DFM Agile Methodology

S. Harrison2012

11/11/12 DFM

Goals

• Transparency• Predictability • Adaptability

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From Silos to Circles

JRCMNG

SalesPrint Digital

DevProduct QA

Thunderdome

Design Release

# Days? #Resources? Reqs included? Prioritized? Vetted?

15 days, clear deliverables, clear resourcingAligned with company priorities

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Agile vs. agile

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Agile:

• 80% of all software development projects.• Use of Agile tripled December 2008 to May 2011 • Decreases product defects• Improves team productivity• Increases delivery of business value.

What does “agile” mean to you?

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11/11/12 DFM

Two cultures join forces

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Traditional News Organizations

Cowboy

• Cowboy– lone or group of developers working without

process– Product defined by ongoing requests from

business owners– Development begun at inception– Code is pushed when developer defines code as

complete, no defined release strategy

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Cowboy

Pros• Quick through-put• Development freedom• Frequent releases• Conducive for small teams,

experimental or reactive projects

Cons• Unclear requirements• Unpredictable results• Larger projects typically fail• Does not factor in

enterprise-level concerns, strategy

• Code pushes/fixes never-ending due to unclear reqs, lack of planning, testing

• Reactive approach

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Traditional Engineering

Waterfall• Plan, design, develop– follow the

comprehensive blueprint to completion.

• Development tasks tracked sequentially by Project Manager

• Periodic status reports

• End dates depend upon start dates

• Full Requirements complete = Project Complete

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Waterfall

Pros• All requirements are

fulfilled• Effective on projects where

there are few unknowns• Effective for

implementation projects

Cons

• Does not easily allow for shifts in strategy

• Low collaboration between depts• Assembly line nature

– Lack of feeling of ownership of /vision for product

• Impediments become visible as deadlines near, when it’s harder to course correct.

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Cowboy

Waterfall

Sweet Spot for Digital Media

Agile

Agile

• Iterative, incremental development• Adaptive, strategic planning, evolutionary

development and delivery• Self-organizing, cross-functional teams• Flexible response to change

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Agile

DEMO

RETROSPECTIVE

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Software Product Development

Valuable to end user 36%

Rarely Used19%

Never Used (stuck maintaining) 45%

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Product Owner Week 1

Tech Strategist/Core Team Week 2

Team Week 3

Day 1 Next

Sprint Planning

Product Backlog

Sprint Backlog

Driven by Product Owner

User Stories

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Scrum Team in Context

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PRODUCT OWNERowns WHAT?

SCRUM MASTER

TEAMOwns HOW?

protects

protectsProduct/Sprint Backlog

Stakeholders

Not Allo

wed

IS allowed

Led by Tech Strategist

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Prod

uctiv

ity

Time

Waterfall

Cowboy

Agile

Sprin

t 1Sp

rint 2

Sprin

t 3

Sprin

t 4Sp

rint 5

Sprin

t 6Sp

rint 7

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•Individual ownership from each team member•Collaboration within the process framework•Team cohesion•Cadence•Minimal Disruptions •Kaizen •Product Vision•Iterative feedback•Robust Product Backlog and Prioritization

Keys to Agile Success

The (Misunderstood) Agile Manifesto

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Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentationCustomer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

DFM Sprints:Timeboxed “Swim Lanes”

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Sprint: 15 Days for Dev/QA

2 days Planning8 days coding

4 days testing/reworks1 day Demo/Retrospective

Development

SPRINT 1

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Sprint: 15 Days for Product

Sprint 2 Projects GreenlightedUser Stories, Wireframes, Comps,

Other assets deliveredUser Story LOEs determined

Development

User Stories/Assets Development

SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2

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Sprint: 15 Days for Creative

Mocks/Clickable Prototypes (when needed)

Developed, delivered, Stakeholder signoff

Development

User Stories/Assets

User Stories/Assets

Development

Complex Mock-building Development

SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 3

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Sprint: 15 Days for Business Owners/POs

Development

User Stories/Assets

User Stories/Assets

Development

Complex Mock-building Development

User Stories/AssetsComplex Mock-building DevelopmentPRDx/PRD Initial Designs

User Stories/Assets Development

SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 3 SPRINT 4

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Sprint: 15 Days for Rapid Deploy Needs

Development

User Stories/Assets

User Stories/Assets

Development

Complex Mock-building Development

User Stories/AssetsComplex Mock-building Development

User Stories/Assets Development

SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 3 SPRINT 4

TAC Development

Full Reqs, All prioritized

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PRDx/PRD Initial Designs

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Agile Sprints

TransparencyAdaptability

Predictability

• Process• Communication/Culture

• Tools11/11/12 DFM

Meeting enterprise-level needs…

DFM Phases and Tollgates

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Business Lead

PRDx (TD= Product

Backgrounder)

Product Council

PRDx Phase

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Answers: WHY (Idea and Value)

Details of review process

(For TD, Product Backgrounder, Product Kickoff, are completed prior to PRDx submission)All new products/enhancements require a PRDx

1. 1st Tier Approval2. TS/UX determine

need for PRD

Review proposal for Traffic, Revenue, Journalistic, Strategic Value

Questions on PRDOR PRDx Rejected

Product Council PRDx Review

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Product Manager gets back to requestor

PRDx Approved

PRD and P&L created

< $10K > $10K

Production Cycle Begins Digital reviews and prioritizes

If no PRD needed

Answers: WHAT

Prod Lead w/UX PM (Brit), TS (Morgan)

