Product Owner, a conductor at your service at smArtapps

“Product Owner”, does this term mean anything to you? The Product Owner is the conductor of an Agile team. A definition that calls for other questions!

The Agile approach VS the “traditional” approach

First, a team is called Agile when it bases its approach of a project on an iterative and collaborative process. Such a methodology makes it possible to take into account the initial needs and those related to the evolutions of the project, in an incremental logic.

Priority is given to the user benefit, i.e: every new feature brings a real improvement to him.

The Agile approach is particularly suited to software development.

In “traditional” approach, the customer explains in details his needs, agrees one last time on it with the service provider he chose then, exchanges are interrupted until the delivery of the finished product for validation. Consequence of it: an inevitable “tunnel effect”.

Agile methods, such as the SCRUM methodology that we use at smArtapps, aim to eliminate this “tunnel effect” through short cycles (called “sprint”) of “development-delivery-validation” for greater flexibility.

The missions of the Product Owner

The Product Owner’s missions are multiple:

- Identify the expectations of users in the field,

- Translate these needs into “product benefit”,

- Estimate the implementation effort,

- Prioritize the production of these features,

- Define the development schedule of these new features,

- Ensure quality monitoring.

How it works at smArtapps

At smArtapps, I am the Product Owner (“PO” for intimates).

Every Monday morning, we meet with the representatives of each department to discuss and evaluate the requests of the previous week. Around the table, you’ll find:

- A representative of the sales team who gather your feedbacks,

- A representative of the project team who “translates” those feedbacks into “product benefit”,

- A representative of the technical team who estimates the feasibility of each request and the time required to fulfill it,

- A representative of the design team who proposes improvements concerning the ergonomics of our products and the User Experience.

Thanks to these cross-evaluations, the Product Owner then prioritizes all requests and builds the roadmap for the next sprint.

What it changes for you

Many things and for the best!

First of all, the Agile methodologies encourage a constructive dialogue thanks to a team at your disposal throughout the project. More than a service provider who executes a bill of specifications, we are here to design with you the digital tour guide adapted to your institution and your visitors.

Following this logic, the Agile approach prevents excess. We experienced it sometimes: certain requested features prove useless for visitors while others could have given more value to your application. Thanks to the Agile approach, say goodbye to gadget features that do not meet the needs of your users!

On the other hand, all your feedbacks help us to continuously improve our content management platform. Thank you and keep going!

In brief, smArtapps agility rhymes with always more quality. 😊