Mobile Development's Unique Challenges Solved by Agile
Agile may originally have been intended for the desktop-based software development world, but after seeing the practice’s success over the years, it’s been adopted by everyone who can find a way to apply it to his own interests. The popularity of agile marketing and agile social media campaigns—just a couple of areas in which agile is being adopted—is expected to grow immensely in 2013.
It only makes sense that as the number of mobile device users continues to skyrocket, the number of mobile development projects will grow right along with it. While mobile development and mobile testing present a new set of challenges when compared to “traditional” software development teams and projects, agile’s core principles are proving to be just as relevant as they were when they were written nearly twelve years ago.
In a recent Developer-Tech.com article, the reason for agile’s success in the mobile development world is beautifully summed up in a single paragraph:
Since mobile apps are not expected to be perfect when they are first released, the expectation for the software product fits the iterative and incremental strategy that drives agile software development. Most users of mobile apps have to come to expect a beta version followed by 1.0 and 2.0 versions of newly released applications. Additionally, since the agile approach is driven by change, it is highly responsive to the feedback of business who contract for the development of the application, as well as the consumers that use the application.
Mobile’s need for input and collaboration from multiple departments and even consumers—along with the advantages that an iterative approach offers—makes agile development a fantastic fit. When adopted by everyone, agile’s principles help ensure timely delivery, something absolutely mandatory in the ever-changing, fast-paced world of mobile applications. Deadlines must be met in order for many apps to avoid being out-of-date before they ever hit the market.
Mutual Mobile is one company using agile for rapid mobile app development. In the video below, they explain just how agile allows them to stay competitive in this booming industry.
