Once you have fully geared up to start your mobile app development project, you really need to have a proper project management plan in place. This makes the whole mobile app development journey smooth. All the involved stakeholders perform their tasks correctly within the stipulated timeframe. If anything goes wrong, a thorough accountability check fixes all the issues before releasing the mobile app. For that, there exist different project management methodologies for mobile app development that we will be throwing light on in this article.
The Traditional Waterfall Methodology
It is the most conventional project management methodology for software project management as well as mobile app development. As the name suggests, everything during the development flows as a waterfall. The whole process involves several stages. You can move to the next stage only after the completion of the previous one. This approach does not allow you to go back to previous stages if you encounter any issues down the line. This is the biggest shortcoming of this project management methodology. Also, this methodology lacks parallelism i.e. you cannot perform multiple independent tasks simultaneously. This is exactly why this approach is not suitable for long-term projects having large development teams.
The Iterative Agile Methodology and its Derivatives
When the issues with the traditional waterfall methodology became unbearable, that was the time when the researchers came up with a newer and relatively better approach i.e. the Agile methodology. This project management methodology breaks the project into multiple iterations. These iterations can be revised as well according to the feedback gained at the end of every iteration. It means that the deliverables of the mobile app are continuously released at every iteration and the improvements are incorporated accordingly.
The Agile methodology comprises six different stages to be precise namely Requirements, Design, Development, Testing, Deployment, and Review. Another noteworthy significance of this methodology is that the other modern project management methodologies such as Kanban, Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), etc. have also been derived somehow from Agile project management.
However, the Agile project management methodology does not work well with uncommitted stakeholders who cannot provide their feedback on a regular basis. Having such stakeholders simply delays your whole mobile app development project. Suppose you have some cloud development resources who should report to you on the migration of your app to the cloud. If these resources delay their feedback beyond the set timeframe, then it will impact your overall workflow hence compromising the on-time delivery of your mobile app.
Kanban
Kanban is a very efficient derivative of the Agile methodology that uses a Kanban Board. This board is divided into three distinct columns namely To Do, In Progress, and Done. The whole mobile app development project is divided into multiple tasks and each task goes through these three columns depending on its current state.
For example, you have hired some cloud development resources for your mobile app and want them to migrate your app to the cloud. This task first goes to the “To Do” column of the Kanban Board and then goes to the “In Progress” column once the migration process begins. Finally, it moves to the “Done” column once the migration process successfully completes. This is how this project management methodology works. However, it does not offer a dedicated way of prioritizing tasks.
Scrum
Scrum is undoubtedly the most common variant of the Agile project management methodology. It is all about taking the mobile app development project iteratively while promoting teamwork and collaboration to the fullest. It also makes use of the Kanban Board for progress monitoring, however, the tasks of this process are known as Sprints. Standup meetings take place on a daily basis known as Daily Scrums which are no longer than 15 minutes. This is done to ensure that the whole team is on the same page.
Another important component of this methodology is Product Backlog. This further breaks down into Sprint Backlogs which have an associated priority according to the requirements. There are three main roles in Scrum project management i.e. the product owner, the Scrum master, and the development team members. The job of a Scrum master is to ensure that the whole mobile app development project is running smoothly.
Extreme Programming (XP)
As its name implies, the XP approach is most suitable for highly technical projects that require a high level of programming. The main goal of this project management methodology is to deliver high-quality software products or mobile apps. The different stages involved in this approach are Planning, Managing, Designing, Coding, and Testing.
The success of this project management approach depends upon the level of communication and the skillset of the team members be they Android or iOS developers, cloud development resources or full-stack developers, software testers or project managers, etc. For example, this approach cannot work well with inexperienced developers or even with the ones that are working together for the very first time since they might hesitate to communicate effectively with each other.
Which Project Management Methodology for Mobile App Development should you Pick?
Now, you must be thinking about which of the project management methodologies should you adopt. For that, we have summarized the most common use cases for these methodologies in the table below. This table will help you out in making the right choice depending on your situation and the available resources.
| The Waterfall Methodology |
The Agile Methodology |
Kanban |
Scrum |
Extreme Programming (XP) |
| When you have a small team or a single developer and a short-term mobile app development project. |
Best suited for long-term projects with efficient stakeholders who provide continuous feedback. |
When you have a mobile app development project that does not require task prioritization. |
Suitable for iterative projects where you have a dedicated team who can collaboratively work and stay on the same page. |
When you have an exceptionally skilled team of developers for mobile app development. |
Concluding Remarks
After going through this guide, you will be in a good position to choose the project management methodology that matches your goals. Nevertheless, if you do not want to get yourself into the hassle of doing all this on your own, then you should consider taking the mobile app development services from Folium AI.
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