A product backlog here can help a team decide what they’re working on and what they want to focus on. It’s a description of how the team will carry out the idea laid out in an agile roadmap. It’s a gigantic to-do list for your development team in many ways. 

Projects can be part of larger products with a product backlog to manage them. A Product backlog example can be customer implementation projects, which may be delivered as part of a bigger product backlog. Alternatively, a game production studio could treat each generation of a game as a separate project with a set deadline (for example around Christmas).

What is Product Backlog in Scrum?

In Scrum, the agile product backlog is a prioritized features list that includes brief descriptions of all product functionality. If you are working on a project then it is not required to begin it with a lengthy effort to document all requirements using Scrum. A Scrum team and its product owner can start by including anything they can think of for agile backlog prioritization.

This agile product backlog is more than enough for a first sprint. As additional information about the product and its customers becomes available, the Scrum product backlog permits it to expand and adapt.

In Scrum, the product backlog is a prioritized features list that includes brief descriptions of all product functionality. It is not required to begin a project with a lengthy, upfront effort to document all requirements while using Scrum.

In custom software development services, a scrum team and its product owner typically start by jotting down anything they can think of for agile backlog prioritization. Almost always, this agile product backlog is more than enough for a first sprint. As additional information about the product and its customers becomes available, the Scrum product backlog is permitted to expand and adapt.

How Product Backlog Journey Starts?

First comes the vision or an idea, then the strategy takes place, to accomplish the idea there is a need for the roadmap, and after laying the roadmap comes the product backlog. Below given pointers show what each of the product backlog journey terms mean.

• The product strategy is an outline of how the company’s goal will be realized at a high level
• The product roadmap dictates the plan to be carried
• The product backlog contains the task-level specifics required to produce the pro product

How Product Backlog and Product Roadmaps are Different?

The two key product management tools are the product roadmap and the product backlog. Each instrument has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. A product backlog should not be confused with a product roadmap. Both of these living documents are useful for agile development process teams for different reasons. The backlog provides tactical development specifics, whereas the roadmap concentrates on the overall strategy.

Product backlog management entails a variety of tasks and strategies. Because the product roadmap is frequently changed, it must be closely linked to the product backlog. As a result, the backlog must be prioritized (and re-prioritized) regularly to reflect changes and discoveries.

The product backlog includes epics and user stories, workflow diagrams, user-interface design sketches, and mock-ups, as well as other outstanding work required to construct a product. It’s a tactical tool that guides the development team’s work and serves as the foundation for tracking development progress with tools like a release burndown chart. The primary distinctions between the product roadmap and the product backlog are summarised in the diagram below.

The product roadmap is a strategic product-planning tool that outlines how the product will evolve over the following time. It establishes a sense of purpose, encourages stakeholder participation, aids in the acquisition of funds, and makes it easier to coordinate the development and launch of various products.

Additionally, special attention should be paid to keep the backlog structured and accessible. The product backlog management practices recommend aiming for a Detailed appropriately, Emergent, Estimated, and Prioritized (DEEP) product backlog in which the items with the highest priority contain the most detail, and the level of detail reduces as the priority increases.

Most agile teams also participate in product backlog grooming sessions, which are used to refine and arrange backlog items. During these meetings, the team collaborates to plan ahead of time for a few sprints’ worth of user stories. Agile backlog grooming sessions guarantee that the user stories at the top of the backlog have enough detail to be understood by the delivery team.

Product Backlog Prioritization Techniques

• Rather than being a one-time event, product backlog grooming is a continual process involving product owners and development teams. Subject expertise is often present in development teams, which they can refine. The Scrum team, on the other hand, determines when and how the optimization will be completed.
• The act of adding detail, estimations, and order to items in the Product Backlog is known as product backlog refinement. Within each Sprint, ongoing Product Backlog Refinement is required to refine products so that they are ready for future Sprints. Refinement of the product backlog typically requires no more than 10% of the development team’s work.
• The product backlog items at the top of the Product Backlog (highest priority, biggest value) are decomposed so that they fit within one Sprint once the backlog items have been refined to the appropriate level of granularity.
  

All estimation work is handled by the development team. By assisting the team in assessing trade-offs, product owners can have an impact on their decisions. The person doing the task, on the other hand, determines the final estimate.

Benefits of Product Backlog

Backlog as Placeholders

Backlog items serve as placeholders for future discussions regarding a solution for reaching your goal. This means that a team does not need to have a completely developed idea before adding it to the product backlog. When a product backlog item is first introduced, it just needs to have enough information to remind the team what the alternative was. When a team is about to start working on a product backlog item, it just needs to be fully explained.

Dynamic Nature

A product backlog’s dynamic nature allows teams to keep track of their learning about the desired goal and potential delivery methods. The product backlog does not have to be complete when a team begins working. Thus, they can begin with an original concept and add new product backlog items as they gain experience.

Easy removal

Just because something is in a product backlog doesn’t mean it has to be delivered. A team can remove items off the backlog if they don’t contribute to the desired end. This means that a team can avoid producing non-value-adding deliverables and instead focus on making truly useful changes.

Add a backlog item

Product backlog can be used by teams to avoid time waste debating whether an option is valuable or not based on limited information. When a new idea presents itself, the team can add a product backlog item as a reminder to investigate the idea further. The team can then prioritize consideration of that idea alongside other items, and remove the product backlog item if the idea proves to not provide progress toward the desired outcome.

Agile Product Backlog vs. Sprint Backlog- A Detailed Difference

In a nutshell, the sprint backlog is the team’s short-term sprint plan. The product backlog in agile is the product’s long-term plan, in which the vision is categorized into tangible deliverable items that add value to the product. Many people consider the sprint backlog to be a subset of the product backlog. This is ideal; the sprint backlog is made up entirely of items from the product backlog. Also the sprint will typically include other work that the team has committed to and the tasks that can be completed during the product design sprint.

The product backlog in agile is a collection of tasks you expect to complete in the future to maintain your product competitiveness. It is the result of collaboration between the product owner and stakeholders (customers, the team, analysts). It will be updated regularly, with new items being added or removed. 

In general, it will be larger than the sprint backlog. It will also include elements with varying levels of granularity, with fewer items broken down below the level of the user story. The product owner is in charge of it.

The sprint backlog is a collection of work that the team is committed to completing, either now or later in the sprint (typically a 1-4 week period). It is made up of user stories that the team has committed to completing during the upcoming sprint. 

However, it can also include things like bugs, refactoring work, and so on. It’s usually more detailed and divided out into activities, with the technical implementation of a user story at the forefront. It is the scrum master’s and team’s responsibility.

Time To Build Your Backlog

The need for proper planning and organization is critical to your success. That’s where backlogs come in handy. The backlog, when properly generated and maintained, becomes a tool that aids teams in navigating constant change, achieving peak productivity, and providing maximum value to both the business and the customer.

In the above blog we have described what product backlog is and how it helps a team in their working by creating a common ground for stakeholders and teams to align so that the most meaningful user stories are implemented, allow flexibility to respond to changing demands, and circumstances, create a common denominator across several teams working on the same product to improve the accuracy of product release forecasts.

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The Developers at Appinventiv have been nurtured to provide support to the IT businesses worldwide through various business portfolios. Essentially they look after the application development for an organization. Primarily the certified developers help in facilitating our software development strategy by providing the support to clients through modern tools. They are passionate at work, are responsive to the clients, and act with speed and agility.

What are The Responsibilities of A Developer at Appinventiv

With experience and wanting to progress your career, software developers can be promoted to senior, head developer and project manager position. You could also expand into related areas like system design, IT architecture or IT training and education. Were not hell bent on specific college degrees but individuals who are skillfully qualified and open to understanding and accepting the following responsibilities can be a Developer at Appinventiv. 

