2008 paypal agile devt at yahoo!

Implementing Agile Developmentat Yahoo! PSIat Yahoo! PSI

Presentation forPresentation for PayPal’s Scrum Adoption Support Forum

by Roger Williams & Manoj Kokal

© 2004 IBM CorporationYahoo! Confidential

y g j6/05/2008

Why We Adopted Agile DevelopmentWhy We Adopted Agile Development

Better visibility - know where project is at all timesBetter visibility - know where project is at all times

Earlier involvement of all participants

E li t ti d b fi iEarlier testing and bug-fixing

Customer involvement can influence course corrections

Accommodate discovery – remain flexible to change

Order execution to complete highest priorities first

Address issues early

Establish a good rhythm and sustainable pace

© 2004 IBM CorporationYahoo! ConfidentialYahoo! PSI 2

Establish a good rhythm and sustainable pace

How We Introduced Agile to the OrganizationHow We Introduced Agile to the Organization

Decision driven by Engineering MgmtDecision driven by Engineering Mgmt

Obtained buy-in from VP and other functions

ffKicked off with organization-wide training

Started small pilot project, w/hands-on mgmt involvement

Ongoing retrospectives & constant adaptation to PSI needs

Added SprintManager tool

Followed on with formal Scrum training for many people


Our Kind of Agile The Initial ApproachOur Kind of Agile – The Initial Approach

Moved focus from managing tasks to managing featuresMoved focus from managing tasks to managing features

Still planned a lot – enough to commit to delivery date

D ki d t d f i t b t d ’t lDemo working code at end of sprints, but don’t release

Engineering done in iterations; QA still done at the end


Our Kind of Agile What We Do NowOur Kind of Agile – What We Do Now

Introduced a planning sprint Iteration 0Introduced a planning sprint - Iteration 0

Deploy nightly builds to the Test Environment

Included Release Engineering in the team

Started iterative testing during the development sprints

Included customers & partners in sprint demos

Experimented with sprint lengths – norm is now 3 weeks


What We Still Want to Work OnWhat We Still Want to Work On

Active QA engagement in development and designActive QA engagement in development and design

Improve time allocation to fix bugs from earlier sprints

G ( O )Get better tools (eg VersionOne)

Measure sprint velocity more consciously


How Our Agile Differs from “Standard”How Our Agile Differs from Standard

Need to provide a predictable delivery date to customersNeed to provide a predictable delivery date to customers

Complex functions don’t allow for much variation in scope

f “Architecture doesn’t allow for “live prototyping”

Teams split and re-form from release to release

Need more documentation – staff tu

Must adhere to SOX/PCI disciplines


Some Concerns We Have Dealt WithSome Concerns We Have Dealt With

Sprint planning sessions taking too longSprint planning sessions taking too long– pre-planning by feature teams reduces times

Standups appearing to have no value to individualsStandups appearing to have no value to individuals

Team becoming too big to work effectively

Sprints getting too long to maintain focusSprints getting too long to maintain focus

Product Managers not staying engaged


StandUpsStandUps

Every day 10 minutes starts on timeEvery day, 10 minutes, starts on time

Whole team participates: Eng, PM, QA, RE, PMO

f fUpdates: tasks of interest completed, tasks for the day,blocking issues/help needed

Discussion strictly limited during updatesDiscussion strictly limited during updates

Sub-groups stay after to discuss issues, as needed

Status of nightly builds and regression tests is available

Forces coordination & rapid action on issues


Iterative Testing SequenceIterative Testing Sequence

Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 HardeningDevt

Write Scriptsfor 1

Write Scriptsfor 2

Write Scriptsfor 3for 1 for 2 for 3

Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

QA


Summary Benefits of Agile Devt for Y! PSISummary Benefits of Agile Devt for Y! PSI

Sprints provide group goals that motivate the teamSprints provide group goals that motivate the team

Sprint Demos enable everyone to see progress quickly

Iterative Testing measures quality in near-real time

StandUps foster communication and resolution

Sprint Planning makes everyone own estimation

Sprint Retros surface frustrations and demotivators


2008 paypal agile devt at yahoo!

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