Concepts
Incremental development is a fundamental concept in agile project management and a key study area for PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) examination. Understanding the ins and outs of incremental development can enhance your management strategy and improve your project execution.
1. Definition of Incremental Development
Incremental development is a project management strategy that emphasizes the subdivision of a project into small, manageable modules or increments. Each increment is developed and completed over a set iteration or timeline, yielding functionality that can be demonstrated and reviewed. The advantage of incremental development is that it allows for flexibility in changing project requirements while keeping the project on schedule and within budget.
2. Key Characteristics of Incremental Development
Incremental development emphasizes the following points:
- Individual Work Units: Each increment serves as a standalone work unit which aims to add utility to the overall system.
- Divide and Conquer Strategy: By breaking down a big project into small increments, incremental development applies the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy for easy manageability.
- Iterative Testing and Feedback: By continually building on the project in increments, each stage allows for useful feedback, user engagement, and timely identification of defects or issues.
Components of Incremental Development
| Incremental Development | |
|---|---|
| Design | Each increment is designed, developed, and tested in a set iteration. |
| Development | Incremental development happens in cyclic phases. |
| Testing | Testing is done simultaneously with development. |
| Implementation | The finished product is a result of multiple small increments combined. |
3. Examples of Incremental Development
A familiar example of incremental development is the creation of a software program. Instead of developing the entire software at once, developers create it part by part in various iterations:
- Iteration 1: Develop basic login functionality
- Iteration 2: Add user profile creation feature
- Iteration 3: Integrate an internal messaging system
- Iteration 4: Add additional features such as video chat or file sharing
At the end of each iteration, the developers can demonstrate the functionality developed during that phase. Users can provide feedback earlier, thereby preventing major changes later in the development cycle.
4. Incremental Development vs. Waterfall Method
| Incremental Development | Waterfall Method | |
|---|---|---|
| Flexibility | High flexibility due to iterative nature. | Low flexibility, given the linear sequence of development stages. |
| Risk Mitigation | Risk is generally lower as early increments catch issues. | Higher risk, since problems may be discovered only in testing stage. |
| Customer Involvement | High client involvement due to frequent iterations. | Lower client involvement due to sequential process. |
| Adaptability | Changes can be made in each stage based on feedback. | Changes are challenging due to set design and development plan. |
5. Incremental Development in PMI-ACP Examination
In your preparation for the PMI-ACP examination, understanding incremental development helps in various areas:
- Understand Agile principles and mindset: Agile emphasizes incremental and iterative development. Your understanding of incremental development directly feeds into your comprehension of Agile principles.
- Stakeholder engagement: Incremental development involves constant collaboration and continuous feedback. It demonstrates techniques to engage stakeholders effectively.
- Risk management: Incremental development reduces the risk of project failure by catching issues early. Understanding it helps in strategizing risk management better.
In conclusion, acing the concept of incremental development will foster not just a stronger understanding of agile project management principles but also creates a clear pathway towards cracking the PMI-ACP certification exam.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
True or False: Incremental development involves delivering a product in parts or increments, often with each part adding new functionality or features.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Incremental development involves building a product or process in parts, with each increment representing a complete slice of functionality.
In incremental development, each increment is:
- a) Immediately discarded after its development
- b) Provided to the end-users as soon as it’s ready
- c) Kept under wraps until the entire product is developed
- d) Presented only to the stakeholders for their approval
Answer: b) Provided to the end-users as soon as it’s ready
Explanation: Incremental Development allows each increment of the product to be delivered to end-users immediately after completion, facilitating continual feedback and improvements.
True or False: Feedback from customers is not crucial in incremental development.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: The incremental development process values customer feedback, as it is used to make continuous improvements and adjustments.
Multiple Select: Incremental development has which of the following benefits?
- a) Reduced risk
- b) Faster time to market
- c) No customer feedback required
- d) Low product quality
Answer: a) Reduced risk, b) Faster time to market
Explanation: Incremental development reduces risk and allows faster time to market by delivering usable segments of the product at a time.
True or False: Incremental development is a type of agile methodology.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Incremental development is indeed a type of agile methodology, allowing teams to provide tangible, working results in shorter cycles or increments.
What is a primary focus in the incremental development methodology?
- a) Achieving perfection in the first solution
- b) Leaving testing to the end of development
- c) Producing workable solutions quickly
- d) Writing extensive documentation
Answer: c) Producing workable solutions quickly
Explanation: The focus of incremental development is to deliver usable products quickly.
True or False: In incremental development, all increments are usually of the same size.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Generally, in incremental development, the product is divided into manageable and similar-sized increments to facilitate planning, development, and delivery.
Multiple select: Which scenarios are suitable for incremental development?
- a) When requirements are clearly known
- b) When customer feedback is necessary during the development
- c) When time to market is not a factor
- d) When changes are expected during development
Answer: a) When requirements are clearly known, b) When customer feedback is necessary during the development, d) When changes are expected during development
Explanation: Incremental development is well-suited for scenarios when requirements are well-defined, changes are anticipated, and continual customer feedback is beneficial.
In incremental development, how are increments delivered?
- a) In sequential order
- b) Randomly
- c) Based on their complexity
- d) All at once
Answer: a) In sequential order
Explanation: In incremental development, increments are delivered in a sequential and organized manner to maintain coherence.
True or False: Incremental development emphasizes customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: The goal of incremental development is to ensure customer satisfaction by delivering workable increments of the product quickly and continually.
Great post on Incremental Development! It really helped me understand the concept better.
I agree with the post, Incremental Development has significantly boosted our team’s agility.
Thank you for explaining Incremental Development. The examples were very useful.
Can someone explain the difference between Incremental and Iterative Development?
This is very insightful for anyone pursuing PMI-ACP. Thanks for sharing!
Our team adopted Incremental Development recently, and we’ve seen a significant improvement in our project’s deliverables timeline.
Great insights on Incremental Development! It’s a game-changer for Agile projects.
Incremental Development makes large projects more manageable and reduces risk.