• To break down complex requirements into simpler solutions to resolve business difficulties
• To build high-quality software for large-scale and highly available systems
• To evaluate complex features and prepare application specifications
• To demonstrate a high level of initiative, ability to work within a scrum team
• To develop and support application solutions for our products & services in various platforms
• To troubleshoot and develop various application software
• To perform integration testing
• To support new development activities but also support production break/fix as well as devops activities
• To perform application development basis the agile methodologies as per clients requirements
• To conduct appropriate module testing based on the test cases
• To detect, report, investigate and fix defects in the application for production support
• To have an eye for detail, critical thinking and problem solving

Our Developers

“I love the variety of the work I do. The kind of projects I get have different components so I can mix up what I do on a day to day basis. Sometimes I do some front-end web development, and after I’ve done that for a while I can jump over to back-end work with servers and databases. Other times I’m given a task and given the freedom to tackle it however I want, which often leads to a chance to learn something new.”

“The experience for me as a Developer at Appinventiv, has been energising and motivating. Instead of fighting against processes to get my job done and get my code into production, I received strong & consistent support from each of  the team members making it possible for me to churn continuous deliveries.” 

“I always wanted to develop cutting-edge tech, write high quality code and work in a fast paced environment. Appinventiv’s agile methodologies and design thinking practices not only made all this a possibility but also gave me the freedom and digital expertise to continue exploring.”

Type of Engineering Teams at Appinventiv

Before we set out to look into the process and streamlining of how we hire our talented developers, it is important to understand the different options which are available to you as an applicant. 

On-site team of developers: Another name of this model is co-located team. Meaning, the developers that the organization has partnered with, works alongside the team in the office space. Most of the companies, even the big IT brands run on this model.

Distributed team of developers: This team does not have a physical office space, the team members do not communicate face to face and work from different locations. They don’t even necessarily have to be in the same city or country.

Remote team of developers: Just like the on-site model, remote developers also have an office. They don’t necessarily work from there in fact they only need access to a reliable and fast internet connection to work from any other location. Also, they generally have flexible working hours.

With the options addressed, let us look into our carefully articulated process of hiring developers for a startup.

Appinventiv’s Recruitment Flow for Hiring Developers

Application: Once you find a role that interests you, go ahead and apply with a well-drafted cover letter.

Screening: Your application will be read by the Appinventors who are experts in screening resumes and specialists in their respective fields

Technical Assessment: If your application is selected, you will be asked to complete a technical assignment online. Don’t worry, our validated assessments are engaging, fair and relevant to each role. This helps us measure skills, talents and abilities. This process allows you to truly demonstrate who you are and what value you can bring to the role.

Interview: If you are successful in completing the assessment, we will invite you for an interview. We treat this as an opportunity for us to get to know each other better. This is your chance to show us how much you want to work for Appinventiv. Come prepared with any questions you want to ask us, it is also your opportunity to interview us. 

On-Boarding: If you get through the interview successfully, we’ll then send you the appropriate documentation you’ll need to complete to begin your onboarding journey with us. Following this, you’ll be an Appinventor, leading with the latest technologies and solving some of the world’s most challenging problems.

The above process may seem prolonged, but at Appinventiv, we make sure that the hirings are purposeful and smooth, both for the recruiter and the candidate. As per the ongoing pandemic and extreme lockdown conditions, we have revolutionized our hiring process for developers to ensure flexibility at both ends.

Happy Developers Mean Happy Clients Customers

Being able to build relevant and delightful customer experiences has never been more important than right now as COVID-19 continues to accelerate digital adoption across the globe by the public and private sector companies. Infact, developers and engineers are the most valued assets in keeping our digital infrastructure afloat during such unprecedented demand for online services.

Having the best tools, technology and environment to develop and deploy code quickly keeps developers engaged and motivated. This is exactly what it means to be a Developer at Appinventiv! If we have been successful in getting your attention and interest in working as a developer with us then do send us your details and our recruitment team will get in touch within 24 business hours to help you find a suitable role at Appinventiv.

The post From Coding to Digitalizing- Guide on being a Developer at Appinventiv appeared first on Appinventiv.

Almost every day in the life of a project manager is different. The challenges, obstacles they face every day, are different. The kind of stakeholders they need to communicate to and the resources and risks they need to mitigate, are different. In short, days are unpredictable. If at all, I have to sum up a typical day in the life of a project manager, it is about coordination and control.

At Appinventiv, being a project manager is all about managing people and resources through leadership, motivation and discipline which are the cornerstone of this profession. While these qualities are absolutely pivotal, the reality is you should also be at the forefront of technology and particularly project management tools. These tools are crucial as they will help you stay on top of schedules, budgets and more. We make use of certain project management tools to automate various tasks as far as managing projects go and we expect you to be aligned with such platforms. As far as these tools are concerned, the expectation may be that these tools are one-fit-all and that they pretty much apply to all projects. However, as a project manager at Appinventiv, we allow the freedom you need to get in tune with the tools YOU think are appropriate for a certain project.

Project management tools and solutions have always been the game-changing factor. The tools we use at Appinventiv will help you make positive changes in project management through;

• Project planning: Uses data from previous projects to plan better
• Scheduling and time tracking: Keeps track of time spent on tasks and manages scheduled events, meetings, milestones, and deadlines
• Communication and collaboration: Lets you share critical information with team members, clients, stakeholders    
• Budgets and deadlines: Helps you deliver projects within the allocated budget
• Progress tracking: Keeps track of the ongoing projects and if resources need to be adjusted

At Appinventiv, we understand that the success of a project depends on a lot of factors. These are, among others, people who work on it, appropriate management of the undertaking, tools used to manage tasks and a manager who coordinates the project. Obviously, we cannot forget about other very important factors such as finance, deadlines and technological facilities. Delivering regularly not only for yourself but on the behalf of an entire team is bound to get challenging at some point of time. Don’t be afraid to look for help and advice. Nobody expects you to know everything, even if you’ve been managing projects for decades. We will make sure that all the resources are aligned as per your need and the project requirement.

In order to dive deeper and project an honest picture of the nuances of working as a Project Manager with us, we asked some of our employees, and this is what they had to say.

If you’re looking to work with us as a Project Manager, we have listed and simplified the key roles and responsibilities to help you drive successful project management.

1. Check in with the team members daily
2. Assess the health of the project daily
3. Update clients and stakeholders regularly
4. Prioritize tasks to maximise productivity
5. Keep a flexible schedule
6. Set deadlines and stick to them
7. Clarify the scale and scope of your project
8. Delegate work and responsibilities appropriately
9. Integrate the right project management software
10. Take risk-mitigating measures
11. Behold a financial prowess
12. Keep quality as the paramount need
13. Be a good listener and leader
14. Passionate for problem solving

The world of a PM can get pretty compelling. It’s also exciting, rewarding, and always interesting. In order to stay on track, we suggest and push you to build your day around the daily tasks. As a project manager, you need to be rigid enough to drive a project to the finish line, yet flexible enough to deliver the product according to expectations as circumstances change. 

Over the years, we’ve zeroed in on the traits that have made the most successful project managers. While companies are still fighting on finding the perfect manager for their projects, here is a quick glance at the basic qualities and skills of a project manager.

• They learn constantly and never act like they know it all.
• They know exactly what is to be delivered and by when. 
• They know the stakeholders’ expectations like the back of their hand.
• They know the strengths and weaknesses of each technology and tool being used in the project.
• They get the most out of their teams by understanding them collectively and individually.
• They never blame the team for mishaps. 
• They take responsibility for knowing and resolving issues in real time.

To make a project easier to plan and control, we have grouped it into phases, with each phase having similar tasks and leading up to a major deliverable. The end of each phase is then marked by a project milestone. Here is an adequately phased approach at Appinventiv.

