Agile Web Development — an Untapped Resource to Meet Business Challenges
Agile web development is more of a mindset than a set of actions and is used as a model to develop web applications in the same way as agile software development is used to develop software.
The model provides a shorter timeline for efficient and powerful web applications than could previously be expected with other web development models. It is used by a multitude of people ranging from project managers to analysts and involves customers and technical personnel. Face-to-face communication is employed to make sure that the web app is developed sensitively and completed successfully every step of the way.
As a model, agile web development is a shorter and more powerful than its earlier counterparts.
The agility of the model stems from the fact that all tasks in each stage are completed at the same time. The customer is fully involved at the planning, analysis of need, design, coding, testing and documentation stages meaning that there is less backtracking or a need to change the product. This cuts out of a lot of potential delays. Customer feedback also ensures that the final product is much more in tune with their needs, errors are almost eliminated and the product is as user friendly as possible. All of the tasks are completed on time, the timescale is reduced, and there is just enough documentation provided to ensure the success of the project. In short, agile web development works on a short timeline, utilizing a refined team, clear planning and concise documentation.
Agile web development methodology can be likened to that of agile software development but has incorporated its own principles and concepts in order to overcome the difficulties experienced when using prior models.
On example is the waterfall model where the product is changed during the development cycle in response to customer need. The iterative model, for example, works by ensuring that the customer’s requirements are met at each iterative level. It does this by building in the customer’s wants and need by incorporating analysis, design and function at each level of every iteration. Agile web development adopts this method but because of the reduced lifespan of the development cycle, the final IT projects are completed more quickly. This method is known as Timeboxes.
As companies look more and more towards agile methods they are seeing greater customer satisfaction with the obvious reward to their business.
