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)
Figure 5-11 Project characteristics radar chart for a project needing high BRUF
The impacts of the first two factors (Number and Complexity) are easy to understand. The other three factors (Interdependence, Clarity, and Stability) require a bit more explanation but are critical to consider when deciding between agile emergent requirements versus hybrid BRUF.
Minicase 5.4: Creating a Novel Social Media Platform
Finally, let’s look at a start-up that wants to create a novel social media app: a dating app connecting outdoor lovers based on what they like to do—hiking, sports, picnicking—and where they like to do it—by where they live. This functionality can leverage several existing third-party components, including geographic mapping services that can be utilized via web services. The remaining functionality is unlikely to be significantly complex, but it is not clear exactly how the app should work. Further, the firm’s leaders note that another competing firm may be pursuing a similar idea, so requirements are likely to change quickly as the firm works to one-up the competitor. The leaders further note that if this idea takes off, the number of users could skyrocket—possibly to hundreds of thousands of users. Further, the app will acquire and store customer data, including personal and payment information accessed via the public intemet. The
IT team consists of five developers, who are connected to a single product owner who is empowered to guide requirements and priorities.
flow do we plot this project on the radar chart? Figure 5-12 shows a plot of this project: relatively low functional requirements, but a with demanding technical environment. That demanding technical environment shows up alongside a need to improve IT Team Skills. For example, the team may need to research consuming web services from a wide variety of third parties. The team may also need to work with an architect and security specialist to a scalable, secure environment. This all points to substantial BDUF. On the other hand, for functional requirements, we can use agile, emergent requirements. For example, we can choose to prototype unclear requirements, which will likely evolve rapidly over time regardless.
Figure 5-12 Project characteristics radar chart for a project needing high BDUF
We explore each of these factors in turn:
• • Number of features: This indicates how many features (user stories) we need to deliver in our project. The need to create a large number of features typically points to