Stage 1: Initiation 

This phase of project management marks the beginning of the project and is where the project charter is developed, and stakeholders are identified.

Stage 2: Planning

This is where the project plan is developed. That means costs are estimated, resources are determined, and requirements, scope and work breakdown structure are defined. This is also where risk is identified and planned for and where communications are built.

Stage 3: Execution

This project phase is where the project is carried out, all while procuring resources and managing stakeholder expectations.

Stage 4: Controlling/Monitoring

This phase is often carried out simultaneously with execution because this is where quality, scope creep, and cost/time allocations are monitored.

Stage 5: Closing

This stage of project management is where the project is finalized, the deliverable is given to the customer, stakeholders are told of the completion of the project, and all resources are released back to their resource managers.

Eventually, the goal of a project manager is to stay in business by offering solutions that teams need. Despite the size of a project, we all need someone who will be in charge of efficiency and productivity on them. Does your project need a project manager? 89% of high performing organizations agree that project managers are an asset. As project management is becoming a necessity of every business, we should focus on finding a leader who has the vision, the right skills, and knowledge to ensure on-time completion of projects. Project manager and project management are like two facets of a coin and for a project to be successful, bringing both into the picture is important. If I have convinced you that project management is indeed an interesting and wise choice, then kick-start your career with us.

The post What it’s like to be a Project Manager at Appinventiv appeared first on Appinventiv.

While unpleasantness lies at one end of the spectrum, on the other end lies a huge demand for blue-collar workers across the globe. The instability in the supply and demand for blue-collar workers has resulted in a high employee filing timeline. According to research conducted by Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute, the number of days it takes to fill an open position in a skilled blue-collar job is somewhere between 70 to 93 days. 

There are a number of reasons behind the growing instances of labor force participation decline, which according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is going to decline to 61% by 2026.

Challenges Faced by Blue-Collar Job Workers 

Flexibility 

A number of blue-collar workers come with inflexible schedules and are only able to work part-time. Employers however are not very accommodating to their timelines. 

Hiring process

While there are a number of forums and job boards working for white-collar employees, there is a shortage of blue-collar workers inclined platforms. This means they have to rely on classifieds, word-of-mouth, and agencies to find them potential employers – a service that is generally chargeable and thus non-profitable for them. 

Probability of unemployment 

Usually, the hour based work mode or blue-collar jobs work around seasonal demand. Even after partnering with employment agencies, there is no guarantee that the workers will be employed around the year. 

Automation 

With industries and firms automating processes and becoming efficient, there is an increasing fear among the workers that they will be replaced by AI. This unvalidated fear is keeping them away from looking at the blue-collar job landscape.

Lack of skill-based training 

Countries focus greatly on capitalizing college degrees, while the need of the hour is to focus on the promotion of skills-based training. “Businesses are certainly responding to the labor need,” says Aparna Mathur, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “One way is with paid apprenticeship programs. Employers are reaching out to high schools and community colleges to recruit students for one-to-two-year, on-the-job training programs. These are paid positions and teach workers exactly the skills that the company needs for them to fill vacancies.”

We Partnered With JobGet to Solve the Pestering Blue-Collar Job Issues 

Tony Liu and Billy Lan, the co-founder of JobGet, now a leading job hiring mobile app, came to us looking for a digital solution to solve the many blue-collar job hiring issues prevalent in the industry. They wanted to change the fact that there are a number of platforms enabling white-collar job seekers to apply through a one-click system, however, a blue-collar job seeker had to spend 30 to 40 minutes applying for a job. 

We sat with them to get a grasp of his idea, the result he was looking to attain, and set a guideline of his technical requirement. Our team of product researchers worked with him to conduct a product discovery workshop and deliver prototypes, information architecture highlighting the app flow and user journey. 

To make the jobseeking process discrimination-free, we used an AI matching technology that would make the job-seeking process locations specific – connecting hourly job-seekers with nearby businesses looking to hire them. The outcome of our efforts was that the job search and approval time which was earlier counted in weeks was brought down to days. 

What is JobGet?

JobGet is a mobile-first job platform for blue-collar job seekers. The application has created a marketplace where the job seekers and employers can message each other in real-time, schedule meetings, and even conduct video interviews. The outcome of their vision to reshape the employment landscape for the hourly employees have been such that they have already placed 150,000+ seekers within 12 months of operation. 

The Societal Impact of Appinventiv-JobGet Partnership 

On a community level, Jobget has partnered with nonprofit organizations such as Action for Boston Community Development (provides low-income residents with tools to transition from poverty to stability), Bay Cove Human Services (provides services for the homeless), and More Than Words (provides services for homeless youth). Hundreds of candidates from these organizations are using JobGet to take the next step in their career search.

They have also launched hundreds of job training workshops to provide resources and support to help individuals across hundreds of nonprofit organizations such as Pine Street Inn and Saint Francis House (homeless shelters), Women’s Lunch Place (day shelter community), Roca (protecting at-risk youths), and More Than Words (services for homeless youth). The true impact of JobGet on the blue-collar employment landscape has been visible in the time of COVID-19 when they helped over 30,000 job seekers get placed in the retail, hospitality, and healthcare systems. 

 “During the pandemic, it has been humbling to help so many hospitality and retail workers who were abruptly out of work quickly get rehired as essential workers. We were happy to assist local businesses affected by the pandemic with open access to the platform to list job openings.” says Tony Liu, Co-founder & CEO at JobGet. 

The impact that Jobget has been able to create in the blue-collar job search industry, has bagged them key global awards including the Global Grand Prize in MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge and the Gold Award from the MassChallenge. Additionally, they received funding of $2.1 Million in October 2020 to back their national expansion goals. 

What Lies Ahead for Appinventiv & JobGet Association?

We are working on the next version update where the app will get a feature aiding jobseekers ti to apply for jobs without having to visit the employers’ profile. We are positive that this event will bring down the job application timeline from several minutes to mere seconds.

The post We Partnered With JobGet, the leading hiring app, to Solve Blue-Collar Job Challenges appeared first on Appinventiv.

While good to hear, on paper, the reality is that for a lot of brands, the process of design sprint is difficult when conducted in a room, let alone when conducted remotely. 

But with 85% of our clients belonging to other global nations, we have more or less mastered the art of running remote design sprints. So now when remote is the new workplace normal, we are in a somewhat better space. 

Here’s our design sprint process that your team can also benefit from. 

Table of Content

1. What is the design sprint methodology?
2. Challenges of Running Design Sprints Remotely
3. Pre-Design Sprint Model
4. 4 Days Remote Product Design Sprint Process
5. Remote Design Sprint Tips & Tricks

What is the design sprint methodology?

The design sprint process – a.k.a one of the top UX best practices – is a four days’ step-by-step methodology that answers critical business and product questions via designing, prototyping, and idea testing. Built by Google and GV, it is a mix of innovation, business strategy, design thinking, behaviour science etc. brought together to make a way of working that any team can make use of.

The user experience design formulation process works for product managers, developers, and designers, who work in the space of innovation and problem-solving. It answers some of the most critical questions a brand struggles with:

• How can we convert an idea into a validated prototype faster?
• How can we ensure we are designing the right product before putting a ton of money in it?
• How can we test whether the feature-set we are envisioning the ones that users need?

Irrespective of how straightforward the product design sprint process looks, conducting the event virtually is difficult. 

Challenges of Running Design Sprints Remotely 

• Difference in time zone and availability of team – UX sprint calls for intense, engaging sessions. Scheduling and aligning distributed teams for long periods can pose as a challenge. 
• Low engagement – On a remote mode, the concentration of the team is one click away from going to YouTube or Telegram. Keeping them focused is a key issue that sprint teams face. 
• Tech-specific challenges – Low battery, bad internet condition, and faulty microphone is a trio that can make your design sprint steps take a bad turn. As a mobile app design company we ensure that the technology part of the sprint is on point before the design sprint commences. 

