The software requirements comic musing about pitfalls of
software delivery through various images of a tire swing on a tree has been
around in one incarnation or another for perhaps 40 years.
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| Classic Software Requirements Comic |
While acknowledging the comic depicts what can happen in
software delivery (this even applies to other industries as well), I think we
are here to acknowledge that we need to prevent these pitfalls and enhance our
ability to deliver what the customer
really needed (the last panel in the comic).
In the right cases, Agile values and practices can move us
in a step in the right direction. Below,
I've rearranged the classic comic into one with a slant toward an Agile
delivery approach intending to bring out the customer’s right solution.
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| Agile Software Requirements Comic |
In an Agile version, the customer’s initial vision is truly
only known to the customer or product management team. A delivery team is assembled and project
approvals are generated to start the refinement of the vision in the second
panel. Panels three through five depict
the solution going through an iteration—starting with nothing, failing fast,
and ending with a small or minimal slice of the solution as a base, foundation,
or minimal feature in line with the vision.
The second row of panels continues iterating over the product
with each iteration producing feedback and a better alignment to the
vision. The third panel in the second
row shows a completed tree at the end of an iteration with the rope ready to accept
the final piece of the solution.
The end of the comic delivers what the customer really needed.
The customer interacted with the delivery team throughout the solution
development, and was able to refine and prioritize the features to arrive at an
optimal solution.
