Building better

teams and the real

business value of

BDD JO WICKREMASINGHE

HEAD OF PRODUCT, WHICH? DIGITAL

INTRO

BBC Weather team

2009

We were doing agile (scrum)

We were doing TDD

What we were actually doing was “mini waterfall”

To do Dev Test Done

Java

Java

PHP

FE

What we were doing

So I can decide whether to turn on my heating

As a BBC Weather user

I want to see the 5 day forecast for London

Tasks:

Query weather DB for London’s forecast data

Return weather forecast data in JSON

Show 5 day forecast data

Make it look like the design, across browsers

Write automation tests including cross browser

What we were doing

What goes wrong

Misunderstanding about the requirement or user

behaviour

Have we fleshed out all the non-functional

requirements?

Mini waterfall – some developers blocked by tasks

worked on by other developers in same team

Polyglot teams are the ideal

…or fewer programming languages to

complete a feature

Better BDD makes a

difference

Agile coaching (Matt Wynne & Liz Keogh) helped us to do BDD better

Feature focus - moved to stories that were the

thinnest slice possible and still deliver value

WIP limits in scrum, and cross-functional pairing to

get the stories finished faster

Mini WaterfallBefore Agile Coaching

After Agile Coaching

Feature focus

After Agile Coaching

Delivering value more

frequently

After Agile Coaching

Higher quality

BDD done (well) better

Business value released more quickly, regularly

Higher quality, fewer bugs

More consistent output, easier to plan

Features in front of users sooner, get feedback

quicker and react/respond and iterate

It’s hard to hire developers

16% IT /

Software

Development

Source: cipd.co.uk/labourmarketoutlook

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Baby

Boomers

(52-67)

Generation X

(37-51)

Generation Y

(24-36)

Generation Z

(18-23)

Generational breakdown in Which? Digital

And they probably won’t stay

in one company that long

Generation X

b. 1964–1978 (37 – 51)

Retention: Half have spent at least five years with

their current employer.

View of career: Most are experienced as service

and knowledge workers. Focus more on their

‘professional ladder’ of employability rather than

the ‘corporate ladder’.

Generation Y

b. 1979–1991 (24 – 36)

Retention: Half have spent less than three years

with their current employer.

View of career: Likely to only be experienced as

service and knowledge workers. They do not see

their career in the form of a ladder – more of a

‘scramble net’.

Generation Z

b. 1991–2008 (23 and under)

So its important to motivate them,

to increase retention

Generation X

Motivated by:

• Immediate rewards

• Work/life balance

• Feedback

Work drivers:

• Process orientated

Retention:

• Pay for performance

• Challenging work

• Chance to do what they

want

Generation Y

Motivated by:

• Challenge

• Making a difference

• Meaningful work

Work drivers:

• Achievement-oriented

Retention:

• Mentoring

• Volunteer programmes

• Flexible schedules

• Team opportunities

• 90% do not plan to stay longer than five years with one organisation

• 37% do not plan to stay longer than two

years.

Teamwork and retention

cartoontester.blogspot.com

“”

A moderate positive correlation between the

level of experience with agile methods and

the overall job satisfaction was found.

The evidence suggests that there are twice as

many members of agile teams who are satisfied with their jobs (vs members of non-

agile teams).

GRIGORI MELNIK, FRANK MAURER

Comparative Analysis of Job Satisfaction in Agile and

Non-agile Software Development Teams, June 2006

Teamwork and retention

Why retention matters

Why retention matters

Average £10,000 in recruitment costs per role

Generation Y - people move every 2 years =

average turnover 50%

For team of 20 developers

Recruitment cost = £100,000 per year !!!

The real business

value of BDD

Jo Wickremasinghe

Head of Product Which? Digital

uk.linkedin.com/in/jowickremasinghe