplistic and doesn’t represent a practical idea / solution. So how about this…
I want to go shopping
Specifically, I want to get to the local shops to bring home some basic groceries. So let’s try an incremental approach:
Here you can see that we are building a car by increments. The problem here is that we don’t have anything usable until all the steps are complete. In software terms if you’re trying to get to market quickly to establish a presence you may well have missed the boat by the time your all singing all dancing solution is ready.
How about this:
This is much more interesting. I’ve got something usable (although maybe not ideal!) from the very beginning. Each one will get me to the shops with an increasing ability to carry more / get further / be more comfortable. In software terms you’ve had a small but usable presence from your very first release, allowing you to build a customer base, brand loyalty and so on.
In Summary
Whether you agree with the terminology or not, these diagrams make great points. As I said at the beginning the aim for all this is to get working software in front of the user, faster. It doesn’t have to be all singing / dancing from the start, and arguably it shouldn’t be as you really want to see how it is received along the way, and adapt should the feedback or original requirements change.