PLANNING PHASE for Simple Projects

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1. User Stories2. Comps 3. P&L4. UX/Tech Review,

LOE5. Red flags raised

with SVPs

VP Product, PMO, Dir Tech

If PRDx is approved, and no PRD needed…

Go to Comp or directly to User Story Grooming Phase…

1. Prioritization2. Assign to TAC,

sprint, 3. ETA determined4. Define and hand off

to Core Team

PRD-Planning PHASE Pt 1

Final Approval

Answers: WHAT

Product Council

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PO, UX, TS, QA, Team TS

VP Product, PMO, Dir Tech

If PRD required…

1. Product KICK-Off Mtg

2. PRD3. Epic User Stories4. Initial Comps 5. P&L6. UX/Tech Review,

LOE7. Red flags raised with

SVPs

Go to PRD-Planning Phase Pt 2

1. Prioritization2. Define and hand

off to Core Team

PRD-Planning Phase Pt 2

Answers: WHAT

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PO (w Team Input & Review)

• Based on Prioritization and Release planning, Project accepted in Sprint Backlog

CORE TEAM

If PRD-Planning Phase pt 1 complete…

1. Roadmap

2. Product Backlog

UX (w Team Input & Review)

1. Further Comps if needed (see Comp Phase Slide)

SM (w Team Input & Review)

1. Release Planning Mtg2. Project Kick-off

Proceed to Backlog Grooming Phase

Product /UX(w/ Core Team)

Answers: WHAT DOES THIS LOOK

LIKE

Comps

Key Stakeholders

Ad Creatives

Product/Ad Lead(w/ Bus lead, Core Team)

COMP Phase

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If designs are needed…

Final Sign-off via 2 feedback loops

Product LeadW/Core Team

User Stories, LOE Answers: HOW (incl

ads, analytics)

Review & Acceptance of stories for current dev sprint

QA, PMO, Development, Release

Product Lead (wUX lead, Editorial stakeholders)

All needed assets

Backlog Grooming Phase

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After Planning Phase is completed…

Proceed to Development Phase…

Sign-off via Functional,

Automated Testing, UAT

QA (w/Prod Lead)

Viable Product Delivery– QA environment

-LIVE (TAC)

Test Cases, Testing

Product/QA)

Code, Rework

Dev Lead(w/ Dev team)

DEV PHASE

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Go to Deploy Phase…

Deployment Team (QA, SCM Mgr, Lead Dev, PM, IT,

Support )

Answers: Stable Product delivery

Build, Test, Validate code through QA,

Beta, Live sites

Review & Acceptance of LIVE PRODUCT

QA, Site, Ad, Support, Editorial

leads

DEPLOY PHASE

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Go to Break-Fix Phase…

Project and TAC Teams

Identify, Report Defects: • Skype Group• Email• Support

Tickets

QA, Field/Ad/Editorial leads

BREAK-FIX PHASE

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Field, Ad, Editorial, End Users

Content: Fixes against reported defects

Begin standard Support/Maintenance: • Enter defect tickets to ServiceDesk@, Thundersupport@• Request enhancements via PRDx

Review & Acceptance of fixes

After PRDx is approved:1. PMO assigns project to core team2. SM is assigned3. SM configures COMPONENT in Jira TEAM PROJECT and

gathers PRD stories and other assets from PO4. PO posts stakeholder & vendor contact info to wiki5. SM holds release planning meeting & project kick-off6. SM holds Sprint Planning meeting7. SM holds Demo, Retrospective, close8. Deployment9. Steps 6-8 cycle until product is done

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July 11:Sprint commitment

PM PMO/Production

July 27:Sprint delivery

COMMUNICATION

JiraDaily Scrum

SkypeSprint open/close reports

Updated Project Plans

PO Product/Stakeholders

Monday Product CallsWeekly Project Status doc

http://intranet.digitalfirstmedia.com/projects/Email Skype

Roadmap/matrixed against project planWeekly Stakeholder/PO/PM meeting

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11/11/12 DFM

INITIATIVE-BASED TEAMS

Listservs

NewsPub@DigitalFirstMedia.com

DataFeeds@DigitalFirstMedia.com

TAC@DigitalFirstMedia.com

Verticals@DigitalFirstMedia.com

AdPlatforms@DigitalFirstMedia.com

More Info

Teams tab in JIRA

Note: Projects that overlap with teams are handled by Mary Esquivel

PRDx: Product Requirements Doc, Exec completed by Business Owner http://intranet.digitalfirstmedia.com/project

PRD: Product Requirements Doc completed by POSME: Subject Matter ExpertsPO: Product OwnerSM: Scrum MasterPM: Project ManagerTS: Tech Strategist – SMEs of DFM architecture and systemsStory Pilot: Developer working with PO and TS to “groom” User StoriesUser Story: Agile-focused requirement for productSCM: Software configuration management, or managerLOE: Level of Effort - time estimated to complete a taskBacklog: Prioritized list of features of a desired product written in the form of user storiesScrum: Daily 15 min stand-up meetings to update team on what we’re doing, and any “blockers” to

the work. NGPS: MNG’s publishing platform (CMS)Proteus: Database ingesting and presenting feeds for NGPSTownNews: JRC’s first CMSSaxo: JRC’s second CMS, MNG’s new CMS

DFM Digital Directory - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkOMqDBnwbVNdDFwYkNUcTVFRG0wN2FZdnpLNUlaVXc#gid=011/11/12 DFM

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