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Figure 5-7 Example project characteristics radar chart
This approach allows us to visualize the relevant characteristics of a project. That chart, in turn, will guide us in deciding how agile or plan-driven our project should be.
Even so, how do we make sense of the plot? First, realize that the chart is organized so that projects aligning to the Agile Home Ground will have project characteristics measurements plotting close to the center of the chart. In contrast, projects aligning to the Hybrid Home Ground will have characteristics plotting near the outer edge of the chart.
Second, note the use of shading to group together the project characteristics for each of the three major project characteristics categories. We group the various individual characteristics this way because each category impacts a project in a different way.
Factors pertaining to functional requirements—what the system must provide in terms of business capabilities—are grouped together in the upper right. When we plot at the outer edge of these factors, we will need significant big requirements up front (BRUF).
Factors pertaining to non-functional requirements—indicating the need for technical architecture planning—are grouped together in the upper left. When we plot at the outer edge of these factors, we will need significant big design up front (BDUF).
Finally, characteristics of the IT and business customer teams are grouped together at the bottom. By “IT team,” we mean the information technology professionals working on the project, which may include BA, project management, developer, tester, and other roles. Note that in the Scrum approach, these roles specifically include the scrum master and development team.
In contrast, by “customer team,” we mean the individuals served by the new or enhanced system, which include business users of the system but also other business stakeholders: project sponsors, managers, champions, and subject matter experts (SMEs). Note that in the agile Scrum approach, the primary business customer is the product owner. See Chapter 12 for more details on these and other roles.
In general, plotting at the outer edge of these team factors has two implications. First, high levels of BRUF and BDUF factors suggest high levels of team characteristics (see Figure 5-8).