Our first two-three sprint sessions brought us face to face with these challenges. Although the failure count was low, the frustrations were galore. Although our struggle phase goes back to 2014 when we were handling our first client interaction, from what we read across the internet, the issues remain more or less the same. Here are some of the pre-sprint setups we settled on to make the remote design sprint process smooth-sailing. 

Pre-Design Sprint Model

Prepare the design sprint material and template beforehand

For ensuring that you get the most of the remote design sprint, prepare all the materials beforehand. The existing customer insights, documentation shared by the clients, etc. should be gathered and distributed within the team before the process starts. 

Form the team

We created a team of seven people leaving the finance team out of the process, since we would hardly need any budgeting activity here. The role of decider and facilitator, although important even in the regular sprint session becomes all the more important in a remote sprint design process. The decider is the one who has the final call while the facilitator is someone who takes the responsibility of bringing everyone on the same page aided by the necessary technology help. 

Schedule the sprint event 

The ux design sprint method requires the teammates to be available, without distraction for five days. While doable when we were in the same space, fixing 5 days is difficult when operating remotely. But since we pride ourselves on being an app design firm that takes a design-first approach, we knew the importance of the process and convinced the clients to make themselves available as well. 

Pro Tip: If you find it difficult to get people available for five consecutive days, put a weekend between the deciding and prototyping days. This way, the team will approach prototype creation with a fresh mind on Monday. 

Logistics side of pre-sprint prep 

Although a remote-inclined tech and office setup should come naturally for brands that work with a distributed team or overseas client, in case you are not one of them, we recommend you to have:

• Camera 
• Microphone
• Cubicle 
• Good internet connection which can support you being on video at all times for five days 
• White board to make the sketches on. 

Here are some of the collaboration tools that we have been relying on –

With the pre-design sprint process discussed, let us now give you a peek into our four-days process. 

4 Days Remote Product Design Sprint Process

Day 1: Sketching and Mapping 

The phase comprises bringing the sprint team together and brainstorming the product and the solution it would offer. The entire day is spent on researching whether or not the product is even needed by the masses and if that as a whole is a solution they are looking for. Here, we also discuss the alternatives of what would people choose had the product didn’t existed. 

The more you brainstorm and read into this process, the more you would realize that this step is the same as what a mobile app design and development company follows when they validate an MVP. 

Day 2: Storyboarding

With multiple ideas now present, the team on Day 2 fix a plan of action. They draw a storyboard containing how the users would come to the app, why they would open it, the features they would interact with, and what will be the outcome of their time inside the application. 

Ensure that you have added all the necessary materials and resources backing the storyboard assumptions. 

Day 3: Prototyping 

Once you have the storyboard ready and the idea decided, head on to the stage of prototype development. The idea is not to build a product that will be deployed in the stores, but an app that people can run and experience. There are a number of different app prototype tools you can work on to create a clickable version of your app vision. 

The process of prototype development should be done with the intent to allow people to test it on Day 4. 

Day 4: Testing

This is the last step of the design sprint process where you get people to test your prototype and share their experiences with your team. The best thing to do here is to record those sessions so that you can always go back to them when your application hits the development stage. 

Up until this point, you have read everything that you need to know about conducting remote design sprints. But the true success stories lie with brands that know the many side-tips. Ones that every innovative mobile app design agency knows. 

Remote Design Sprint Tips & Tricks 

1. In case you are finding it difficult to get team’s availability at the same time, divide the remote design sprint across two weeks. 
2. Prepare sprint brief and template beforehand
3. Add ample breaks 
4. Restrict multi-tasking – the team focus throughout the design sprint session should be on the session. 
5. Ask everyone to divide their screen into video and the digital whiteboard so that they can see the whiteboard and the participants at the same time. 

We have reached the stage where the only thing left for you to do before you go to the idea conception stage is get in touch with a mobile application design company that is an expert in remote design sprint. We can help.

The post The Ultimate Guide on How to Run Design Sprint with Remote Teams appeared first on Appinventiv.

They are also required to have the expertise in knowing how to identify the priority tasks and manage the team accordingly. Not just this, but mobile product managers are also given the responsibility to analyze the features added to a product (mobile app) and whether they are in sync with the client’s goals. 

All in all, every process, activity, and decision associated with a product is synchronized and aligned by the mobile product manager. What helps these product managers achieve their KRAs is a certain set of skills.

Now, obviously they will be required to explain certain product management ideas to their team members so that they all are on the same page. But, the thing to wonder is – how do they explain all the product management concepts and key ideas?

Well, I think a few useful diagrams for product managers do the trick. If you are interested in knowing what these diagrams are and how and when they are used by mobile product managers, stick till the end.

Diagram 1 – Communication bottlenecks

It is understood that as a manager, you need to be aware of what is going on in your team and how the team members are managing their tasks. But, it is ludicrous for any person to be involved in every communication and decision – one person cannot handle all the things on one’s own, right? Isn’t this why the delegation was invented? 

Now, it is natural you would want to be included in all the important inter/intra-team conversations, but you need to reflect on one thing – is it necessary? Is it something you should do by putting aside your other responsibilities? 

The answer is – analyze whether the team is capable of communication which is not dependent on you. And if it is, you need to make some conscious decisions to ensure that important things like fluent communication are not solely dependent on you. A diagram that can effectively explain the case in point is given below. 

Let’s say, a Web Engineer needs to discuss something with the Product Analyst and then the PA says they need to discuss something with the iOS developer in this regard. Now, the Web Engineer should ideally approach the PA and iOS developer directly, instead of being dependent on the PM (as shown in the image on the left). 

The diagram on the left shows the dependency of the team on product manager to communicate with other members of other teams – something that adversely affects the workflow and slows it down. And on the right is the diagram displaying an efficient communication flow that is not dependent, instantly eliminating unnecessary points of contact.   

Diagram 2: Waterfall vs agile

Though there are many resources out there on the internet participating in the debate of the Agile vs Waterfall approach, it may still seem like a vague concept in relation to product management. So let’s clear the fog of ambiguity.

It is generally known that the cost of mobile app development is calculated on the basis of hours it takes to develop that product. 

Now, if the product manager of that mobile app development company chooses to use the Waterfall approach (i.e., a large release of the product), this would mean that the product will be launched all in one go. 

Now, when a product is released, it is expected to become an instant hit – something which won’t be easy in this instance, since the product is launched all at once and is definitely a home to some issues. The value that they will get from this release won’t be equivalent to the investment (time) made by the developers.  It is because they would require to fix the issues from the start.

On the contrary, the agile approach supporting small releases and iterations would show instant value results, since you are simultaneously identifying errors and fixing them.  The diagram above clearly shows the difference in the end result of choosing these product management approaches.

Diagram 3: Representation of delivery size

When it comes to delivering a product on time, it is a very crucial part of the whole development process. It can literally make or break the future of any mobile app. If time-to-market is too long, some other app could capture the market and it would render the mobile app in question futile.

Here is a representation of the sizes of initiatives taken when developing an application –

The diagram on the left shows the throughput of the delivery size that only deals with working on big projects (large chunks of work at the same time). It is absolutely clear that working only on big projects of a product would create a blockage at one point of time in the future, since these projects would require more time, attention, resources, etc. And if anything goes wrong, the impact would be devastating on the whole process, inevitably increasing the time-to-market.

{Also read our article on “Project Managers vs Product Managers: Difference, roles & challenges”}

The diagram on the right is a classic “to do”. The advantages of adopting the Agile approach have rippled down to this stage in the product management process as well. This approach advocates the mixture of performing small tasks with large chunks of work (blue), something that we also follow at Appinventiv. 

