Software development has evolved considerably over the past few decades. Traditional development involves long cycles of study, design, production, and release. In other words, it was produced much like any physical product with the assumption that release was the final word. Traditional development is long, arduous, and fraught with challenges. Common issues include delays, miscommunication, and rigid workflows that adapt poorly to the now ever-changing landscape of software and apps. It’s no surprise in the rapidly modern environment that Agile for website development emerged.
Agile represents a flexible, iterative process that solves the essential issues of traditional development. It focuses on the changeable nature of modern software and the fact that you can always release another cycle of improvements, so it’s not necessary to think of and implement every possible feature with long, drawn-out releases. Agile instead allows brands to release quickly and then make improvements one streamlined upgrade at a time. This method quickly solves issues and works particularly well for enterprise website products.
We are here to provide a practical guide on how to apply Agile procedures to successfully develop your business website.
Overview of the Agile Process in Website Development
The core principles of Agile are to iterate, respond to continuous feedback, and adapt. Agile is especially useful when developing websites because it easily aligns with the evolving digital landscape, adapts to changing business needs, enables faster feature delivery, streamlines issue corrections, and enhances collaboration between stakeholders and development teams.
The 7 Steps to Apply Agile to Website Development
Applying Agile to your business website, whether building the first release or preparing Agile updates, can be accomplished in seven essential steps: Define, assemble, divide, sprint, execute, and review.
Step 1: Define the Vision and Objectives
In the first step, you will define your vision and objectives. Clarify your website goals, target audience, and performance benchmarks. You can use stakeholder workshops to create a shared vision and prioritize deliverables.
Step 2: Assemble a Cross-Functional Team
Agile development works best when you have a team that represents multiple development and release skills. Include developers, designers, marketers, and product owners. This ensures all perspectives are represented and ensures the right skills for rapid release.
As you assemble your team, define specific roles, such as:
- Product Owner: Manages priorities and stakeholder alignment.
- Scrum Master/Project Manager: Facilitates Agile workflows and removes roadblocks.
- Development Team: Executes tasks and delivers features.
Step 3: Break Down the Project into Sprints
Determine your goals, then break them down into sprints. A sprint is a single goal-oriented push to create or improve specific features. Divide work into 2-4 week cycles (sprints) in which each cycle focuses on delivering specific functionality.
Start with your prioritized features and break them down into smaller user stories to address.
Step 4: Conduct Sprint Planning
With your sprints roughly defined, come together to plan each individual sprint. Assign tasks for the first (or next) sprint based on your priorities and the capabilities represented in your team.
You can use project management tools like Jira or Trello to track your sprint’s progress and ensure the visible completion of each designated task. These tools can also help you divide goals into sprints and track them one task set at a time.
Step 5: Execute and Deliver Incrementally
Each sprint will deliver functional features incrementally. After each sprint, stakeholders can review your progress and provide feedback to help inform your approach to the sprints ahead.
Step 6: Hold Daily Standups
A daily standup is a short daily meeting where team members can share their progress, hurdles, and their plans for the next step. Keep standups brisk and concise to help you focus on actionable subjects.
Step 7: Perform Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives
After each sprint, complete a sprint review to demonstrate the work completed and make space for stakeholder feedback. Then, a sprint retrospective will be conducted to identify what went well and areas for improvement before the next sprint.
Key Learnings for Stakeholders and Developers
Agile development introduces a dynamic way of managing projects, requiring both stakeholders and developers to adopt a mindset focused on collaboration and adaptability. It works best when everyone understands their responsibilities and contributes to the iterative process. By embracing the principles of Agile, teams can create a workflow that responds to changes efficiently while delivering value consistently.
What Stakeholders Should Know
Stakeholders should be prepared to embrace flexibility and iterative change instead of expecting rigid plans or large-scale releases. Ideally, stakeholders will prioritize high-impact features that deliver value quickly to the website design through improvements.
Stakeholders can play their role by providing clear and constructive feedback during reviews.
What Developers Will Learn
Developers and associated team members will benefit from collaborating actively with each other and stakeholders during the Agile cycle. This will help align technical and business goals so both sides maintain a critical dual perspective.
Developers will thrive when they adapt to feedback and refine deliverables to meet specific goals or improve based on customer response. The key is to maintain transparency by communicating progress and challenges regularly.
Tools to Support Agile Website Development
What tools can empower your Agile website development cycles? We’ve put together a number of suggestions that can help your team achieve their optimum efficiency during agile sprints.
- Project Management Tools: Jira, Trello, or Asana for tracking tasks and managing sprints.
- Collaboration Tools: Slack or Microsoft Teams for real-time communication.
- Design Tools: Figma or Adobe XD for visual collaboration and prototyping.
- Version Control Tools: GitHub or GitLab for managing code changes effectively.
Real-World Example: Agile in Action for Website Development
71% of US companies use Agile development. This has helped them achieve an overall 65% project success rate, which shines in comparison to the 49% success rate of Waterfall (Zippia) development styles.
Intel’s Successful Transition to Agile
When Intel transitioned to Agile Scrum, they achieved a 66% reduction in cycle time and enjoyed a complete elimination of schedule problems within a year. Agile has secured faster delivery of features and stronger collaboration between team members to achieve specific goals.
Website Development Projects
When applied to website development projects, Agile has consistently delivered faster navigation, improved ad placements, and scalable infrastructure. Companies report an overall 20% increase in ad revenue and a 15% reduction in bounce rates as a result.
When a global media company adopted Agile to develop a website overall, the iterative process allowed the team to incorporate feedback at every stage. This has led to the achievement of technical and business goals across the board.
Unlocking Success With Agile
Using Agile for website development results in faster delivery, continuous feedback, and alignment with business goals. This is accomplished with a combination of collaboration and flexibility to achieve success.
Ready to transform your website development process with Agile?
At Ndevr, we specialize in creating fast, scalable, and user-friendly enterprise WordPress sites using Agile principles. Contact us today to get started!
