DFM Agile Methodology S. Harrison /11/12 DFM

Goals Transparency Predictability Adaptability 11/11/12 DFM

From Silos to Circles JRC MNG Sales Print Digital Dev Product QA Thunderdome Design Release # Days? #Resources? Reqs included? Prioritized? Vetted? 15 days, clear deliverables, clear resourcing Aligned with company priorities 11/11/12 DFM

Agile vs. agile 11/11/12 DFM Agile: 80% of all software development projects. Use of Agile tripled December 2008 to May 2011 Decreases product defects Improves team productivity Increases delivery of business value.

What does “agile” mean to you? 11/11/12 DFM

Two cultures join forces

11/11/12 DFM Traditional News Organizations

Cowboy – lone or group of developers working without process – Product defined by ongoing requests from business owners – Development begun at inception – Code is pushed when developer defines code as complete, no defined release strategy 11/11/12 DFM

Cowboy Pros Quick through-put Development freedom Frequent releases Conducive for small teams, experimental or reactive projects Cons Unclear requirements Unpredictable results Larger projects typically fail Does not factor in enterprise-level concerns, strategy Code pushes/fixes never- ending due to unclear reqs, lack of planning, testing Reactive approach 11/11/12 DFM

Traditional Engineering

Waterfall Plan, design, develop– follow the comprehensive blueprint to completion. Development tasks tracked sequentially by Project Manager Periodic status reports End dates depend upon start dates Full Requirements complete = Project Complete 11/11/12 DFM

Waterfall Pros All requirements are fulfilled Effective on projects where there are few unknowns Effective for implementation projects Cons Does not easily allow for shifts in strategy Low collaboration between depts Assembly line nature – Lack of feeling of ownership of /vision for product Impediments become visible as deadlines near, when it’s harder to course correct. 11/11/12 DFM

Cowboy Waterfall Sweet Spot for Digital Media Agile

Iterative, incremental development Adaptive, strategic planning, evolutionary development and delivery Self-organizing, cross-functional teams Flexible response to change 11/11/12 DFM

Agile DEMO RETROSPECTIVE

11/11/12 DFM Valuable to end user 36% Rarely Used 19% Never Used (stuck maintaining) 45%

11/11/12 DFM Product Owner Week 1 Tech Strategist/Core Team Week 2 Team Week 3 Day 1 Next Sprint Planning Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Driven by Product Owner

User Stories 11/11/12 DFM

Scrum Team in Context 11/11/12 DFM PRODUCT OWNER owns WHAT? SCRUM MASTER TEAM Owns HOW? protects Product/Sprint Backlog Stakeholders Not Allowed IS allowed Led by Tech Strategist

11/11/12 DFM Productivity Time Waterfall Cowboy Agile Sprint 1 Sprint 2Sprint 3Sprint 4Sprint 5 Sprint 6Sprint 7

11/11/12 DFM Individual ownership from each team member Collaboration within the process framework Team cohesion Cadence Minimal Disruptions Kaizen Product Vision Iterative feedback Robust Product Backlog and Prioritization Keys to Agile Success

The (Misunderstood) Agile Manifesto 11/11/12 DFM Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

DFM Sprints: Timeboxed “Swim Lanes” 11/11/12 DFM

Sprint: 15 Days for Dev/QA 2 days Planning 8 days coding 4 days testing/reworks 1 day Demo/Retrospective Development SPRINT 1 11/11/12 DFM

Sprint: 15 Days for Product Sprint 2 Projects Greenlighted User Stories, Wireframes, Comps, Other assets delivered User Story LOEs determined Development User Stories/Assets Development SPRINT 1SPRINT 2 11/11/12 DFM

Sprint: 15 Days for Creative Mocks/Clickable Prototypes (when needed) Developed, delivered, Stakeholder signoff Development User Stories/Assets Development Complex Mock-building Development SPRINT 1SPRINT 2SPRINT 3 11/11/12 DFM

Sprint: 15 Days for Business Owners/POs Development User Stories/Assets Development Complex Mock-building Development User Stories/Assets Complex Mock-building Development PRDx/PRD Initial Designs User Stories/Assets Development SPRINT 1SPRINT 2SPRINT 3SPRINT 4 11/11/12 DFM

Sprint: 15 Days for Rapid Deploy Needs Development User Stories/Assets Development Complex Mock-building Development User Stories/Assets Complex Mock-building Development User Stories/Assets Development SPRINT 1SPRINT 2SPRINT 3SPRINT 4 TAC Development Full Reqs, All prioritized 11/11/12 DFM PRDx/PRD Initial Designs

11/11/12 DFM

Agile Sprints Transparency Adaptability Predictability Process Communication/Culture Tools 11/11/12 DFM

Meeting enterprise-level needs… DFM Phases and Tollgates 11/11/12 DFM

Business Lead PRDx (TD= Product Backgrounder) PRDx (TD= Product Backgrounder) Product Council PRDx Phase 11/11/12 DFM Answers: WHY (I dea and Value) Details of review process (For TD, Product Backgrounder, Product Kickoff, are completed prior to PRDx submission) All new products/enhancements require a PRDx 1.1 st Tier Approval 2.TS/UX determine need for PRD

Review proposal for Traffic, Revenue, Journalistic, Strategic Value Questions on PRD OR PRDx Rejected Questions on PRD OR PRDx Rejected Product Council PRDx Review 11/11/12 DFM Product Manager gets back to requestor PRDx Approved PRD and P&L created < $10K > $10K Production Cycle BeginsDigital reviews and prioritizes If no PRD needed