As visible in the diagram, unlike the one on the left, here small chunks of work (Pink) can easily pass through the funnel (can be done easily). If these prove successful, the product managers can carry on with this idea (yellow circles) and invest completely. And if otherwise is the case, then they can iterate again and invest accordingly.

{Check out this extensively detailed article on “10 most important documents product managers must prepare”}

Diagram 4: Level of leadership involvement

The diagram below comprises two models for elaborating this product management concept. One on the left displaying the initiative size, number of tasks done at a time, and the risk factor in them, and the other concerned with the level of involvement of the product managers (leadership) correspondent to these tasks and initiatives. 

The one on the left is a pyramid of tasks/initiatives to be performed by the team. The bottom of the pyramid means many tasks being performed at once, and the diagram on the right shows the amount of involvement with respect to these menial tasks having low to none risk. 

As we move to the top of the pyramid, the number of tasks decreases while the risks associated with these tasks increase as well, this is where the product manager MUST be consulted, while in the formed he/she can be just informed. This diagram would help not just help mobile product managers but also the team members in knowing when to depend on the leadership.

Diagram 5: Analyzing segmentation value

There are a few practices that organizations are accustomed to following. One of them being the habit of optimizing for the average instead of a segment. Meaning, they tend to focus on the average instead of particular segments that need improving.

In the circumstances where the targets and hypotheses are fairly broad, it becomes challenging for the product managers and development teams to create an impact via product. It is because you are here trying to satisfy a variety of targets at the same time, which is not at all possible. 

Diagrams, such as given below are a way to analyze each segment for identifying which ones are impacting the performance of others. All this to resolve the prevailing issues.

The diagram above consists of three hypothetical experiments 1,2, and 3 with segments A, B, C, and D. Out of three experiments, in the first case, there was an uplift in the segment A, followed by a decrease in the second case, and third with no change. 

Taking an individual look, in experiment 1, segment A performed well with others, except segment B. Now, the diagram has highlighted the decline in this segment juxtaposed to the others. This could help product managers in finding the reasons for this happening which will eventually improve the average in the longer run. 

A similar situation occurs in experiment 3, where segments A, C, D underperform in opposition segment B which showed significant change. Again, a study would clear out the reasons for this happening. 

These useful diagrams for product managers can easily be customized to one’s needs, irrespective of which industry the product managers are operating in. As far as Appinventiv is concerned, I think these models really help our teams in simplifying the process and maintain open communication between inter/intra-teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.  What is a product management framework?

All the frameworks are essentially tools used in the product management lifecycle. They are used for various purposes such as to illustrate product management ideas and concepts and facilitate other tasks.

2. What is the product management process?

The process of product management consists of various stages. It includes – idea management, road-mapping, adding and determining specifications, prioritization, delivery, analytics, and user feedback.

The post Best 5 Diagrams Used To Explain Product Management Concepts appeared first on Appinventiv.

‘Guiding Principles’ is a broad concept. It encompasses personal beliefs, values and guides an organisation in all situations throughout its life, irrespective of the changes in its goals, strategies, and objectives. 

Principles are the very cornerstone of an organization. To run a successful venture it is important to define your values and guiding principles. It also cultivates a culture where everyone knows what matters. 

Employees do get a sense of an organisation’s philosophy through observation and inference, but it is essential for them to have a clear understanding of the priorities and goals in order to know how to act in a million different situations. That’s why having a set of guiding principles is extremely crucial. 

When one team heavily relies on a certain set of principles while another operates on a different set of principles, it results in a haphazard way of software development. 

Guiding principles not only aligns teams, it is the best way to scale a team. It ensures that an organisation is working as a unified whole to drive great results. Principles help us to repeat behaviours. Without a set of principles, any organisation would begin to falter.

At Appinventiv, we refer to our principles a lot. They guide us in all phases and stages of product development and help us build quality solutions. We also update them yearly to make sure they still represent our best ideas and continue to guide us towards the results we want.

We have some R&D principles, product design and development principles that guide us throughout our digital product journey. Since we follow the cross-functional team approach to product development, everyone has a comprehensive understanding of the basic guiding principles and the principles specific to their domain. 

R&D Principles 

Ditch the solution-first mindset and Start with the Why 

We begin by deeply understanding your problem. A solution-first mindset is a wrong approach to product development without knowing the core of the problem. It can lead to missing out on potentially viable solutions that generate better results and deliver the exact value that we expect.

Through years of experience and market understanding, we have identified that problems are harder to articulate. And it is extremely crucial that the problem is adequately formulated.

That is why throughout our process, the why is persistent to evolve the understanding of the problem.

We believe in Scoping the project to the ultimate depths so that we don’t miss out on any details. We begin by Discovery and start research on the right foot. We breakdown the problem and then with a product mindset, devise ways to build the best possible solution. 

Our research always skews towards a deeper understanding of the user. It helps us discover opportunities as to how a problem can be addressed with different features which delivers significantly more value in less efforts. 

We work with a relentless pursuit to bring value to the customers and businesses through continuous exploratory research. 

There is no one size that fits all

In this fast-paced world, speed and agility have become the need of the hour. For this ultimate pursuit, we are always rethinking the way we carry out the most time-consuming product development steps and how we can eliminate failures at the very beginning. 

We believe that there is no one size that fits all. And that is why at Appinventiv, we consider a Design Sprint process fundamental to the development of any digital product. It helps us unravel unique perspectives on how to tackle the problem in the best possible manner. 

It is almost like a ‘zero-based’ approach, where we find answers to the most pressing concerns through rapid prototyping in a span of a few days. In our remote design sprint process, we validate assumptions with real users and through this unique process ensure that your breakthrough idea lives up to its potential. The process provides guaranteed results 10x faster than any other approach.

Innovation Culture

We believe that digitalisation and innovation are decisive factors in business development. That’s why we invest significant amount of time and resources not only in product development, but also in establishing innovation labs and cultivating an Innovation culture. 

We balance the scientific rigour of Lean and agile with a creative process. It entails fostering a vibrant environment where creativity can thrive and innovators are not discouraged from thinking outside the box. 

[Further Read: How we Align Lean Principles in Our Software Development Process]

We have established Innovation labs to address the key challenges of digital disruption and to create anything from a new product or service to a new technology or business model. 

We have standardised processes that enable efficient and scientific evaluation of new ideas. We have SMEs for every niche of product development. Our SMEs work with a product mindset and  have experience working with ride hailing giants like Uber and Ola. They foster a unique innovation culture in the company and through lean innovation build market-leading products and services and scale them to new heights. 

Optimize the Whole 

Every organisation has a value stream, meaning there are a sequence of activities that need to be performed( design, development and testing) before delivering the product to the client. 

Our goal is to deliver as much value as possible quickly to our customers.Therefore, we believe in optimizing the whole process. Suboptimization becomes a problem in software development. By optimising the whole process, we eliminate vicious cycles especially between development and testing. 

We look at things holistically, believe in the DevOps culture and it helps us to better understand the capacity of other departments and disciplines. 

After recognising how value flows through digital product development, we have structured software development teams to be independent, multi-disciplined and cross-functional. We regularly review our production-development models and by eliminating suboptimization we have significantly reduced the market time.

Design Principles 

Design should always be Human Centered 

At Appinventiv, we believe in humanising technology and therefore the user is at the center of our design process.

Human-centered design is one of our fundamental design principles. Over the years we have noticed that users don’t really remember everything that they come across but what they don’t really forget is how they felt when using a digital product. 

We ensure that our products elicit some emotions when a user engages with it. Throughout the design process, our emphasis lies on building a deep empathy with the users. The user journey seamlessly weaves together every visual element and we build products that renders a genuinely satisfying experience to the users. 

Be Simple and Easy to Use 

With years of experience, we have identified that customers don’t want to think when navigating through an application. So, we craft designs that seamlessly guide users in performing the desired action, without much thought.

