Documentation in
Agile Development
Christina Gu
Jason Lee
Stephen Smith
Agenda
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Background
Problem Statement
Methodology
Agile Overview
Literature Search
Case Studies
Scrum Agile Document Development Framework (S.A.D.D.)
DoD’s effort to embrace Agile
Conclusion and Recommendation
Website
Reference
Questions?
Background
• The current economic situation is driving contractors to
look at more lean operating methods for project
development.
• Especially true for government contractors working
with the Department of Defense.
• One method pursued is to switch from a waterfall
model to the more lean Agile method.
Figure 1: Defective and Wasteful Requirements in Traditional Development Process [4]
Problem Statement
• Sponsor: Boeing
• Problem statement:
• Is Agile sufficient for satisfying documentation needs on DoD
mission-critical systems?
• How is documentation impacted by adopting an Agile
methodology?
• Deliverables:
• Report on Agile’s ability to meet documentation needs with a
framework developed for documentation generation.
What is a mission critical system?
• Systems critical to DoD’s ability to meet its
responsibilities and include command and control
systems, satellite systems, inventory management
systems, transportation management systems, medical
systems and equipment, and pay and personnel systems
Documents of primary interest
Milestone Review
(Per DoD 5000)
SRR
Documentation of Relevance
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PDR
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CDR
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Figure 2: Technology or Initiative Transition to Program of Records (MITRE, 2010)
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SSS – System/Subsystem
Specification
SRS – Software Requirements
Specification
IRS – Interface Requirements
Specification
SSDD–System/Subsystem
Design Description
SDD – Software Design
Description
IDD – Interface Design
Description
TEMP- Test and Evaluation
Management Plan
SEP- System Engineering Plan
Methodology
• Literature research
• Ideas behind the Agile method and how it impacts
documentation
• Existing methods for generating documentation in Agile
• Case studies
• Interview various companies with regards to projects using Agile.
• A look at the approach to documentation used in each of the
projects.
What is Agile
• A set of software best practices strung into an
official set of principles in 2001 as the Agile
Manifesto.
• Principles of Agile:
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Individual and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Respond to change over following a plan
Key Aspects of any Agile Methodology
Agile Methodologies
Iterative
Planned modification
of parts of the system.
Assists with
modification of design
and requirements
Incremental
Develop parts of the
system separately and
integrate. Assists with
improving overall
methodology
Self-Organizing
The team has the
responsibility of
organizing its internal
dynamics.
Emergent
The set of tools,
techniques,
development
environment, and
requirements emerge
in the process
Agile Misconception
1.
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Agile is a “Pizza Box” Methodology
Agile is an All-or-Nothing Methodology
Traditional Development is Inferior
Becoming Agile Only Affects the Developers
Scrum Agile
• Key Components of Scrum Agile:
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Cross-Functional Teams
Product Backlog
Timeboxed Development Iterations
End of Cycle
• Origins of Scrum
• Japanese OR Advancements
• Incremental Development in the U.S.
• Object Oriented technologies in software
Scrum Agile
http://www.scrumalliance.com/pages/what_is_scrum
Traditional Systems Engineering Document
Generation vs. Agile Systems Engineering
SRR
•REQUIREMENTS
-->SRS, IRS, SSS, etc.
SDR
•System Design Review
--> SEMP
PDR
•Preliminary Design Review
-->SDD, IDD, etc
CDR
•Critical Design Review
--> SEP, TEMP
Traditional Systems
Engineering Documents
Generation
Agile Systems
Engineering Document
Generation
DoD’s Effort to Embrace Agile
The DoD is in the process of
changing its Defense
Acquisition Guideline to
better serve Agile Software
System Development
Figure 3: MITRE’s suggested DoD IT Acquisition Process [2]
Principles of Agile Documentation
• Generate “just enough” documentation
• Should satisfy the objectives of the use for the
documentation.
• Do not generate if not planning to be used.
• Used to transfer knowledge in the team and
between teams.
• Agile tends to keep knowledge within the team.
• Knowledge transfer is essential for add-on projects
Two Approaches to Documentation in Agile
• Method 1: Adapted Agile
• Use DoD standards as binding constraints to the Agile
effort.
• Documentation must be generated to support periods
of customer reviews
• Full and complete documentation expected
• Plan a full documentation update with each
appropriate iteration with emphasis on the last
iteration to generate complete deliverable documents.
• Ideal for contracts already in work with waterfall style
program management.
Two Approaches to Documentation in Agile
• Method 2: Aligned Agile
• Documentation is generated as needed during the
Agile implementation.
• Customer understanding of the differences in Agile
method is essential.
• Customer must agree to less documentation that is
generated only to meet documentation objectives.
• In-progress reviews and supporting documentation are
also broken down to match better with shorter
development iterations.
• Ideal when terms of documentation can be negotiated
with the customer.
• Suggested for company-wide migration towards the
use of Agile methods.
