You’ve got a software project that you’re ready to bring to life. Awesome! This is an exciting time, and you may be chomping at the bit to get things rolling.
However, before you jump in, you’ve got to decide on something else—the software development methodology that will guide your project. Believe it or not, that decision could make or break your product in the end.
Software development methodologies are strategies for organizing teams around the goal of designing, building, testing, and releasing software. The methodology you use can make an impact on your costs, how easily you can adapt to changes along the way, how much input you can incorporate from other departments, early users, key stakeholders, and other factors.
Two very different approaches to software development are Waterfall and Agile. They’re great to compare and contrast because they’re very different. While many popular methodologies are variations on Agile these days, Waterfall (a top-down, linear approach) stands in stark contrast to Agile’s (flexible and iterative) approach.
Understanding the Agile vs. Waterfall divide will help you wrap your head around your options, and it will help you to choose a software development methodology that works for your project. This blog post will give you a high-level understanding of both methodologies, and it will help you decide which one will work best for your project.
What is the Waterfall Methodology?
Waterfall is a software development methodology that breaks down the entire development process into linear steps. Created in the 1960s (ancient history in the software world), Waterfall makes intuitive sense to people outside the software industry because it works the way you’d expect traditional projects to work.
For example, if you wanted to build a custom house from scratch, you’d first meet with an architect who would listen to your input and draw up blueprints. The architect would pass the plans along to builders who would lay the foundation, construct the frame, add electrical wiring, etc., all in straightforward, sequential steps. Once they’re done, you’d (hopefully) have the exact house you envisioned from the start. Barring any unexpected problems, it would fall roughly within the budget you set from the start.
Similarly, if you used Waterfall to guide your software project, you would follow a linear path that looks something like this:
- Determine software requirements
- Conduct a thorough analysis of all that’s required
- Design the product
- Write the code to build the project (implementation phase)
- Test the product—Quality Assurance (QA)
- Release the product (take it live)
- Maintain the product (fixing errors and making improvements as needed)
Step-by-step project management seems pretty logical, right? Planning ahead and sticking to a rigid structure makes perfect sense when you’re building a house or manufacturing a physical product, that’s for sure. After all, if you’re halfway finished with a house and decide you want a bigger kitchen and a smaller guest room, you’ve got to tear down some of the work you’ve done and start over on those areas. It’s going to cost money and time to make that change.
When it comes to software, however, all bets are off. That’s because modifying one feature that will greatly improve the product won’t necessarily impact the others, and you can make changes on the fly (based on user feedback, input from other departments, and testing). That’s where Agile comes in.
It’s easier to make those changes if you choose a more flexible methodology like Agile. And there are some distinct benefits to remaining flexible, which we’ll cover below.
What is the Agile Methodology?
Agile is a software methodology designed for flexibility and adaptation. Agile development teams work in short sprints (usually periods of a week or two) to develop different elements of a software product. Small teams test the features and receive input from the client, other internal teams, and user testing to see what works and what they can improve.
Waterfall vs Agile Methodology: Pros and Cons
What are the Benefits of Agile?
Agile is a powerful methodology that has been used to produce countless software products you know and love. Here are some of its advantages:
- Flexibility and Adaptability: The Agile approach is amazingly flexible, allowing software developers to incorporate input from other departments (Designers, Business Analysts, UX professionals, executives, etc.) along with users and clients (in cases where a client has outsourced their project to a dedicated software team.
- MVP-friendly: Agile works well for developing a Minimum Viable Product that will evolve based on user feedback.
- Customer-centricity: Thanks to its adaptability, it’s easier to deliver products that end-users love.
- Cross-functional Alignment: By involving experts from different departments in each stage of development, Agile promotes shared ownership of the project. For example, unlike a Waterfall approach, where Designers hand the project over to the Engineers and largely let it go, Agile Designers can work with the Engineers to refine implementation. This promotes a shared commitment to creating superior products.
- Greater Transparency: Agile’s iterative approach encourages greater transparency, with teams less likely to disappear down the rabbit hole until their deliverables are due.
What are the Disadvantages of Agile?
Of course, all that flexibility does come at a price. Here are a few of the disadvantages of Agile.
- Harder to Pin Down Budgets: All that iterating, rethinking, and rebuilding based on feedback is valuable, but it’s harder to predict how much it will cost in the end. That’s not to say Agile developers can’t keep costs under control—we use Agile all the time here at Net Solutions and we stay within budget—but if you want exact deliverables at a specific price, Agile might not work.
- Client Involvement: Some companies that hire dedicated development teams want a hands-off approach, reviewing results only at key transitions. Others like being involved at every step, giving feedback along the way. Agile works great for the latter, not so great for the former.
- Potential to Lose Focus: Agile’s iterative approach can lead teams astray without strong collaboration and communication.
What are the Benefits of Waterfall?
Waterfall may not be as popular as Agile these days, but it has its benefits. The advantages to using Waterfall include:
- Budget Control: A top-down plan with clearly defined deliverables makes it easier to predict how much a project will cost. That’s often helpful for government institutions with strict deliverables and budgets.
- Less Demand on Client: For those who outsource their development, a Waterfall approach might be ideal if they want to take a more hands-off approach.
- Whole System Approach: Since a Waterfall approach outlines all the deliverables from the start, designers and engineers can develop every component to fit perfectly with the larger whole. This can lead to a more integrated product.
What are the Disadvantages of Waterfall?
The downsides to Waterfall include:
- Rigidity: Waterfall’s inflexible structure doesn’t lend itself to suggestions for improvement from clients, other departments, and end-users. The only modifications typically come after testing, which takes place near the conclusion of the project.
- Less Customer-centric: It’s difficult to adopt an MVP model when using a Waterfall methodology, which means software products are designed and built based on what companies think their customers want. Even if they have good Voice-of-the-Customer (VoC) data telling them what users say they want, it’s something else entirely to see how users respond to features in the wild.
- Department Siloes: Without Agile’s cross-functional teams and inter-departmental communication, Waterfall can lead to a fragmented approach to product creation.
