Agile and the role of a Product Owner
Agile projects use feature and user stories to represent the end product. The product owner must also be analytical but, more importantly, takes complete ownership in producing the product. The iterative nature of Agile reduces the cycle time for the creation of features and user stories that in turn deliver the highest priority features.
Instead of creating linear requirements, a product owner will develop features and user stories. The features are defined by the product owner and included in a product backlog taking risk and prioritization into consideration. User stories are smaller components written in the voice of the customer. User stories are written to be completed within one sprint cycle which is generally no more than four weeks in duration.
Multiple user stories can be used to deliver a feature. Product features are not assumed to be completely defined at the start of a project. They are evaluated as part of sprint planning. New features can be added. Features no longer required can be removed. Features can also be modified as the project evolves. Agile highlights the product owner’s role as a champion of continuous improvement through inspection and adaption.
Waterfall and Business Analysis
Waterfall projects assume a linear approach to design and development. There is one phase to create functional and technical design specifications that are believed to lay out the complete product solution. The business analyst will generally provide input into the design phase. This is not always the case. In some organizations, business analysts are not engaged as product experts during the design phase since the assumption is that the requirements should be complete and require minimal clarification.
Recommended Further Reading
The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course:
Course Contents
Section 1: Agile Project Management
Section 2: Using the Agile Manifesto to Deliver Change
Section 3: The 12 Agile Principles
Section 4: The Agile Fundamentals
Section 5: The Declaration of Interdependence
Section 6: Agile Development Frameworks
Section 7: Introduction to Scrum
Section 8: Scrum Projects
Section 9: Scrum Project Roles
Section 10: Meet the Scrum Team
Section 11: Building the Scrum Team
Section 12: Scrum in Projects, Programs & Portfolios
Section 13: How to Manage an Agile Project
Section 14: Leadership Styles
Section 15: The Agile Project Life-cycle
Section 16: Business Justification with Agile
Section 17: Calculating the Benefits With Agile
Section 18: Quality in Agile
Section 19: Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog
Section 20: Quality Management in Scrum
Section 21: Change in Scrum
Section 22: Integrating Change in Scrum
Section 23: Managing Change in Scrum
Section 24: Risk in Scrum
Section 25: Risk Assessment Techniques
Section 26: Initiating an Agile Project
Section 27: Forming the Scrum Team
Section 28: Epics and Personas
Section 29: Creating the Prioritised Product Backlog
Section 30: Conduct Release Planning
Section 31: The Project Business Case
Section 32: Planning in Scrum
Section 33: Scrum Boards
Section 34: Sprint Planning
Section 35: User Stories
Section 36: User Stories and Tasks
Section 37: The Sprint Backlog
Section 38: Implementation of Scrum
Section 39: The Daily Scrum
Section 40: The Product Backlog
Section 41: Scrum Charts
Section 42: Review and Retrospective
Section 43: Scrum of Scrums
Section 44: Validating a Sprint
Section 45: Retrospective Sprint
Section 46: Releasing the Product
Section 47: Project Retrospective
Section 48: The Communication Plan
Section 49: Formal Business Sign-off
Section 50: Scaling Scrum
Section 51: Stakeholders
Section 52: Programs and Portfolios