Project Case 1
• Raytheon
• Method: Scrum Agile
• Documentation method: Adapted Agile
• Size of Project: 6 months
• Notes: emphasis on generating documentation
to meet customer review dates, heavy on
documentation updates on the last iteration
Project Case 2
• MITRE
• Method: Hybrid Scrum Agile
• Documentation method: Adapted Agile
• Size of project: 3 years
• Notes: Used a requirements governance council.
Phased project according to spiral development
ideas but fit with Agile development on every
spiral.
Project Case 3
• MITRE
• Method: Hybrid Scrum Agile
• Documentation method: Aligned Agile
• Size of project: 1 year
• Notes: Most documentation was done after the
fact to reflect the true state of the system and to
reduce rework on documentation. Placed heavy
emphasis on labeling documentation as
complete only if it can transfer knowledge to a
team that has not previously worked on project.
Project Case 4
• MITRE
• Method: Hybrid Scrum Agile
• Documentation method: Aligned Agile
• Size of project: 2 years with 4-week long sprint
cycles
• Notes: Used a requirements committee to
continuously align with customer needs. Heavy
emphasis on documenting requirement changes.
Key Concepts of the Framework
• Designed to align with
Scrum Agile
• Integrates to become a
seamless part of Scrum
Agile
The Core Concept:
• Definition of Done
Framework Detail (1 of 2)
• Examine Required Documents
 Perform detailed analysis of projects documentation
requirements defined by stakeholders
• Finalize Contract Agreement
 Reflect any changes/additions and finalize contract in terms of
documentation requirements
• Develop Product Backlog
 Add relevant tasks associated with documentation to Product
Backlog
Framework Detail (2 of 2)
• Sprint
 Work on document(s)
• End of Cycle Review
 Evaluate completed work on document against definition of
done. Present current work to stakeholders for review. If
completed, handle accordingly, if not, prep for next sprint.
Conclusions
• The Agile methodology can be used to satisfy documentation
needs for mission-critical software development for the
department of defense with some modifications from its pure
form.
• Customer interaction and acknowledgement of the differing
needs for documentation using Agile is key.
Website
• For more information please visit our website at:
http://mason.gmu.edu/~slee32/index.html
Reference
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Larson, E., Peters, J. Preparing the U.S. Army for Homeland Security: Concepts,
Issues, and Options, Issue 1251. RAND Corporation, 2001.
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D. K. M. R. B. M. C. Carlton Northern, Handbook for Implementing Agile in
Department of Defense Information Technology Acquisition, The MITRE Corporation,
2010.
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Standish Group. (2010). Chaos summary 2010. Boston, MA: Author.
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Session R. (2009). The IT complexity crisis: Danger and opportunity, Houston, TX:
Object Watch.
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Beck, K., Beedle, M., Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., et al.
(2001). Manifesto for Agile Software Development. http://agilemanifesto.org/
Accessed April 24, 2013.
Reference- cont.
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Scrum Is an Innovative Approach to Getting Work Done. The SCRUM Alliance
(2010)
http://www.scrumalliance.org/pages/what_is_scrum Accessed April 27, 2013.
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Burton, D., Hammons, C., Lapham, M., Schenker, A., Williams, R. (2010)
“Considerations for Using Agile in DoD Acquisition.”
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/reports/10tn002.pdf Accessed March 19, 2013.
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I. G. Stamelos and P. Sfetsos, Agile Software Development Quality Assurance, Idea
Group Inc (IGI), 2007. [also steve figure 1]
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C. G. Cobb, Making Sense of Agile Project Management: Balancing Control and
Agility, John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
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P. Schuh, Integrating Agile Development in the Real World, Charles River Media,
INC, 2005.
Reference- cont.
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K. S. Rubin, Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process,
Addison-Wesley, 2012.
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Ralph Hughes and the Ceregenics Data Management Team, Agile Data
Warehousing, Delivering World-Class Business Intelligence Systems using Scrum
and XP, iUniverse, 2008.
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Forward, A. (2002) Software Documentation – “Building and Maintaining Artifacts
of Communication,”
www.site.uottawa.ca/~tcl/gradtheses/aforward/aforward_thesis.doc Accessed
March 30, 2013.
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DAGS (Defense Acquisition Management System), Enclosure 2 of DoD Instruction
5000.02, Operation of the Defense Acquisition System, Defense Acquisition
Guidebook
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Dr Steven J. Hutchison, Achieving Enterprise Agility in DoD IT Acquisition, 2010
Reference- cont.
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K. A. Saleh, Software Engineering, J. Ross Publishing, 2009.
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R. Mall, Fundamentals of Software Engineering, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2009.
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D. Panchal, "Scrum Alliance," 03 September 2008. [Online]. Available:
http://www.scrumalliance.org/articles/105-what-is-definition-of-done-dod.
[Accessed 27 April 2013].
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Scrum Alliance, "Scrum Alliance, Transforming the World of Work," [Online].
Available: http://www.scrumalliance.org/pages/scrum_artifacts. [Accessed 4 April
2013].
Questions & Comment