We always strive to make infinitely complex things simpler and comprehensible for the users. Our designs are user-friendly and make use of already used components, colours, and behaviours to provide clarity to the users. 

An Optimal Combination

Being unconventional in design is stressed often but it is crucial to strike the right balance between usability and creativity. Over the years, we have learnt when to let our creative juices flow and where to accommodate familiar design patterns.  

Our designs are an optimal combination of usability and innovation. The key is to be unconventional but in moderation. 

Consistency 

Consistency is a fundamental design principle that we truly abide by. Consistency in a digital product interface ensures that users can easily navigate without thinking too much. Delivering a smooth experience becomes all the more easy when users recognize consistently used UI elements. 

If the design is familiar users easily adapt to the product which enhances the overall experience.

Experience is the product

We believe that a good design practice essentially implies a good product management practice. A digital product is basically a user experience, wrapped around some business logic and coupled with data.  

When we build innovative solutions our focus lies in organizing around how customers experience their products and services. We believe a product is nothing but an experience. Our Product Managers work with a product mindset to deliver a truly delightful experience to the users. 

Development Principles 

Agile thinking

We believe agile is not just a method but a way of thinking. To accelerate the pace of innovation and market new products quickly, we practice agile development and thinking. Through agile we empower teams to iteratively turn ideas into a million users’ reality.

Despite where we are at the development pipeline, we welcome change. Basically, agile allows us to be nimble. The agile way of functioning helps us eliminate inefficiencies and ensures everything is aligned. 

Ship to learn 

We believe that the sooner you ship, the sooner you get feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Rapidly building and launching an MVP into the market helps to test the waters. We take user feedback into keen consideration and iteratively build a product. 

Shipping product is not the end but the beginning of a process. Giving users a basic functionality product, observing how they engage and iterating from thereon helps in building a robust solution. 

Collaboration across disciplines 

Building a digital product requires team effort.  We harness the power of cross- functional teams to grow with agility and speed and deliver meaningful experiences . 

 By mutually exploring the prospects of a project, it becomes easy to brainstorm ideas, uncovering unique perspectives, and channeling an umbrella of expertise towards building quality digital solutions. 

Collaborating across disciplines throughout the product development lifecycle helps us minimizes handovers and speeds up the processes. 

Conclusion

While a few of these aren’t principles essentially, but practices that we follow on a day to day basis, they still represent our best ideas. These organisational values have guided us in all phases and stages of development. 

Our relentless pursuit has always been to be the best in digital product development and these principles act as a guiding light to redefine digital experiences and build quality digital products.

The post Our Guiding Principles on How to Build Great Digital Products appeared first on Appinventiv.

Tony Robbins

For few, the Blockchain journey begins as a calm river. For others, it emerges as an adventurous ride with adrenaline-fueled emotions tangled with trading cryptocurrency. But, for us, it was somewhat different. It began with a risk.

It all started back in the year 2016. 

During those days, blockchain was considered a hype that was poised to lose its essence. But on the contrary, the Blockchain market was flourishing, anticipated to generate revenue of $229.4 M. But, a majority of entrepreneurs and developers were seeing it as a synonym to Bitcoins. Only a few reputed names like IBM were exploring the scope of Blockchain beyond cryptocurrencies and encouraging developers to create innovative solutions.

This is when the Appinventiv team decided to enter the market. We were recently featured on GoodFirms as India’s leading app development company for delivering bespoke solutions to our clientele. And, in accordance with our vision to challenge the boundaries of the mobility world, we planned to introduce Blockchain into our expertise set.

We soon built a team of experts from different domains to easily engineer users’ needs, be it from C++, Node.js, Python, Machine Learning, or UX department. We brainstormed and devised to start with unfolding the basics of Blockchain.

We looked into how this tamper-evident, shared digital ledger that records transactions in networks, works. We engaged with different existing blockchain-based platforms and solutions to get familiar with three pillars of the technology – Decentralization, Transparency, and Immutability. 

Once we gained a comprehensive knowledge of what is blockchain, how it works, and related concepts like consensus algorithms, we took a step towards getting the show on the road. 

After all, as a saying by Anton Chekhov states, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into action.”

We armoured ourselves with all the technical and business-related concepts, commenced sharing them with business prospects, and cracked our first project. The one that started a new era of innovation for us.

How We Developed Our First Blockchain Project

Since bitcoins and cryptocurrency wallets were in trend in process those days, the first project we worked with was a Bitcoin-based application – the Binkx app.

The idea proposed by the clients was of a web application that enables users to trade with bitcoins. We brainstormed on the idea, studied its user persona (which were Mexicans) – just like we do in the case of creating mobile apps, and came up with an app prototype.

[Know Here: How We Work at Appinventiv]

We focused on delivering a complete set of simple yet useful features, including adding, purchasing, sending, and withdrawing bitcoins. In addition to this, we also added the coin converter feature – the functionality of converting bitcoins to dollars and vice-versa – keeping user experience in consideration. Later, we employed various open-source platforms and third-party tools to introduce all these features and functionalities into the web application. 

And this is how we launched Binkx  – the web application that took the concept of multilevel marketing to the next level.

The success of the Binkx app filled our hearts with pride and enthusiasm. It made us realize that we have not only studied the growing future of cryptocurrencies but have also contributed to it.

After this, we worked on various bitcoin and payment-focused projects like Payment Porte which brought great traction and ROI to the respective businesses. At the same time, we dig deeper into the Blockchain world. We learnt about ICO, IEO, Hyperledger, difference between Custodial and Non-custodial wallets, and much more.

But, keeping our vision intact, we decided to not get swayed with the idea of limiting ourselves to a single industry. This was a significant turn in our blockchain journey.

A Turning Point in Our Blockchain Journey

We realized that there are various entrepreneurs who wish to enter the Blockchain industry, but are unclear about the different possibilities. So, to start with, we created a simplified yet useful Entrepreneur’s Blockchain guide. 

Our team helped Blockchain enthusiasts uncover different areas in their traditional processes that can be revamped with the help of this technology. We gave them a sneak peek of our approach right from executing cryptographic algorithms to developing smart contracts, creating ICOs, and the process of how we choose the best blockchain development platforms.

This way, we soon grabbed multiple projects which later revolutionized the business domain and processes. A few of which were:-

1.  Empire App

Empire app is a complete hotel booking ecosystem fueled with the power of crypto-economics. 

The idea behind this application was to make the hotel booking system transparent, free from third-party intermediaries who ask for more money in return of convenience, and to introduce cryptocurrencies in the ecosystem.

We developed this application using a public blockchain, making it accessible to everyone. Also, our experts introduced a currency called EMPIRE CASH which can be used just like Fiat money.

We have already delivered an MVP of this application. It is presented in the ICO and has received accolades from various top leaders. Now, we are working on building a full scope application of the same.

[Get familiar with our ‘so far’ journey in the hotel booking domain via our Case Study on Empire App.]

2.  Veme App

Veme is yet another ongoing social media project where we showed our expertise in blockchain development.

The platform, with the first phase already launched, lets users capture every big and little moment of their lives in movie format which they can share with their loved ones.

3.  Wine Refinery

With our Wine Refinery project [name disclosed], we entered into the B2B industry and looked into the role of Blockchain in supply chain.

The clients came to us asking for a solution to mitigate the risk of counterfeiting and relabelling of cheaper wines with reputed ones in the industry. We studied their market and introduced the concept of private blockchain.

Our team converted their wine bottles into unique digital records using Hyperledger to make their supply chain transparent and immutable. We tested the POC by tracing 1200 wine bottles and detected 5 counterfeit ones during the supply chain process.

The project, though ongoing, has passed its first phase and is expected to help the brand in streamlining and decentralizing their process, along with building trust among its customers.

