Reporting agile progress in a non-agile project

Using agile in a non-agile environment can be challenging. We present the findings from a case study of a multinational organisation that adopted Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) in one of their offices, along with a summary of the challenges they faced and suggestions from published literature about how to overcome them.

Their main challenge was that their projects were approved, budgeted and monitored by their Headquarters using a traditional waterfall approach. As a consequence they were running agile projects in a non-agile environment.

The three main aspects of this challenge were: 1) Differences in organisational culture; 2) Managing the transition to agile; 3) Reporting progress and demonstrating control.

Publications about this case study: White paper

Integrating UX design into a DSDM project

Integrating user experience (UX) design into agile working is a challenge faced by many agile teams, not just those using DSDM. Although the work of UX designers and developers complements each other, the different goals, processes and working practices of developers and UX designers pose challenges in practice.

This case study presents a chapter from the story of one organization’s journey to integrate UX design into the DSDM framework. The White paper describes the challenges they faced, working practices adopted and the lessons learned from their experiences of integrating UX designers into their DSDM agile process.

The case study was conducted at LShift, a hi-tech software development company that works across a broad range of industries, languages and platforms. They are probably best known for creating RabbitMQ.

Find out more about this case study: Research paper & White Paper