Top 4 Benefits of Agile Methodology in Software & Mobile App Development

Top 4 Benefits of Agile Methodology in Software & Mobile App Development Tina Churlinovska, COO 24/06/2022 • 10 min read Here at 2Coders, we have years of experience applying agile methodologies. During the many projects we had the opportunity to work on, we got pretty good at optimizing our developing process using the Agile methodology. Enjoying all the benefits of Agile, we felt inspired to share our experience with the community and spread the knowledge gathered. We owe you that much. Let’s begin. 1. Fast Delivery of New Product Features and Product Release The first significant benefit of the agile approach to software development is the rapid delivery of new product features and faster product release. This is all thanks to improved team collaboration. The software sector has a fast-moving marketplace and you can be easily outrun by your competitor when developing a brand new app feature. “Luckily, the agile model enables our development team at 2Coders to follow a single product roadmap effectively, build time-critical apps and be at the forefront of shifts in the competitive software landscape.” – Ayoze Vera, Head Web Developer @ 2Coders A missing image in the CMS becomes a broken hero banner in production. The code never changed. A product roadmap is a plan of actionable steps for how a product or feature will evolve over time. The product owner and the Agile project manager use the same roadmap to outline product functionality and decide on when new features will be released. This in turn provides crucial context for the team’s everyday work as it helps them prioritize features that provide the biggest impact and value for the company. Aligned on the same roadmap, agile project teams can build time-critical applications and be the first to respond to shifts in the competitive landscape. “Using Agile frameworks, complex projects can be broken down into sprints, where the first sprint only includes the most simple version of the feature. With rapid cycles of daily testing, a new feature is ready (in its simplest form), after only a one to four week sprint.” – Marija Lukaroska, Android Developer @ 2Coders 2. Client Collaboration for Success “Oftentimes, you build something exactly as per requirements, but it turns out that’s not what business stakeholders wanted. Instead of finding that out six months after the project started, scrum helps you avoid that by providing something tangible to show users by the end of the first sprint. Then you get feedback and continue to iterate until you build something everyone is happy with.” – Alexander Kharlamov, Engineer @ Yieldstreet The most common project pitfalls occur when software development teams don’t keep their clients involved in the development cycle. The agile project manager has regular meetings with their customer to keep them informed on project deliverables and ask for sprint review. This way, we demonstrate our appreciation for the client’s input by incorporating them in the development process and staying aligned on business goals. “Stakeholders want to be involved throughout the entire project so that they may provide valuable feedback and ensure that the final result meets their requirements.” - Karen Monzón, Account Manager @ 2Coders These customized deliverables provide continuous attention to the software quality, enhance customer satisfaction and increase client retention. There is one more thing when it comes to optimizing for customer satisfaction — user stories. Remember, you’re creating the software or mobile app not only for your customer’s business but also for their customers - the end-users of your tech solution. Involving users in beta testing at the early stages of a feature launch gives us constructive insights that can be implemented into the upcoming sprint. “By monitoring user interactions with the new app, every subsequent sprint can be focused on enhancing and developing the new feature to its maximum potential with the obtained feedback.” - Eliza Tymczuk, UX - UI Designer @ 2Coders 3. Continuous Enhancement and Quality Assurance That is the road to software development and mobile app design with user experience in mind. Agile methodology strives towards an iterative approach to project management — taking a series of repeatable steps while tweaking and improving the product with each cycle. This focus on continuous improvement and quality control is one of the core activities of Agile teams, and it helps them create superior and quality products. “Agile helps us keep an eye on the bigger picture and be flexible about the constant changes in the industry and marketplace. It also enables our mobile devs to identify and fix errors early in the development process. This not only results in superior mobile app features but also prevents our clients from wasting both time and money.” - Coral Vázquez, Chief Sales Officer @ 2Coders When Agile is properly implemented in a development team, teams operate in shorter bursts, with the stakeholder providing frequent feedback and interaction, reducing the risk of misunderstanding between both parties. Changes are typically time-consuming and costly in other project management approaches, but not with Agile. One of the main reasons why dynamic companies employ Agile in their projects is because of its unrivaled adaptability. Continuous delivery and constant improvement” Not only does the product you’re developing improve after each iteration, but also your teamwork. For each accomplished sprint, the entire team at 2Coders learns and improves their work process, resulting in each next sprint being a little bit more effective, focused, aligned, and just better planned than the last. “We practice a scheduled retrospective after each sprint to look back at how things were done and what can be improved for the next iteration.” – Tina Churlinovska, Chief Operating Officer @ 2Coders We assist founders and CEOs of multinational companies bring their clever and ingenious ideas into reality by designing prime software solutions, mobile apps, and websites with an innovative approach, following their unique business needs. If this sounds like you, let’s talk! Let’s bring your revolutionary teach idea to life. Reach the maximum performance of your business with us! Frequently asked questions Does the testing pyramid work for streaming apps?   The testing pyramid was designed for applications where the UI is determined by code. For streaming apps powered by a headless CMS, it’s the wrong model. Content changes constantly (without a code release) and a test suite built on static content assumptions will break or give false confidence the moment editorial publishes something unexpected. The Testing Diamond inverts the priority, placing schema and contract validation at the centre rather than unit tests at the base. What is contract testing with Pact?   Pact is a consumer-driven contract testing tool that defines what your streaming app expects from its CMS or API, then verifies that the provider meets those expectations in CI. Instead of E2E tests that depend on live content, Pact tests run against defined provider states – deterministic scenarios like “homepage with a live event hero banner.” When a CMS content model changes in a way the app can’t handle, the Pact test fails before the change reaches production. The testing pyramid was designed for applications where the UI is determined by code. For streaming apps powered by a headless CMS, it’s the wrong model. Content changes constantly (without a code release) and a test suite built on static content assumptions will break or give false confidence the moment editorial publishes something unexpected. The Testing Diamond inverts the priority, placing schema and contract validation at the centre rather than unit tests at the base. Pact is a consumer-driven contract testing tool that defines what your streaming app expects from its CMS or API, then verifies that the provider meets those expectations in CI. Instead of E2E tests that depend on live content, Pact tests run against defined provider states – deterministic scenarios like “homepage with a live event hero banner.” When a CMS content model changes in a way the app can’t handle, the Pact test fails before the change reaches production. Related posts We’ve built 180+ streaming apps across mobile and Connected TV, including a gaming streaming platform that needed to survive extreme live event traffic. QA architecture for CMS-driven platforms is something we think about a lot right now. If you’re working through the same questions, we’re happy to compare notes.