Answers: WHAT Prod Lead w/UX PM (Brit), TS (Morgan) PLANNING PHASE for Simple Projects 11/11/12 DFM 1.User Stories 2.Comps 3.P&L 4.UX/Tech Review, LOE 5.Red flags raised with SVPs 1.User Stories 2.Comps 3.P&L 4.UX/Tech Review, LOE 5.Red flags raised with SVPs VP Product, PMO, Dir Tech If PRDx is approved, and no PRD needed… Go to Comp or directly to User Story Grooming Phase… 1.Prioritization 2.Assign to TAC, sprint, 3.ETA determined 4.Define and hand off to Core Team

PRD-Planning PHASE Pt 1 Final Approval Answers: WHAT Product Council 11/11/12 DFM PO, UX, TS, QA, Team TS VP Product, PMO, Dir Tech If PRD required… 1.Product KICK-Off Mtg 2.PRD 3.Epic User Stories 4.Initial Comps 5.P&L 6.UX/Tech Review, LOE 7.Red flags raised with SVPs 1.Product KICK-Off Mtg 2.PRD 3.Epic User Stories 4.Initial Comps 5.P&L 6.UX/Tech Review, LOE 7.Red flags raised with SVPs Go to PRD-Planning Phase Pt 2 1.Prioritization 2.Define and hand off to Core Team

PRD-Planning Phase Pt 2 Answers: WHAT 11/11/12 DFM PO (w Team Input & Review) Based on Prioritization and Release planning, Project accepted in Sprint Backlog CORE TEAM If PRD-Planning Phase pt 1 complete… 1.Roadmap 2.Product Backlog 1.Roadmap 2.Product Backlog UX (w Team Input & Review) 1.Further Comps if needed (see Comp Phase Slide) SM (w Team Input & Review) 1.Release Planning Mtg 2.Project Kick-off 1.Release Planning Mtg 2.Project Kick-off Proceed to Backlog Grooming Phase

Product /UX (w/ Core Team) Answers: WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE Comps Key Stakeholders Ad Creatives Product/Ad Lead (w/ Bus lead, Core Team) COMP Phase 11/11/12 DFM If designs are needed… Final Sign-off via 2 feedback loops

Product Lead W/Core Team User Stories, LOE Answers: HOW (incl ads, analytics) Review & Acceptance of stories for current dev sprint QA, PMO, Development, Release Product Lead (wUX lead, Editorial stakeholders) All needed assets Backlog Grooming Phase 11/11/12 DFM After Planning Phase is completed… Proceed to Development Phase…

Sign-off via Functional, Automated Testing, UAT QA (w/Prod Lead) Viable Product Delivery – QA environment -LIVE (TAC) Viable Product Delivery – QA environment -LIVE (TAC) Test Cases, Testing Product/QA) Code, Rework Dev Lead (w/ Dev team) DEV PHASE 11/11/12 DFM Go to Deploy Phase…

Deployment Team (QA, SCM Mgr, Lead Dev, PM, IT, Support ) Answers: Stable Product delivery Build, Test, Validate code through QA, Beta, Live sites Review & Acceptance of LIVE PRODUCT QA, Site, Ad, Support, Editorial leads DEPLOY PHASE 11/11/12 DFM Go to Break-Fix Phase…

Project and TAC Teams Identify, Report Defects: Skype Group Support Tickets Identify, Report Defects: Skype Group Support Tickets QA, Field/Ad/Editorial leads BREAK-FIX PHASE 11/11/12 DFM Field, Ad, Editorial, End Users Content: Fixes against reported defects Begin standard Support/Maintenance: Enter defect tickets to Request enhancements via PRDx Review & Acceptance of fixes

After PRDx is approved: 1.PMO assigns project to core team 2.SM is assigned 3.SM configures COMPONENT in Jira TEAM PROJECT and gathers PRD stories and other assets from PO 4.PO posts stakeholder & vendor contact info to wiki 5.SM holds release planning meeting & project kick-off 6.SM holds Sprint Planning meeting 7.SM holds Demo, Retrospective, close 8.Deployment 9.Steps 6-8 cycle until product is done 11/11/12 DFM

July 11: Sprint commitment PM PMO/Production July 27: Sprint delivery COMMUNICATION Jira Daily Scrum Skype Sprint open/close reports Updated Project Plans PO Product/Stakeholders Monday Product Calls Weekly Project Status doc Skype Roadmap/matrixed against project plan Weekly Stakeholder/PO/PM meeting 11/11/12 DFM

NEWS.COM/PUBLISHING SM: Marina Saltzman TAC (with Ads) SM: Tara Murphy AD PLATFORMS (with TAC) SM: Mary Esquivel VERTICALS SM: Tara Murphy DATA/FEEDS SM: Jeff Boring INITIATIVE-BASED TEAMS Listservs More Info Teams tab in JIRA Note: Projects that overlap with teams are handled by Mary Esquivel

PRDx: Product Requirements Doc, Exec completed by Business Owner PRD: Product Requirements Doc completed by PO SME: Subject Matter Experts PO: Product Owner SM: Scrum Master PM: Project Manager TS: Tech Strategist – SMEs of DFM architecture and systems Story Pilot: Developer working with PO and TS to “groom” User Stories User Story: Agile-focused requirement for product SCM: Software configuration management, or manager LOE: Level of Effort - time estimated to complete a task Backlog: Prioritized list of features of a desired product written in the form of user stories Scrum: Daily 15 min stand-up meetings to update team on what we’re doing, and any “blockers” to the work. NGPS: MNG’s publishing platform (CMS) Proteus: Database ingesting and presenting feeds for NGPS TownNews: JRC’s first CMS Saxo: JRC’s second CMS, MNG’s new CMS DFM Digital Directory - dnpLNUlaVXc#gid=0 11/11/12 DFM Terms