On this information, we’ll give an outline of dual-track agile, together with its origins, ideas, and the way the framework has developed within the context of the continual discovery.
We’ll additionally spotlight some key distinctions between dual-track agile and steady discovery and advocate some additional studying if you wish to be taught extra about these ideas straight from the supply.
Desk of contents
What’s dual-track agile?
Within the early days of agile, groups have been nonetheless combating waterfall-like ticket-taking relationships. Design could be anticipated to do upfront work after which hand off their plans to product or engineering. Likewise, product managers struggled to incorporate your entire group of their planning and prioritization work.
The center of dual-track agile (additionally referred to as dual-track scrum or dual-track improvement) is about integrating discovery efforts (figuring out what to construct) with supply efforts (constructing) and fostering shut collaboration throughout product, engineering, and design. All of that is to maximise the supply of beneficial outcomes to the enterprise and prospects.
Twin-track agile is absolutely simply agile. The label dual-track agile causes confusion.
For instance, the commonest false impression related to dual-track agile is that there are two separate groups for discovery and supply or separate individuals with totally different tasks. This was by no means the intention.
Jeff Patton’s collection of articles from 2017 to 2019 tackle dual-track agile myths and share sensible ideas for product groups.
Steady discovery is the brand new dual-track agile
For those who’re excited by dual-track agile, you have to know that this normal concept has developed and improved vastly for the reason that time period was first coined greater than a decade in the past. The truth is, steady discovery has primarily changed dual-track agile during the last couple of years.
Let’s take a fast take a look at the origins of dual-track agile and what this appears to be like like right now in a perfect digital product improvement setting.
Twin-track agile: A short historical past
A few years after the Agile Manifesto was created, the Journal of Usability Research printed a paper titled “Adapting Usability Investigations for Agile Consumer-centered Design,” which described UX and engineering working collaboratively throughout “twin tracks” or “parallel tracks.”
Certainly, designers and builders working so carefully collectively was a novel idea on the time and a useful contribution to the agile neighborhood, however these have been primarily mini-waterfall handoffs between separate groups. We’ve significantly better methods of working right now.
A couple of years later, someday round 2012, between some talks and articles, Jeff Patton and Marty Cagan, esteemed thought leaders within the product administration world, coined the phrases dual-track scrum and dual-track agile. Later that yr, Cagan started musing concerning the concept of steady discovery following the rise of steady supply within the agile and DevOps world.
The story didn’t finish in 2012, nonetheless. A designer-turned-product-leader named Teresa Torres labored with product groups from a variety of firms for eight years earlier than releasing the groundbreaking e-book, Steady Discovery Habits in Might 2021. This e-book has a ahead written by Marty Cagan and dishes on every little thing you have to know concerning the inseparable nature of discovery and supply, in addition to the essential, triune relationship between design, product administration, and engineering.
What’s steady discovery?
Steady discovery goals to assist product groups construct the precise issues proper and shortly check assumptions to cut back waste and mitigate the danger of constructing the mistaken factor.
Steady discovery as a course of first expects a “product trio,” which consists of three people from design, product, and engineering, to be in place. Different key specialists ought to be included as wanted.
This group works collectively as one group, understanding the present expertise, goal buyer section, and enterprise goal. They work collectively to interview prospects, analyze knowledge, and synthesize findings whereas setting up a residing, visible breakdown of the chance area. Alternatives are the wants, ache factors, or wishes of the goal buyer.
Even apart from the e-book, Teresa and the group at Product Speak have tons of sources out there if you wish to be taught extra about steady discovery and associated ideas.
What’s the distinction between dual-track agile and steady discovery?
There are at the least three notable variations between the outdated dual-track agile and the newer steady discovery idea. These variations should do with prospects, the discovery-delivery relationship, and the triad group of design, product, and engineering.
Prospects
First, the emphasis on speaking with prospects is the starkest change from conventional dual-track agile. It’s not that dual-track agile was anti-customer — far kind it — however the emphasis on this matter was all the time extra on the relationships of the totally different capabilities and the way the people work collectively throughout the set agile frameworks, reminiscent of scrum.
In distinction, as Teresa Torres prescribes, buyer interviews are by far the first supply of perception into alternatives to transfer any metric a group is aiming for. A lot of her e-book covers the best way to conduct buyer interviews and automate these processes. Consumer analysis typically dominates the interview discussions as properly.
Discovery-delivery relationship
The subsequent apparent distinction within the evolution from dual-track agile to steady supply is just how we consider these two varieties of work.
In an article titled “Twin Observe Improvement isn’t Duel Observe,” Jeff Patton wrote, “There are two sorts of labor, and there’s no method round it.” He additionally says later within the article, “Discovery and improvement are proven in two tracks as a result of they’re two sorts of labor, and two sorts of pondering.”
In distinction, Teresa Torres clearly sees discovery and supply as intertwined. Right here’s a snippet from an interview with Torres on the Product Espresso podcast:
“I feel if you get actually good at steady discovery, there isn’t a longer a distinction between discovery and supply… It’s only a factor we’re doing. I don’t have to put a label on it or name it a monitor or name it a section. It’s simply one thing I’m all the time doing… In our early rounds of assumption testing, we is perhaps doing prototypes and surveys and knowledge mining, however in our successive rounds [of discovery] we’re most likely doing stay manufacturing checks. A stay manufacturing check requires supply…”
In Chapter 11 of the Steady Discovery Habits e-book — which I’m comfortable to say I personal and cherish — Teresa writes: “. . . we are saying discovery feeds supply and supply feeds discovery. They aren’t two distinct phases. You may’t have one with out the opposite.”
The trio: Design, product, and engineering
Though not incompatible with the outdated methods of dual-track agile, steady discovery actually hits onerous on the precise working mannequin of product, design, and engineering. This product trio can be known as a triad or trinity.
The product trio is strictly three people devoted to a aim and alternative area. That is an inclusive group, nonetheless, so others might be added as wanted, relying on the alternatives being explored. Add in the remainder of the event group and you’ve got a typical Marty Cagan product group or squad.
Simply as an instance how huge of a deal that is in steady discovery, Teresa Torres has mentioned that her firm wouldn’t even entertain a consulting gig if the potential consumer doesn’t already use trios.
Go do steady discovery!
Earlier than you dismiss steady discovery or dual-track agile, I’ll depart you with one other quote from an interview with Teresa Torres on Rocketship.fm:
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