How are Agile Development methods Making Wonders in App Development?

Do you know? In the year 2018, approximately 70% of the projects met their original goals, while about 60% of the projects were completed within the original budget. And, both these stats are up from 62% and 50% respectively in the year 2016. Poor project management is one of the major reasons for project failure.

Published in

The Startup

10 min readDec 4, 2019

As you know, any kind of business — big or small — needs a due background, and it’s just impossible to create an optimum quality product if you do not prepare to it in a serious manner. A reputed mobile application development company keeps up with this established truth, so they have a deliberate approach when they create software products. First, they choose the right mobile app development method that will make it possible to achieve the desired result. And Agile development methodology is one of the best options for doing this.

So, what exactly is agile methodology and how it works?

Basically, Agile methodology is a step-by-step and iterative software product development methodology.

Agile mobile application development helps organize planning and design methods, development & testing methods during the entire software life-cycle.

All Agile development methods are based on the following principles:

Prompt response to any change in the project with the help of adaptive planning;
Joint elaboration of the project requirements;
Rationalization of various tasks performed by the software development team;
Software product development step by step with strict deadlines.

This approach is used in a plethora of software development services today. Hence, the agile methodology helps specialists in order to manage the work of development teams and organize all their tedious tasks efficiently. In addition to this, it is based on a democratic approach to the entire software development process of the organization.

Since the agile mobile application development methodology consists of some short cycles (2–3 weeks each), there is a minimization of project risks. A customer can easily see the result after each project cycle and can request to make any development changes. Hence, a client has a direct influence on software development and he or she controls it.

Each agile mobile application development life cycle includes these below-mentioned stages:

planning;
requirement analysis;
design;
development;
testing;
documentation drawing up.

One software life cycle is not enough to create a complete product, but each iteration shows part of the software functionality that can be tested and/or changed. After each cycle, the software development team summarizes each and everything and may receive new project requirements, then some adjustments can easily be made to the software development plan.

Let’s know more about Agile project development methodology, let us see what their principles of software development are:

As per their manifesto, there are 12 principles listed:

Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software
Welcome changing requirements, even in late development
Working software is delivered frequently
Close, daily cooperation between mobile app developers and business people
Projects are created around motivated individuals, who are trusted
Face to Face chatting is the best form of communication
Working software is the preferred measure of progress
Sustainable software application development, able to maintain at a constant pace
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good software design
Simplicity is the art of maximizing the amount of software development work not done is essential
Best architectures, designs, requirements, emerge from self-organizing teams
On a regular basis, the team reflects on how to become more adjust and effective accordingly.

Agile Vs Waterfall Methodology for mobile application development

Alright! We have had some decent overview of the Agile project management methodology and we already know it sounds perfect for custom mobile application development services, but how much better is it compared to the Waterfall Methodology. Let us have a brief understanding of Waterfall Methodology and then compare both of these sides by side.

The waterfall methodology is very akin to manufacturing and construction workflows; The waterfall project methodology is a sequential design process. That means that as each of the 8 stages which is completed (analysis, initiation, construction, design, conception, implementation, testing, and maintenance), the mobile app developers move on to the next step.

This project development process is completely sequential, only after completing a step will the next step be implemented, an Android or iOS mobile app developer cannot return to an earlier step. If a mobile app developer wants to return to an earlier stage, everything starts from the beginning.

Absolutely, there is no room for changes or errors, so a project outcome and an elaborative plan should be established at the very beginning stage and then followed carefully.

Good! Let’s analyze the main differences between these two methods.

The waterfall project management method has a structure and you must follow that structure, and trust me, it can be quite rigid. On the other hand, the Agile methodology is known for its flexibility, which is why most of the iOS and Android application development companies do it.
The development of an application must be completed as a single project, in a waterfall project development methodology, which is then divided into different phases, and each phase appears only once during the software development life cycle.

Although, the Agile project management methodology can be considered as a collection of many different projects, which are nothing more than just iterations of the different project management phases that focus on improving the software quality with the comments of the users or the control team of quality.

If you choose to use the waterfall project management methodology for the development of your mobile application, it must be clear with all the needs beforehand, since it cannot change once the project begins.

On the other hand, the agile project management methodology is really flexible and it also allows changes to be made in the software project development requirements even after the initial planning has been completed.

All project development phases, such as design, development, testing, etc., are completed once in the waterfall project development model, while, as part of the Agile project development methodology, they follow an iterative software development approach. As a result, development, planning, prototyping, and various other software development phases may appear more than once during the software development life cycle.

One of the main differences between Agile and waterfall model is that these are their individual approach to quality testing. In the waterfall model, the “Test” phase comes after the “Construction” phase, but, in the Agile project development methodology, the test is generally performed simultaneously with the programming or at least in the same level of iteration as the programming language.

While the waterfall project development methodology is an internal process and does not need customer participation, the agile software product development approach focuses on customer contentment and, therefore, comprises customer participation throughout the software development phase.