4.  Dapp Solutions

Dapp Solutions is another project that sparked our interest. 

Here, the idea proposed was to develop a marketplace that provides users with services offered by multiple applications. 

Our team studied the needs and expectations of users in the age bracket of 18 to late 30s, and developed multiple mini-apps. Later, we combined those applications into a single platform. And this way, met the client requirement.

Besides, to give a touch of decentralization in ‘Appinventiv Style’, we worked on four areas:-

• We created a cryptocurrency called DappCoin
• We added a cryptocurrency wallet to store the currency within the marketplace.
• A crypto payment mechanism was devised to ensure real-time transactions of cryptocurrencies.
• And lastly, we introduced a smart contract into the development space to ensure that payments made reach its ultimate goal.

5.  Nova Learning

Another major project we worked upon was in the education sector. 

It is basically a LMS-powered solution that targets fraudulent course certification and other such trust-related issues in the education sector. The application works using smart contracts, letting students get smart contract based certificates for the courses uploaded by the teachers. Thus, adding immutability and transparency criteria of Blockchain into the domain.

Nova app’s Phase 1 is already validated through the POC and our team has now moved to Phase 2.

[Check the ‘to date story’ of developing this project via our Nova learning management case Study.]

Appinventiv’s Current State in Blockchain World

We have explored and aided everyone to understand the real impact of Blockchain technology on the economy.

So far, we have grown to a team of 30+ experts with profound knowledge of Blockchain technology and its application in different sectors. We have developed 5 white label solutions and delivered around 50+ projects catering to diverse business needs.

Currently, we are working on more than 4 blockchain-based projects. Where one is an NFT-based bidding platform, the other is a cryptocurrency exchange platform. 

Likewise, one is a GDPR compliant bulk data-sharing platform which is built on a private blockchain, and another one is a platform showing how blockchain is revolutionizing healthcare, aka, a platform for keeping healthcare records intact and offer insurance in a seamless manner.

Awards and Recognition Received by Appinventiv in Blockchain Era

Because of our continual efforts into the Blockchain domain – both in terms of sharing information and building innovative projects, we have been gaining accolades from varied reputed platforms.  

We have been recognized as top blockchain development company by Clutch, Appfutura, Manifest, and TrustFirms. Also, we are covered in several reports because of our experience in creating and managing Dapps, such as that of MobileAppDaily and Builtin.

Our Future Plans in the Blockchain Domain

Talking about the future, we are looking ahead to emerge out as Blockchain agnostic in the market. We are planning to go deeper into the Blockchain spectrum and bring better solutions for the challenges associated with traditional business strategies/processes globally. 

Besides, we are hoping to work more on government-focused projects; bringing difference in the lives of many at the same time.

In addition to this, we are starting hackathons workshops, training sessions, and other such events to share our knowledge with others and prepare them for the decentralized future.

The post Let’s Rewind: How We Started Our Journey in Blockchain Domain appeared first on Appinventiv.

Right?

But seeing your idea materialize into a robust product requires strategizing, assembling the right team, and conducting a kick-off meeting.

But it is not over yet. The kick-off meeting implies that you are just getting started. 

Building a mobile app is a long process. While the Scoping session and discovery phase of app development have been emphasized enough, managing the project efficiently has a huge impact on the success of a product.

According to a PwC study, a whopping 97% of organizations believe that project management is critical to business performance and organizational success.

Regardless of how simple or complex your idea is, project management plays a fundamental role in app development. Effective project management ensures that deadlines are met on time and there is a timely flow of deliverables. 

So, if you want to stay on track with your app development project, whether it’s in terms of schedule or getting the app that you want, besides regular communication with the development agency, effective project management techniques is a must. 

And especially your Project Manager must take care of the project management triangle.  

What is Project Management Triangle?

Project Management Triangle also referred as the Iron Triangle or the Project Management Triple Constraint defines the basic constraints that a project operates within, namely, Scope, Time and Cost. 

The Iron Triangle, as the name suggests is the relationship between three crucial forces in a project. It is named so because you can’t change one aspect of the triangle without impacting other key dimensions. 

Introducing modifications to any of the three aspects of the Project Management Triangle is quite difficult. 

For instance, let’s suppose you are a Project Manager and your client insists on adding more functionalities to the product. Increasing the project scope implies that the time required to build the product will increase and that would eventually increase the cost of a project. 

So, to ensure that the project costs don’t exceed the budget and the product is delivered within the timeframe with the right functionality, it is essential to have an understanding of the mutual dependency of the three constraints. 

Being ignorant of the Project Management Triple Constraint might put you at risk of making the wrong decisions and it may adversely impact the success of your project.

Why Is It Important To Have Balance In a Project Management Triangle?

Keeping the triple constraints of Project Management Triangle in mind while you spearhead a project will help you adapt to the changing requirements while assuring that the project is delivered on time and doesn’t exceed the budget. 

The concept of the project management triangle finds its reference in Agile methodology, and agile allows us to welcome changes. We can’t really ignore changes in the development process, they are bound to come up. 

Therefore, project management time cost quality and smart management of the iron triangle is crucial. Being prepared ensures any changes whatsoever don’t impact or jeopardize the entire project. 

So, before you expand the scope or move the deadline you should know how it can impact your project. 

To give you a clear idea and understanding, let’s explore some scenarios and dive deep into the dimensions of the triangle and measure the consequences and project triple constraint analysis of moving the triangle towards one or two dimensions. 

Scope 

Scope refers to the extent, dimension and spectrum of the work that needs to be accomplished in a project. It entails all the work that needs to be done and all the services that need to be provided in regard to the product functionalities.

Increasing the project scope impacts the time and the budget. Adding more functionalities or expanding the existing ones require resources that might not have been taken into consideration while planning. 

When requests for additional resources arise, a Project Manager has to take a lot of factors into consideration which can increase the project costs or lengthen the development process. 

Also, having a tight budget and stringent deadlines gives you little or no flexibility in terms of expanding the project scope. 

However, there is an approach which will allow you to add functionalities without expanding the scope of a project. 

And that’s where the concept of an MVP comes into the picture. A Minimum Viable Product is the first version of a product with a basic set of features. It determines whether or not the product has the potential to succeed.

An MVP is launched in the market in the shortest time possible to ascertain whether it sparks user interest. After generating invaluable user feedback and validating with real users, new functionality is added gradually. 

It is a great way to test the waters. Products that are fully functional as MVPs can gradually add more functionalities. Your focus should essentially lay on finding a product-market fit. 

Product-market fit is the extent to which a product satisfies a strong market demand. Finding the right product-market fit is considered the first step to building a successful venture.

More often than not, many clients demand to extend the scope of work while the product is in the development pipeline. Adding new functionalities without making tradeoffs with regard to the time and budget sounds impossible. 

Except, in some cases, it’s really not. 

Adding new functionality by removing initially planned features doesn’t impact the triple constraints as much. When building a new product or application, it is advisable to keep the scope to a minimum- include only the ‘must-have’ features and leave the ‘nice to have’ features. An MVP should include only the core functionality and characterize the value proposition. This way you can avoid wasting the budget on something that users don’t even need. 

While handling complex projects that cater to highly competitive markets, sometimes adding new functionality becomes a necessity. In cases where changes can make a huge difference for the user and the business, they should be accommodated with open and honest communication between the Project Manager and the key stakeholders. 

Factors to look out for scope challenges, so that you don’t face any issue:

•         Uncertain requirements
•         Add-on feature requests
•         Changing specifications

Time 

The expected timeframe of a project is decided by a couple of factors such as the scope of work, the complexity of the project, availability of the resources and the team expertise. 

While time constraints in project management implies the amount of time you need to complete the tasks, the velocity factor measures how much work is getting accomplished in a given timeframe. 

