SCRUMSession 3

David Mullich

Concept Workshop - Game PreProduction

The Los Angeles Film School

Development Methodologies

Waterfall: A sequential process in which development is seen as flowing downwards (like a waterfall) through pre-determined stages

Agile: An iterative process in which the project is re-evaluated at the end of each cycle

Scrum

A flexible holistic strategy where a development team works together to reach a common goal

The word “scrum” is a rugby term, referring to the manner of restarting after a minor infraction

Stakeholder

A person, group, organization, or system who affects or can be affected by an organization's actions. They have a vested interest in the project.

Stakeholders may have different levels of involvement in a project. Some (chickens) may be merely interested, while others (pigs) are more committed.

Roles

Project Owner: Represents the stakeholders and is the voice of the customer. S/he is accountable for delivering value.

Team: Responsible for delivering a shippable project in incremental steps.

Scrum Master: Enforces the rules of Scrum. Responsible for removing obstacles to the team. Acts as a buffer between the team and distracting influences.

Project Backlog

An ordered list of requirements for the product: features, bug fixes, non-functional requirements (such as documentation)

The items are ordered by the Product Owner based on considerations like risk, business value, etc.

The features added to the backlog are commonly written in a story format. (“As a user, I would like to…”)

Scrum Elements

Sprint: The basic unit of development in Scrum. The sprint is a “timeboxed” effort – normally between one week and one month.

Sprint Backlog: The list of tasks to be accomplished during that sprint.

Sprint Planning Meeting: At the beginning of every sprint, a planning meeting is held to decide what work is to be done and prepare the sprint backlog.

Daily Scrum (Daily Standup)

A timeboxed meeting (usually set to 15 minutes) of the development team. It should be held at the same time and location every day. Each team member answers three questions: What have you done since yesterday? What are you doing today? Are there any obstacles?

End of Sprint

Sprint Review Meeting: Completed work is reviewed with the stakeholders (“the demo”)

Sprint Retrospective: The team members discuss improvements to the process

The 3 Pillars of Scrum

Transparency Inspection Adaptation

Transparency

All relative aspects of the process must be visible to those responsible for the outcome.

This requires a common standard and nomenclature between the Scrum Team.

Inspection

The Scrum process promotes frequent Inspection of the Artifacts and progress to identify and correct undesirable variances

Inspection occurs curing the Sprint Planning Meeting, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective

Adaptation

After Inspection, adjustments should be made to the processes and the Artifacts to minimize further deviation

Scrum Effectiveness

Each of these pillars must stand and be supported One without the others greatly deters from the

effectiveness of Scrum Implementation

Scrum

Scrum Methodology an Agile Movie (6:12)

You are a painter who has been commissioned to paint a painting of a bowl of fruit. What would your painting process be using the Waterfall method? What would your painting process be using the Scrum Method?

A large game publisher (Activision) has hired a game developer (LAFS All Stars) to create a new FPS. Identify the following: Product Owner Scrum Master Team Stakeholders (Pigs) Stakeholders (Chickens)