Accelerating Software Development through Agile Practices - A Case Study of a Small-scale, Time-intensive Web Development Project at a College-level IT Competition

Abstract

Agile development has received increasing interest both in industry and academia due to its benefits in developing software quickly, meeting customer needs, and keeping pace with the rapidly changing requirements. However, agile practices and scrum in particular have been mainly tested in mid- to large-size projects. In this paper, we present findings from a case study of agile practices in a small-scale, time-intensive web development project at a college-level IT competition. Based on the observation of the development process, the interview of the project team, and the study of relevant documents, we describe how agile practices, such as daily scrums, backlogs, and sprints, were successfully adopted to the project development. We also describe several support- ing activities that the team employed, including cross-leveling of knowledge, socialization, and multiple communication modes. Finally, we discuss the benefits and challenges of implementing agile practices in the case project reported, as well as contribution and limitation of our finding.