The waterfall software development methodology can be defined as a strictly sequential software development process, however, the Agile management methodology is a highly collaborative development process, which leads to better team input and even faster problem-solving.

The waterfall methodology is best suited for those projects that have clearly defined needs and in which no change is expected, while Agile project development supports a process in which the needs are expected to evolve and change.

Hence, if you are planning to create a software that would need frequent overhauls and has to keep up with the customer requirements and technology landscape, Agile project management methodology is the best thing to follow, if you ask me.

And finally, the waterfall project management methodology exhibits a project mindset and lays its focus strictly on the project development completion, whereas Agile methodology introduces a product mindset that focuses on making sure that the created product satisfies its end clients, and changes itself as the requirements of your clients.

Why Businesses are Choosing Agile Mobile App Development Approach?

Here are 9 top reasons to choose Agile for your mobile application development project:

Faster development

In the case of the Agile project management model, the complete mobile application project is bifurcated into smaller modules that are treated as various independent subprojects. These sub-projects are completed managed by different teams in an independent manner, with little or no dependence between these.

In addition to this, everyone has a clear idea of what their contribution is all about will be and the associated resources and the deadline, which accelerates the software development process. Each mobile app developer does their best to complete their part in the successful mobile application development project, the result of which is a more streamlined application development process with prompt delivery.

Reduced risks

With the changing trends and needs of the market, it is risky to launch your own mobile application. Most of the time, it happens that the mobile app market data that you have taken into account while creating your application becomes obsolete when you start it. The result is a poor return of investment and a bleak future in the market.

In this situation, an Agile methodology is a tool that allows you to take calculated risks and enhance the market reach of your project. It means the methodology allows a mobile app development company to make various alterations to any particular sprint without altering the code of the previous sprints. Hence, making its application more suitable for the market.

Best Quality

Unlike traditional mobile application development models, Agile does not test the application at the end of the development phase. Rather, this project management methodology encourages the testing of each module at the primitive level. It reduces the risk of finding an error at the time of the quality checking of the entire project.

In addition to this, it helps mobile application developers inspect all the application elements at each stage of the mobile app development process and make various adjustments as per the requirement, eventually helping to provide higher quality services.

Project management without problems

By transforming the complete mobile application development project into multiple individual modules, the Agile project management methodology gives you the possibility to manage your project easily. You can easily assign your software development tasks to different teams and reduce dependencies & discussions at the level between teams.

You can also keep a record of the activities performed in each mini software development project and in this way, determine if anything is missing or does not work as per the proposed plan. In addition to this, you can verify the productivity of each individual and put their hard work into making or hiring more efficient experts.

Enhanced Customer Experience

The agile project management approach places a strong emphasis on people and collaboration, which gives the app development team the opportunity to work closely with their clients and understand their mission and vision. In addition to this, projects are delivered to the customers in the form of multiple sprints, which brings complete transparency to the software development process.

In addition to this, it allows the software development team to evaluate if both of the parties are on the same page and, if not, helps them to make various changes before continuing. It decreases the chances of starting a mobile application that does not meet the idea behind, hence, guarantees a better customer experience.

Lower development cost

Since each step of the software development is well-executed, planned, and delivered, you can calculate easily the cost of making a mobile application and, hence, justify the mobile app development budget. In addition to this, if at any stage of development, you feel the required to increase the budget of application, you can easily do this with the agile project management methodology. In this way, you can easily avoid leaving the project incomplete due to the lack of necessary funds and resources.

Personalization

The agile project development approach to mobile app development also gives app developers the opportunity to personalize their software development process. There are no rules to build a mobile application in a particular way. Experts can easily look for different ways to create and launch the mobile app and integrate advanced tools and technologies in the process. Simply put, the Agile project management process and allows mobile app developers in order to customize the software development timeline as per their choice and offer a user-centered solution.

Higher Return on Investment

The Agile project management methodology allows application development companies to enter the market with the most basic application and update the mobile application with each iteration. It makes easier for mobile application owners to test their idea, and gather necessary knowledge and data, create a brand presence and, hence, offer the best and reliable features as per the market trends and customer needs.

It helps application owners and the associated mobile application development firms make the right decision to get a better return on investment in the market and provide better iOS and Android app development services.

Previous Market Reach

By dividing the entire mobile application project into submodules, the agile mobile application development approach encourages the software development team to deliver each module with the stipulated timeline. Falling behind timelines is practically not possible. The result of this is that the complete mobile application project is delivered and designed on a stipulated time or even earlier that means an earlier market reach.

Let’s Wrap Up:

The Agile project management methodology can work wonders for the development of iOS and Android applications. However, everyone is needed to know the ultimate goal well and contribute wisely to this software development approach. Only then you can enjoy all the benefits which are mentioned above. In addition to this, you can hire app developers which are well versed with all the parameters of agile software development so that they can provide you the right solutions as per your specific business needs.