Sketch partnered with a pet care company to develop a commercial-grade version of an application that had previously been prototyped. This app would enable users to edit and share pet photos with collections of stickers the user could select, resize, rotate and move. After creating the photo, the user could save and share via text, social media or email. Even though the app had already been conceptualized, the Sketch team started by placing an emphasis on agile practices at the forefront. This ensured the team would be able to experiment through the build while also being able to maintain the app for the life of the product. This approach was something that they could replicate for any new apps at a better and realistic pace.
We were asked to introduce agile practices to a traditionally waterfall team. This client partner was first introduced to Sketch after going through a few facilitated Agile Fundamentals Bootcamps. After the first day, the lightbulb turned on for the client’s leadership team: This was exactly the approach they needed to leverage to get their newest app into the marketplace. The ideas were there, the team was in place, but the agile mindset and framework weren’t. So, Sketch assembled a team of two developers and one agile coach to co-develop and guide their team to a successful agile development and product launch.
First, we needed to put agile methodologies into place for a team that didn’t know how to develop software following agile principles. After meeting with the developers, our agile coach and two developers crafted a 10-sprint development and training plan which included developing ceremonies, creating a backlog, defining refinement, writing stories, working on features, automated testing, structuring pipelines, eliminating silos and improving communication within the team. Being able to introduce these concepts allowed us to establish a resilient foundation to move forward with the actual development of the app.
After only three months of Sketch co-development with the blended team, the app had its first release into the Apple App Store. In 6 sprints, our developers and coach helped accomplish what the client’s team had been trying to do for over a year utilizing a traditional approach to new product development. The success was due as much to the agile approach used as it was the top-notch development talent. Ceremony days had been cut in half and were running smoothly, refinement was a thorough process, a full backlog had been built, stories improved with details, releases were focused on smaller and reliable features, and communication across the board was stronger not only with the developers and product owner, but the design team as well.
The hybrid approach of bringing in two developers to help with the software development portion of this engagement, along with an agile coach, was the trifecta that ultimately made this endeavor a success.
The engagement continued with our coach for 6 more months and one developer for a full year to make sure all the newly introduced agile fundamentals remained in place and to also create a new app that was to be a personalized, weekly guide to training and caring for your new puppy or adult dog. During this time, Sketch worked side by side with the client’s developers to not only develop this new app, but take an outdated framework of NativeScript and rewrite the entire app into React Native that was then successfully implemented. So, after three years, a successful shift in agile approach and two apps released, this product team continues to be an ongoing success story we’re proud to be associated with.
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