Principle: Develop Iteratively

This is one of the eight principles of DSDM, supporting its philosophy, and used in its process, roles and responsibilities, and products.

A predictive project plans and designs the product in detail upfront. After making sure everything is considered and we know the best path forward, the development begins. In this case, each step of development is taken in sequence; we finish one and only then proceed to the next.

While predictive development is the best approach for some projects (e.g., construction), it doesn’t suit some projects where feedback from the environment is key. In these cases, an adaptive (Agile) approach can be used, where instead of being plan-driven, we will proceed with the project, build increments (see the Build Incrementally from Firm Foundations principle) and use them to receive feedback. The feedback will be used to see what the best next step is. To enable this type of development, we have to repeat our development processes for each increment (subset of the ultimate product). This is the iterative nature of Agile projects.

Written by Nader K. Rad

This is (and will be) a work in progress: More details will be added in the future, depending on the feedback.

This wiki is developed and managed by an accredited trainer, independent of Agile Business Consortium and APMG. While aligned with their guidelines, it’s not an official resource.