Technical writing in an agile development environment
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The document outlines the principles of technical writing within an agile development environment, emphasizing the importance of user stories and collaboration tools. It describes the Scrum framework, key roles, meetings, and artifacts that facilitate development and documentation processes. Additionally, it highlights best practices for adapting documentation to agile methods and the benefits of minimalism in writing.
Technical writing in an agile development environment
- 1. Technical Writing in an Agile Development Environment A Writer’s Perspective
- 2. 2 Objectives Learn to apply useful principles from agile methodologies Highlight the features common to agile development processes Understand user stories and learn to translate user stories into task-oriented topics Learn to use various collaboration tools that can facilitate writing Learn to be adaptive
- 3. 3 The Agile Parable A pig and a chicken are walking down a road. The chicken looks at the pig and says, "Hey, why don't we open a restaurant?" The pig looks back at the chicken and says, "Good idea, what do you want to call it?" The chicken thinks about it and says, "Why don't we call it 'Ham and Eggs'?" "I don't think so," says the pig, "I'd be committed but you'd only be involved.”
- 4. 4 Who’s Who in Agile
- 5. 5 Scrum Origins The new product development game - Tekeuchi and Nonaka A group of 17 individuals got together in Colorado in 2001 to form the Agile manifesto. Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber Initial definitions of Scrum at OOPSLA 96 Not just for trivial projects FDA-approved, life-critical software for x-rays and MRIs
- 7. 7 Phases of Scrum– From Concept to Execution
- 8. 8 The Scrum Development Process Daily Scrum •Hosted by ScrumMaster •Attended by all, but Stakeholders don’t speak •Same time every day •Answer: 1) What did you do yesterday? 2) What will you do today? 3) What’s in your way? •Team updates Sprint Backlog; Scrum Master updates Blocks List POPO Product Owner: Sets priorities SMSM ScrumMaster: Manages process, removes blocks TT Team (Pigs): Develops product SHSH Stakeholders (Chickens): observe & advise Key Artifacts Product Backlog •List of requirements & issues •Owned by Product Owner •Anybody can add to it •Only Product Owner prioritizes Product Backlog •List of requirements & issues •Owned by Product Owner •Anybody can add to it •Only Product Owner prioritizes Sprint Goal •One-sentence summary •Declared by Product Owner •Accepted by team Sprint Goal •One-sentence summary •Declared by Product Owner •Accepted by team Sprint Backlog •List of tasks •Owned by team •Only team modifies it Sprint Backlog •List of tasks •Owned by team •Only team modifies it Blocks List •List of blocks & unmade decisions •Owned by ScrumMaster •Updated daily Blocks List •List of blocks & unmade decisions •Owned by ScrumMaster •Updated daily Increment •Version of the product •Shippable functionality (tested, documented, etc.) Increment •Version of the product •Shippable functionality (tested, documented, etc.) Key Meetings Sprint Planning Meeting •Hosted by ScrumMaster; ½-1 day •In: Product Backlog, existing product, business & technology conditions 1. Select highest priority items in Product Backlog; declare Sprint Goal 2. Team turns selected items into Sprint Backlog Out:: Sprint Goal, Sprint Backlog Sprint Review Meeting •Hosted by ScrumMaster •Attended by all •Informal, 4-hour, informational •Team demos Increment •All discuss •Hold retrospective •Announce next Sprint Planning Meeting Product Backlog Product Backlog Development Process IncrementIncrement Sprint Planning Meeting Daily Scrum Daily Work Sprint Goal Sprint Goal Sprint Backlog Sprint Backlog Blocks List Blocks List ProductProduct Sprint Review Meeting Sprint: 15-30 days each Product Backlog’ Product Backlog’ Increment’Increment’ Copyright 2004, William C. Wake, William.Wake@acm.org, www.xp123.com
- 9. 9 Agile System Development Lifecycle
- 10. 10 Overlapping Development in Scrum
- 12. 12 Making the Transition How can I adapt myself to Scrum?
- 13. 13 Design Documents Moving from specs to user story documents Shorter, more fluid documents Allows for easier refinement and rework upon customer feedback Helps the writers to not get bogged down in lengthy specs
- 14. 14 User Stories- What is it? A software system requirement Defines what is to be built Prioritized, make up the backlog Stories may be related together as “features” or “themes”
- 15. 15 User Stories As a … < role> … I want … <short description of feature> … So that … <value or why need functionality> … Examples: As a sales manager I want to view the sales report so that I can know the sales for this quarter. As a regular traveler I want my cell-phone to wake me up at a set time so that I do not need to pack an alarm clock.
- 16. 16 Acceptance Criteria A common acceptance criteria template: Given … <some initial context > … When … <an event occurs> … Then … <ensure some outcomes> … Given my cell-phone is switched off when the time for my alarm is reached then turn the cell-phone on and sound the alarm.
- 18. 18 Topic-Oriented Writing Authoring concise, self-contained units of information about a specific topic Concept Task Reference
- 19. 19 Using Minimalism Choose an action-oriented approach to your documentation Promote learning by doing rather than by reading Evaluate what to trim and why (‘Just enough’ documentation) Focus on troubleshooting advice Identify opportunities to replace text with graphics
- 20. 20 Benefits of Using Minimalism Pushes us to be more user-focused Makes us look out for redundant information Drives us to cut costs while delivering better information Portrays us like we understood our role better
- 21. 21 Collaborate Use a collaboration tool (e.g. wiki) Attend daily scrum meetings Be detailed and specific when you are seeking information
- 22. 22 Using Wikis Image Copyright @ Atlassian
- 23. 23 Best Practices for Wiki Implementation
- 24. 24 Using Wikis as an Input for Docs
- 25. 25 Backlog is Your Friend The Backlog in Scrum is the Technical Writer’s best friend. Work with the dev team to understand the tasks You can re-plan a Sprint in the mid-Sprint Allocate some time in the Sprint for maintenance and patches. Backlog is NOT DONE if the end-user documentation is not complete
- 26. 26 Document Reviews in Scrum Use drafts Write doc for a feature that is developed and tested in the Sprint Have Dev/QA review the doc for technical accuracy before closing the user story Make the required edits Publish IT Present the doc to the PO in the exit meeting
- 27. 27 Before the Release Have a stabilization sprint for the document cleanups, versioning, and help integration.
- 28. 28 Vertical Doc Team Structure – Writer Aligned to the Scrum Teams Write r Product ABC Product XYZ Released products Legacy Product s Feature A Feature B Feature A Feature B Feature A Feature B Bugs/ Minor Fixes Patche s Life Support Steve Maria Marc
- 30. 30 The Benefits of Writing in an Agile Environment
- 31. Questions?
- 32. 32 Sources and Bibliography Agile Estimating and Planning, Mike Cohn, Prentice Hall, 2006. Agile Project Management with Scrum, Ken Schwaber, Microsoft Press, 2004. Writing Effective Use Cases, Alistair Cockburn, Addison Wesley, 2001. Agile Development: Challenges in Transforming Technical Communications Departments, Mike Wethington. “An Overview of Scrum”, Mike Cohn, http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/presentation/30-an-overview-of-scrum , 2008 “Writing End-User Documentation in an Agile Development Environment,” Anne Gentle & Tana Berry, http://justwriteclick.com/2007/07/02/writing-end-user-documentation-in-an-agile-de , 2007.
- 33. Thank You
Editor's Notes
- #7: A group of 17 individuals got together in Colorado in 2001to form the manifesto. This outlines that while there is value on the right, we value the items on the left more.