AGILE ALLEGORITHMIC
The team at the leading texturing software company reveal how they propel their products and services to the forefront
Substance developers Allegorithmic reveal how they implement an Agile approach into their workflow
In order for software companies to offer sought-after products, the continual development of the technology behind them is vital. For many teams to do this effectively, it means adopting various Agile software development methodologies – the basic idea of which aims to put in place a highly disciplined project management process, which encourages frequent adaptation and inspection.
One company currently doing just this is leading 3D texturing software company Allegorithmic. “We base our approach on common sense and good practices from different inspirations,” says Substance team facilitator Damien Letournel. “We constantly learn and adapt our way of working. We do not take Agile as it is, but get inspiration from it and adapt it. Here are three methodologies we have implemented from Agile principles.”
1. scrum - deliver (often partial) features To internal/beta user To get early feedback And iterate
“Scrum refers to the rugby scrum,” Letournel explains. “The team takes small and intense steps and then stops, often to consider where the product lies, and maybe reconsider the strategy for the next steps. During this ‘consideration moment’, inputs and insight are asked of the stakeholder. New changes [features, bug fixes, etc.] are put into the hands of testers like users or power users. From those, the plan is updated and the next iteration planned. These steps, or iterations, last two weeks for most of Allegorithmic’s teams. Thus every two weeks developers/artists have feedback on their work and everyone else has an instant picture of the product.”
2. kanban – visualise Ticket flow And identify blockers, support And bug fixes
“When agility comes to mind, many people imagine a board full of sticky notes,” Letournel continues. “There is a lot to say about the Kanban discipline. However, at Allegorithmic, we use it mainly for visual management. The sticky notes represent a task. This task has to go through various states, from ‘To Do’ to ‘Done’. intermediates depend on the team. The Kanban reflects these states and the passing from one to another. Furthermore it also enables teams to visualise the flow of different tasks, identify blockers [a stalled task will stay in place on the board] and bottlenecks.”
3. design Thinking – Atomise design process with poc/prototyping phases To challenge insights with Tech
it’s not as if the Agile manifesto is followed to a T; rather, the team adapt it to their own needs. “As it’s a philosophy, we let teams decide on how/which methodologies they want to use,” Allegorithmic’s chief operating officer Nicolas Liatti comments. “each team/project may use different methodologies, and this evolves over time depending on the needs. This approach empowers the teams working on the project, which is very beneficial for the products – there is no ‘top-down’ approach. We give the power and responsibility to the teams, which, in the end, results in better development and better products.”