Scrum is a framework that enables Agile workflow in the workplace.
Scrum
Scrum is a framework that allows us to be agile in terms of our development cycle. It follows a iterative design model and it allows us to adapt our planning in order to move forward and in turn get a working product sooner. The workflow is as follows:
Product Backlog:
The product backlog refers to tasks that are left to be completed until we have a potentially shippable product.
Sprint Planning:
Sprint Planning refers to looking at each individual task and picking the most important tasks from the product backlog.
Sprint Backlog:
The sprint backlog refers to the tasks that have been chosen during this sprint.
Sprint:
Sprint refers to the amount of time teams should dedicate to the particular task.
Potentially Shippable Product:
If the product is good enough, the product will then be shipped.
Sprint Review:
What went well during the sprint, what didn’t go well and what could have been done differently.
Retrospective:
Looking back on the sprint / product and seeing what could be improved in terms of helping us be more efficient when creating a product.
The Scrum methodology allows us to be agile and be adaptive when creating a product meaning we effectively get a working product sooner rather than later. It allows us to break the development down into chunks and to actively prioritize tasks and plan effectively. This could be linked to iterative design.
Waterfall:
Waterfall is a term that refers to the use of steps that allows us to use and follow an linear design pattern. The Waterfall process has 5 steps that allows us to work towards creating a better end product. In terms of game design this could look something like this:
Requirements:
What do we need for this particular patch to make the game better.
Design:
What will these changes look like or accomplish, what do we want them to do.
Implementation:
How will these changes be implemented.
Verification:
Does everything work in this build.
Maintenance:
Keep working on the build until it is ready.
Waterfall is not an adaptive framework to follow and as such, in our industry could end up with severe consequences such as being unable to go backwards if an issues have arrived so when it comes to the verification stage of the project and the problems are there and have been identified, the problems will be difficult to fix and as such, delays will occur. This does not allow us to be agile.
Is a Product ever finished and Feature Creep
When it comes to releasing a product, it can never truly be finished but there will come a time where you have to call it quits to move on to the next product. A finished product is a working product, it doesn’t necessarily need to be polished, it just has to be working. It is important when it comes to finishing products that you do not let feature creep get to you. Feature creep is a term used in industry when developers and designers think of ideas to add and the ideas keep piling up. In turn, deadlines will be missed and developers may struggle to fit all the ideas into the game. Ultimately this can lead to pressure points.
Pressure points refers to crunch. Crunch is a term in the industry that means you have to overwork in order to hit a milestone in development before the deadline comes. Pressure points might occur towards the end of the project when teams are struggling to fit everything into the project or if something isn’t complete that is valuable to the product. These may occur if there is too much work to do in a short space of time or if time has been wasted by incorrectly implementing scrum methodology and failing to plan.
These could be avoided by prioritizing other tasks in the project or cutting features that might not necessarily be needed for our working product. Questions to ask could be something like ‘Can our product survive without adding this in?’ and ‘Is this necessary for our product to work’.
JORDAN | GLITCH ARCADE 