Since people don’t really work with the same speed and efficiency every day, the velocity tends to vary across days and weeks 

Estimating the time frame becomes difficult due to the changes in the velocity. 

This is why in an agile environment, the scrum work methodology is considered an ideal approach to ensure the project is completed in the given timeframe. 

With efficient communication between team members, daily Stand-ups, Sprint Planning, and Retrospectives, it is easy to map out the team’s workload, work on obstacles and keep the velocity factor in check every step of the way. 

Ideally, after the completion of three sprints, it’s easy to map out if more resources are required in the project or if the deadline needs to be moved.

Time is very important asset, thus to avoid any delays you should be aware of time challenges like:

•         Internal and External delays:
•         Too much optimism
•         Team gaps
•         Too much work pressure

Cost 

The third key dimension, Cost, includes the project budget and the number of team members needed to deliver a product. 

To keep the cost factor in check, it is advisable to prioritize elements of project scope that need to be delivered and allocate resources accordingly at all phases of development. 

Estimating the cost and resources required in a project isn’t as easy, especially when it is a complex project. A good Project Manager either makes estimates based on data collected from similar projects done in the past or makes an appropriate guess based on the detailed interaction with the client. 

After making the initial estimate, the project planning for PMs includes controlling and managing the budget throughout the development cycle. 

Everything has a limitation, thus here are some factors that you can take care of which could cause project budget to fall apart:

•         Lack of accountability
•         Cost underestimation
•         Rising personnel costs
•         Delay in project

How To Balance The Iron Triangle? 

The Iron Triangle doesn’t exist to help us detail all the elements of a project management- scope, time and cost. Rather, it goes on to show how these constraints are intricately intertwined. 

Managing and Balancing the scope time cost triangle is quite similar to juggling and it certainly isn’t easy. 

Project Managers divide the entire project into milestones and tasks to balance the triangle effectively. The priorities for the team are defined and there is always open communication with the client in order to meet their unique requirements. 

The iron triangle is a compromise balance that the project manager needs to dominate by controlling variables and factors. Together, balancing the project management and these three requirements can help decide the quality of the whole project.
For instance, if a project should be finished by a particular time, the scope may require to be diminished, or costs to be increased to oblige extra resources or additional time. Or on the other hand if a project can’t surpass a budget, then the project manager may have to stretch time to reduce additional time utilized.

Here are some of our best practices for effectively managing the Triple Constraints: 

Discovery Workshops:

At the outset of every project, we conduct Product Discovery Workshops with our clients. These workshops are conducted to define the purpose of the project, establish the project scope, outline the core functionalities and streamline a roadmap to accomplish the work. It provides the client clarity on what needs to be done. 

Estimate: 

After having a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the project, we provide a detailed estimate of the project timeline and the required budget to successfully develop the product. 

Plan: 

Our Project Managers strategically plan the team’s workloads as per the milestones. By practicing the Scrum framework, we keep velocity in check and there is a timely flow of deliverables. It helps us eliminate obstacles early on and accomplish work in the given deadline. 

Team:  

We allocate a cross-functional team to ensure we deliver the best possible solution on time and within budget. A Cross-functional team brings together people from different functional expertise. Through shared expertise and mutually exploring the prospects of a project, together we accomplish a common goal. 

Communication:

In the product development process, open communication between the team and the key stakeholders is crucial. Our Delivery system ensures proactive updates, which means our client is never in the dark. We discuss any possible changes in the key dimensions upfront and that makes the team adapt to changes quickly.

Balancing the iron triangle is a crucial part. According to an article by the Project Management Institute titled, ‘Beyond the Iron Triangle,’ the project managers should think and consider soft factors like social expectations (meetings and analytic space) and personal motivation. These internal factors are capable of influencing projects as much as the three main constraints.

Conclusion

While balancing the project management triangle is a lot like juggling, it is also a constant reminder of how changing one constraint will cast an impact on the entire project. 

It is a valuable tool that prepares the Project Manager to think strategically, make wiser decisions and effectively manage the project.

The post How to Successfully Balance the Project Management Triangle? appeared first on Appinventiv.

We’re looking for passionate individuals that can join us in our relentless pursuit to build innovative solutions and make an impact by improving people’s lives. 

We have a talented team of in-house experts- Developers, Designers, Architects, and Engineers. Do you wish to be a part of our organization? We have made our recruitment process simpler and faster this year. 

We are extremely particular about the people we hire. We take immense pride in our exceptional team and our amazing work culture. We spend a lot of time and effort in the recruitment process and hand-pick tech talent from the industry. 

How to Apply

At Appinventiv, the possibilities are endless. If you are driven, passionate, creative and unconventional by thought, we definitely want you in our team. . We not only promise a superb career but also encourage you to grow with us. 

It doesn’t really matter if you are a fresher looking for learning or an experienced professional looking for a change, if you are a self-starter, analytical and proactive, we will be happy to have you on board. 

So, if you love working on cutting-edge technologies, have exceptional communication skills and are eager to work in a startup culture, here is how you can  join Appinventiv. 

1. Send us your Application

It is amazing that you are eager to work at Appinventiv, we have a lot of positions open for you.

You can  head to our careers page to find out which position best suits your skill set, interests, and background. 

To ease out the process for you, we have provided detailed information regarding each position- the key responsibility areas, the skillset we are looking for, the challenges you might encounter, and the learning opportunities that you’ll discover.

Fill out the necessary information and submit your resume. We assure you will hear back from us shortly. 

Tip: We like to associate ourselves with people who have an eye for detail, so we suggest you perfect your resume . 

If you come  across a job posting on  our Linkedin, thoroughly read the KRA before  submitting  your application. 

2. Hear from Us 

We receive a ton of applications on a daily basis. Be patient,  we carefully review each and every one of them . If you meet our requirements, we will schedule a call at the earliest. 

Our HR Manager will ask you a couple of questions over the call and if everything works out, we will schedule an interview at our corporate office. 

3. First round of Interview

The first round of interview will be conducted by someone from the team you’re applying to. In the initial round, we see if you are the  right fit for the team. In this meeting, we discuss your past accomplishments and find out what you expect to learn in the current position. 

Every position comes with a separate set of skills and requirements. But across positions, what we are really looking for is people who are passionate about their work. 

4. Technical Screening

After the initial round of interview, we ask the candidates to complete a technical challenge in a given amount of time,  to test how talented and skilled a person really is. The challenge usually encompasses the type of work you’ll be expected to do on an everyday basis. 

Tip: In the technical screening round, our aim is to keep you on your toes. We want to see how you act when faced with a challenge in a time crunch. We suggest, have an open mind and do your best. 

5. Final Interview 

After evaluating you based on the challenge, we will let you know if you are eligible for the final interview.

The final round of interview is conducted by a key executive from the team. In this round, we primarily ask questions ranging from your work attitude to career goals. Basically, we delve deeper into your skills and assess how you can benefit  the team. 

If you have aced the interview and everything goes well, we’ll send you a job offer very soon. 

6. Job offer 

Our Hiring Managers will confirm if you have landed up the job and you’ll find a meticulously drafted  offer letter in your mailbox shortly. 

7. Onboarding

Once you acknowledge & accept our offer , the team will help you with the onboarding and getting familiar with our work process. 

If you do not end up getting an offer, we will definitely let you know  what didn’t work out.  

In case you want to try for the same position again, we suggest you wait for at least 6 months before applying. 

Now that you know everything regarding Appinventiv’s hiring process , what are you waiting for? If you are worried about the fact that you’re from a non-tech background, don’t be. Visit the article: How to Survive a Job in Tech Company When you Have a Non-Tech Background

Head to our career page, and apply right away. We’ll be thrilled to see you.

The post How to Join Appinventiv appeared first on Appinventiv.