In HDX, the development process is Agile and the audit trail for the work done is held in Jira in the form of issues, which are the fundamental units of work/planning information in Jira. Where issues are part of a larger piece of work they are grouped under an epic.

Jira Issues

The start of the development process is the entry of issues into Jira. Issues can be one of three different types:

Certain metadata should be completed to create an issue:

The issues, once created, go into the list of outstanding issues (Product Backlog) which can be seen here.

Scrum

The Agile process HDX uses is broadly similar to Scrum, a framework to support teams in complex product development. In Scrum, the time available to work is broken down into time periods known as Sprints of two weeks during which a “Done”, useable, and potentially releasable product Increment is created. It is helpful to look at a diagram of the Scrum Framework.

Roles

Customers (including Sarah)

The Customers are the source of requirements. They are not in the Scrum Team and hence do not attend Sprint meetings. Their connection to the Scrum process is by:

It is crucial that the only channel customers have to obtain developer time is by the creation of Jira issues so that all work is visible and tracked within the Scrum process. Any customer not comfortable with Jira should ask Godfrey for support in writing issues.

Scrum Team

Product Owner (Yumi)

The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Development Team. She is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog which includes:

She may do the above work, or have the Development Team do it. However, the Product Owner remains accountable. 

For the Product Owner to succeed, the entire organization must respect his or her decisions. Her decisions are visible in the content and ordering of the Product Backlog.

No one can force the Development Team to work from a different set of requirements!

Scrum Master (Dan) 

The Scrum Master is a servant-leader for the Scrum Team. He helps those outside the Scrum Team understand which of their interactions with the Scrum Team are helpful and which aren’t and encourages changing these interactions to maximize the value created by the Scrum Team. He helps the Development Team to create high-value products and removes impediments to their progress.

He serves the Product Owner in several ways, including:

Development Team (Arti, Alex, Dan, Serban)

The Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of "Done" product at the end of each Sprint. Only members of the Development Team create the Increment. They are self-organizing: no one (not even the Scrum Master or Product Owner) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality.

Process

Sprint Planning (Monday XX:XX CET for X hours)

The work to be performed in the Sprint is planned at the Sprint Planning by the entire Scrum Team:

Daily Scrum

The Daily Scrum is a 15 minute event for the Development Team to discuss:

Deployment to Staging and Testing (+2 weeks)

The completed product Increment is deployed to a staging server and testing is performed. Relevant team members from outside the Scrum Team can help with testing.

Sprint Review (+2 weeks, Tuesday XX:XX CET for X hours)

A Sprint Review is an informal meeting, not a status meeting, held at the end of the Sprint and attended by the Scrum Team and key stakeholders invited by the Product Owner:

Minor Bug Fixes and Deployment to Production ( > Sprint Review date)

Any last minute minor bug fixes are implemented and if there are no serious issues, the completed product Increment is deployed to production.

Sprint Retrospective (+2 weeks, Tuesday XX:XX CET for X hours)

The Sprint Retrospective is a formal opportunity for the Scrum Team to:

Demo to HDX (+2 weeks)

A demo is scheduled at the end of the Sprint so that any new features can be shown to the wider HDX Team. This is an opportunity for discussion and feedback on the changelist.