Agile Requirements & User Stories: Extreme Programming Practices for Project Managers and Business Analysts

Louis Molnar
Multi-Media Publications Inc. (2005)
ISBN 1895186455
Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (8/06)

In this faced paced “Internet world” access to information, along with most everything else, is required to occur at the speed of light in order to keep pace with change.   Therefore, it is only natural that organizations are finding great success in the move toward Agile methods in providing faster, more effective software/systems development schedules.  “Agile Requirements & User Stories”, part of the Project Management Audio Series, is a live recording of a presentation by Louis Molnar focusing on the analysis section of the Extreme Programming (XP) development cycle. 

XP’s driving methodology is the focus on individuals and interactions as opposed to documentation.  By breaking down the traditional waterfall development cycle and utilizing incremental coding and testing with continuous user involvement, 60-90-120 day product releases become a reality.  The key, however, is to maximize benefit from the right kind of analysis.  Through the use of Extreme Analysis (XA) the project manager and/or Business Analyst can quickly identify consistently defined User Stories, determine which User Stories are required with each release, and provide input into the acceptance test.  Through an overview of the XP Development Cycle, as well as Guidelines and Best Practices, Louis Molnar is successful in convincing the listener of the vast improvement a small amount of planning analysis (2-4% of total project time) can make on the success of the project.

While this is a recording of a live presentation with references made to the slides being discussed, a web link provides a copy of the slide presentation, glossary of terms outlining the 12 Xtreme Programming Best Practices, the document “Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto”, and the article “Xtreme Programming requires Xtreme Analysis”.

“Agile Requirements and User Stories” provides the listener with a strong appreciation of Extreme Programming, highlighting the effectiveness of Extreme Analysis (XA) through the utilization of effective User Stories.  Whether you are a Project Manager or Business Analyst already familiar with Agile methods, are currently new to the field of Agile programming, or are interested in new developments within the field of Project Management this CD is definitely worth the listen.  Also a great tool for reference libraries!
 

Make comment on weblog