Agile's Role in Mobile Application Development

A picture of a laptop.

What is Agile?

Agile methodology is a practice used to promote continuous iteration of development and testing in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) of a project. Think of these iterations as sprints. Each one takes you to the next as you work to completing the project.

Agile roles

Research: The goal here is to gather as much information as possible from clients to meet the requirements laid out earlier. Product needs are finalized at this stage.

Design: Usually one or two sprints are created for the client. The first is a prototype of the product that goes to the client to see what it will look like. The second may be in response to changes the client now wishes to add or formal development begins at this point.

The agile process is broken into individual models that designers can work on. This benefits the smaller projects of the app development which can be initiated and concluded quicker, being ready for integration to the main project application when it is time. Errors for each area are spotted much faster using small project groups focused on parts of the project software and not the whole software code.

Advantages of Agile in Mobile App Development

Focuses more on the client process and requires continuous involvement of the client.
Teams are more motivated and self-organized
Assures that the quality of the development is maintained through sprints and checkpoints along the way.
The entire process is based on incremental progress. Both clients and teams are aware of what is and aren't complete. The risk of communication issues is reduced.

Limitations of Agilein Mobile App Development

Not a useful method for very small development projects
It does require an experienced leader to make important decisions in the meeting
The cost of implementing agile is a bit more than other methodologies.
If the project manager is not clear in communicating the outcome they want, the project can easily go off track.