The Atono development team uses a simple Kanban process for our development work. Our initial process is intended to allow flexibility with minimal overhead so that we can build our MVP as quickly as possible.

Ground rules

• Assigning the story to themselves to reflect ownership.
• Ensuring that any subtasks necessary for the story are created. Note that this level of granular planning is not strictly required.
• Ensuring that the story is properly shoulder surfed.
• Ensuring that code is properly peer reviewed and merged while accounting for any merge conflicts.
• Ensuring that the story completes the final review process.

Backlog

The story is newly created and may still be undergoing changes as the story owner evaluates and iterates on the content prior to sending it to the rest of the team.

Todo

The story author has completed the draft of the story and is ready to solicit feedback from stakeholders. Initial requirements review and gap analysis should be undertaken at this stage by the designers and development team. Stories are prioritized for further work.

UX

The story has a front-end component and is in need of design work from the user experience team. During this time, UX may request design reviews with stakeholders and developers. The story will move on to sizing once UX and product owners finalize an initial design. If the story does not need UX treatment, it may proceed directly to Sizing.

Sizing

The story is ready for sizing by the development team. Our goal is to work stories of similar size, so the splitting of requirements into smaller stories is appropriate at this time.

Dev

The story is now in the hands of the development team. A developer may indicate that a story has been started by assigning it to themself. The story has a single owner but can be worked on by multiple developers.

The story should have a “Shoulder Surf” subtask and complete the surf before progressing into Test.

Done

All work is complete. Code is available for use by users in production and any feature toggles are enabled.

Review

The story has passed QA and is ready for a final stakeholder review. During review, any open action items resulting from the shoulder surf are reviewed, as are any outstanding bugs. The story author will work with the development team to determine whether the story can be closed.

Test

Development has progressed to the point that the shoulder surf is complete and the story is ready for testing and validation by QA.