Top 10 Advantages Of Agile Methodology In Web Development 

What is Agile?  

Agile is considered the popular approach in software and web development. The agile methodology emphasizes on providing value to customers’ lives by dividing the entire project into small increments. Therefore, agile methodology facilitates collaborative working among team members.  

In the agile approach, senior managers allow the team members to figure out what needs to be completed on their own.  

Many organizations prefer to follow the agile approach because it facilitates collaborative efforts toward accomplishing the end goal. An agile approach is preferable for ongoing projects or where there are no defined project constraints.   

Earlier, agile approach was popular in software development, but now every industry, IT, business, or construction, is following it. 

Companies developing software or engaged in developing websites deliver work in small increments rather than launching everything on the big bang. This is what agile model is all about. (Progressive web development service)

Let’s throw some light on stats –  

Research conducted by the project management institute in 2017 concluded that around 71 percent used the agile approach in their processes. Agile methodology follows the 5 basic yet essential principles –  

• It focuses on providing maximum satisfaction to the customers.   
• Projects are delivered in smaller chunks.   
• It puts more emphasis on working collaboratively.   
• It makes an individual accountable for their efforts.   
• The web development team or dedicated development team should respond to technological changes rather than following rigid processes.   

According to the research conducted by kiss flow in 2018, organizations that are developing projects using agile methodologies are 28 percent more successful. Therefore, organizations believe that using an agile approach in developing web projects leads to faster completion of projects and, at the same time, providing a final product that meets customers’ needs. There are various agile development frameworks. Some of them include Kanban, Lean software development, scrum, extreme programming (XP) etc.   

Big corporations such as CNBC, Microsoft, and Google use the agile approach.  So, where are you heading towards? 

Agile Methodology VS Traditional Web Development Methodologies  

Traditional web development approaches put more emphasis on following rigid plans. In the traditional software development approach, projects follow a sequential, step-by-step plan which includes various stages –  

• Requirement analysis   
• Design   
• Implementation   
• Testing   
• Maintenance   
• Flexibility   

The traditional software development approach follows systematic plans to ensure the completion of projects. Therefore, it is often considered as a linear approach to developing web projects. On the contrary, agile methodology is a completely flexible process as changes can be made in the project even after the project gets started.   

• Customer Involvement   

In the traditional software development approach, customers get involved in the early stages of development. Customers can see the product after it gets developed. 

On the contrary, the agile model is all about where customers are highly involved in the development of web projects from the start. Not only this, they can review the application at every stage of development.   

• Complexity of project   

When handling small projects or projects that do not require any complex changes, then working with a traditional approach outperforms the best. Sudden changes in the project can shift the development team’s focus to move back to step 1.  

On the other hand, the agile approach should be recommended for handling complex projects or projects that are subject to frequent changes.   

• Feedback   

The traditional approach clearly defines the requirements before the project starts. There is no room for feedback as sudden changes in the project can push the deadline. The project’s scope is fixed in advance with the estimated date of its completion.  

On the other hand, the agile methodology allows the development team to take continuous feedback for delivering a high-quality project.   

How agile methodology differs from web development?   

How does agile methodology improve communication between web developers, stakeholders, and customers?  

In the waterfall model, the stakeholders define the project’s requirements, then the requirements are passed over to the designer, and then developers initiate the project’s development.   

In the agile approach, stakeholders are involved in all mockups; scrum is conducted every day to ensure better collaboration among everyone.  

The agile methodology focuses on reducing the number of steps for delivering the project so the team members can collaborate with each other to move the project ahead. In the agile approach, no fixed structure or schedule has to be followed. The agile approach focuses on providing the final product in smaller chunks.   

Hence, Agile methodology facilitates a high level of collaboration between project managers and customers as there is continuous interaction with the customers not just at the beginning but also at the end of the project.   

For example – Customers can interact with the development team to ensure that the project meets their expectations or not.   

10 Benefits of Agile Methodology in Website Development   

1. Provides high-quality product   

In agile methodology, the entire project is dissected into small and manageable tasks so the team members can easily collaborate.  

Additionally, in agile, each feature is tested as and when it is developed. The testing is performed for every feature, and the product owners share reviews with the entire development team, and the team work together to fix the loopholes in the early stages of development. Hence, the quality of the product is improved.   

2. Focuses on customer satisfaction 

Customers need not wait for months or years to get a product that is not meeting their expectations. Agile methodology satisfies its end users by keeping the customers in the loop. The development team can make the prototype changes based on the product owner’s feedback. This way, the product is built by keeping customer expectations in mind.  

Waterfall methodology does not involve the customer in all stages of development. In the agile development approach, weekly meetings are conducted so developers can interact with customers to create a customer centric product.   

3. Ensures better control over the projects   

As various stakeholders are involved in the project so agile approach provides a better control to them. Every team member knows what they are supposed to deliver.   

Daily stand-up meetings are conducted so the development team can check the project progress each time. Not only this, under the agile approach, planning meetings take place that allows team members to brainstorm with each other and plan for the next sprint.  

4. Provides greater flexibility   

Agile development allows the team members to become more flexible as the project members can make changes in the project if there is a change in project requirements or if the customer needs changes.   

Consider an example of a stakeholder who wants to add a new feature to the product; agile methodology allows the development team to iterate the process and deliver the final product without disrupting the overall development process which in turn leads to greater flexibility.  

5. Faster launch   

Agile methodology allows web developers to launch the website quickly. In the traditional approach, the website launch happens at the end of the project. So, it becomes a time-consuming task to gather inputs from the stakeholder, and when the product is going to launch, revisions are added to the product.   

On the other hand, agile methodology focuses on evolving your product on a regular basis as there is a scope of direct feedback.   

6. Continuous delivery of the product   

There is a scope for continuous improvement in agile methodology. Every product is the better version of last one as there is transparent communication between stakeholders and web developers. The agile approach’s objective is to continuously improve the product and deliver the project on time.  Hire web developers

Also, agile is an interactive process; every product gets delivered in increments, so the mistakes repeated in the last sprint will not be there in the next sprint. Hence, it ensures that the product is getting improved at every stage.   

7. Transparency   

Agile methodology is more about working collaboratively to accomplish development goals. Daily meetings are conducted to track the progress of each team member. The agile methodology allows the clients to get fully involved at every project stage, be it creating a project plan, doing iterations, or creating new features.   

Every team member knows each other assigned tasks, and everyone is involved from the start in planning, reviewing, and testing. Hence, it leads to better transparency and develops a healthy work environment.  

8. Faster time to market website   

The website development team can quickly launch the website in the market. All thanks to agile methodologies! The agile development approach is an incremental and iterative process, so team members get continuous feedback to make the changes on the go, thereby, increasing the development speed.   

9. Reduces Risks   

Regarding the traditional waterfall model, there was some uncertainty involved in project development. Agile is popular not only for flexibility but also serves as a risk-reducing technique.  

In agile process, Regular team meetings are conducted between the client and project manager which ensures that everyone is on the same page. Here, testing of the product is performed after it gets developed, and feedback is taken after each iteration.   

10. Relevant metrics   

The traditional waterfall model was more about completing the project once the documentation was approved. But agile is a flexible approach where any task’s progress can be easily measured. Agile provides insight into some exact metrics, such as lead time, cycle team, etc., that can help to measure overall team performance.   

Wrapping up   

You might get a clear idea of why agile is the most preferred approach for software development. Though companies are still using traditional waterfall model in developing projects, but majority of organizations are adopting agile methodology in their processes.   

It completely depends on your project requirements as to whether you should go with agile or waterfall.   

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