Consultancy - Development

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We will be using a (somewhat) Agile process during the development of this project. This will include:

  • Working in short 3 or 4 day “Sprints”
  • Using GitHub
  • Using a project management tool such as Github Projects
  • Conducting Story Refinement meetings
  • Doing daily check-ins
  • Demoing your project to your Project Manager
  • Holding Team Retros

Note: Additional non standard gems must be approved by your project manager.

Sprints

In Agile processes, a sprint is a single cycle of development. The most common length of a sprint is two weeks. During this cycle, teams will assign features, develop those features, demo their work, get feedback, and retro.

Sprint Breakdowns

Days/times are subject to change due to holidays.

Sprint 0: Inception

  • Begin: Monday of Week 4
  • End: mid-Week 4
  • Deliverables are listed on the Inception page
  • Teams are welcome to move to development only after instructor review of deliverables, but the green light can be given before an in-person check-in (i.e. before check-in #2)

Sprint 1: Development

  • Begin: Thursday of Week 4
  • End: Monday morning of Week 5
  • Example Sprint Goals:
    • Back-end API endpoints largely complete
    • Skeleton front-end structure built with mock data
    • External API integration complete

Sprint 2: Development

  • Begin: Monday Afternoon Week 5
  • End: Thursday Afternoon Week 5
  • Example Sprint Goals:
    • Professional-looking front-end
    • MVP for each component is met
    • FE is consuming BE API endpoints, not mock data

Sprint 3: Finishing Touches or Code Freeze

  • Begin: Thursday Evening Week 5
  • End: Saturday Evening Week 5
  • What’s a code freeze?
    • New features/functionality are not added (unless totally necessary)
    • Time dedicated instead to: debugging, enhanced testing, error handling, presentation preparation, documentation, deployment fixes

Project Check-In Schedule

Days/times are subject to change due to holidays. Some check-ins may be async.

  • Check-In 1: Speedy Sync
    • Tuesday afternoon, in the middle of inception
    • During this meeting, you should be prepared to review your preliminary plans with your project manager
    • The purpose of this check-in is to highlight potential risks or concerns early on so that teams can pivot quickly
  • Check-In 2
    • Thursday of Week 4
    • During this meeting, you should be prepared to review the remaining artifacts from your inception
    • During this meeting, your team will draw out the architecture of your application and all should be ready to speak to it
  • Check In 3
    • Monday Week 5
    • During this check in, you will discuss any adjustments you might need to make to your MVP
    • Review retro notes with your PM
    • You can also use this check in as an opportunity to ask any questions and get help for the final few week of the project.
  • Check In 4
    • Review of near-final work, check for MVP
    • Ask questions, discuss blockers
    • Review 2nd retro notes
    • Discuss presentation details

Development Reminders

Git/GitHub

  • Commit Frequently
  • Decide on a git workflow
  • Make branches and submit Pull Requests for each new feature.
    • DO NOT commit directly to main
    • Keep your PRs as small as possible (one feature / user story per PR)
    • Use screenshots and screencasts to demonstrate functionality.
    • Your PR should be reviewed by at least one team member before it is merged.
    • Tag your Project Manager if you have questions. DM your Project Manager letting them know you have tagged them.

Story Refinement

  • You should be using a project management tool to keep track of your stories.
  • At a minimum, the beginning of every sprint should include a “Story Refinement” meeting
  • When doing a “Story Refinement” you should:
    • Make sure that the project board is up to date
    • Look over the current backlog of stories and decide if you want to make any changes
      • Are there any stories that need to be updated, or require more details in the story card?
      • Are these stories detailed enough that any team member could pick it up and work on it with a common vision?
      • Are there any stories that need to be added?
    • Assign stories to individual team members or pairs
      • Be clear on what it is that everyone should be doing
  • You may need to call additional refinement meetings during a sprint.

Daily Check-Ins

  • A “daily” (also known as a “stand up”) is a very brief meeting for the development team to keep in touch about what everyone is doing.
  • During the daily check-in, each member of the team will take 1 - 2 minutes to answer these questions:
    • What have you been working on?
    • What are you going to be working on?
    • Is anything blocking you?
  • Every weekday you should send your PM a summary of the day’s daily check-in.

Retros

  • Your team should have at least 2 retros during the course of the project.
  • One will be scheduled on the calendar for you, and the other you will need to schedule as a team
  • Consult the Retro Guide for more details

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