Week 10: Agile Methodologies
Time Management
This week we revisit Agile Methodologies which is perfect timing as we approach the end of the module and our Personal Case Study. I have struggled slightly with time management during the last 12 weeks, due to some personal problems as well as work commitments, so I think it would be useful for me to refer back to Agile Methodologies periodically.
Current methods I use for time management include calendar alerts, note taking (I use the Notes app on iPhone as this is always with me and synchs with my laptop), as well as weekly calendars. I try to include non-university activities to balance work, study and life. Of course, we can plan all we like, but distractions and life events happen and so it is very useful to keep a visual representation of our workload to keep us on track. These methods also break our work down into manageable chunks, and using whiteboards and sticky notes allows us to easily re-order priority.
So far on this course I have only worked independently, and so if I have run behind with time it only impacts me. Later in the course I would like to collaborate with one or more peers. At this point, good time management will be essential as the effect of poor time management could negatively impact the team. In real world practice there is an even higher risk, as we all know time is money.
Critical Paths
Whilst working as a fashion designer, I used a critical path to manage the seasonal workload. “It will start with a key date on which product is delivered onto the shop floor and then the critical path is worked backwards,” (Tide-Frater, 2018)
This was an online spreadsheet with every single style for that season (4 seasons a year). Each style had its’ own row, which was divided up into columns that referred to all the information about that style, from fit, fabric, colourway, to style code. There would also be columns for critical dates in the lifecycle of the product development; dates when prototypes were requested, when they were received from factories, when lab dips or strike-offs were checked.
Deadlines for completion of each stage were always visible, and cells would be highlighted in different colours to indicate completion, in progress and in need of attention. It was also important that this master document was handled by one designer to ensure that there was no loss of information with multiple users saving information at the same time.
I really responded well to using this method as it is a very visual representation of the workload - very much like the Kanban method. In future tasks I will see how I can adapt my own critical path to improve the management of my studies, not only individual challenges but the course a whole (including research, reading, portfolio work, critical reflective journal entries).
Agile Practice
“Agile techniques are fast becoming the adopted methodology commercially” (Tan and Teo, 2017)
The ability to break up a project into phases and to continually observe, reflect, adapt and improve in order to successfully complete the task is known as Agile Practice. The ability to react and adapt is crucial as often the success of a project is determined by the smoothness, speed and efficiency it is carried out.
“The popularity of agile methods has been increasing over the last decade among software development practitioners and researchers alike. However a systematic and insightful understanding of agile method in use is yet to be achieved.” (Wang, X et.al) 2012
Whilst there are questions surrounding the depth of research into the effectiveness of agile practice, Heredia asserts that “the always-changing environment in which apps are produced makes agile a convenient methodology to follow’ and that “adapting an agile methodology to the development of mass-market applications would provide project teams with a clear guide to successfully produce an app without missing any step in the process.” (Heredia, A. 2014).
Agile Practice in Fashion Design
When I think back to my time in fashion, we always had deadlines that absolutely had to be met. This could be a fashion show, or a meeting to present a new collection to sales agents who had flown in from around the world specifically. We also had very strict wholesale windows which usually lasted for a 3 or 4 week period a few times a year. If a style missed a deadline then it got cut from the collection. It was as simple as that. Following the initial design phase (i’m sure this is what people imagine fashion designers do all year round - when in reality this creative stage lasts a few weeks per season) there are so many instances where something can go wrong.
Perhaps a fabric chosen from a swatch card is no longer available in a specific colour, or at all. In this example, this might require the designer to choose a different colourway, which sounds like a simple enough solution, but this might put the colour balance out. The same goes with fabric changes. Large ranges are designed with balance and cohesion in mind. It isn’t always as straight forward to make a dramatic change. A new fabric swatch might be of a higher price per yard. This would affect the price and more importantly the margin. Maybe this is our only option though if we are to keep the project on track.
So how do we respond to this change; we might consider an amendment to the design - a simplification of the internal layout would not have any external aesthetic transformation but may be enough to bring the cost back on target. This is one example of how the designer uses agile practices. From my experience, following the initial design window, the majority of the job for the remaining season is responding in an agile manner to problems.
References
HEREDIA, Alberto, Javier GARCIA-GUZMAN, Antonio AMESCUA-SECO and Manuel VELASCO-DIEGO. 2014. ‘Agile Practices Adapted to Mass-Market Application Development’. Journal of software : evolution and process 26(9), 818–28.
TIDE-FRATER, S. 2018. ‘Skills Fashion Buyers Need’ [online'] Accessed 19th August <https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/skill-fashion-buyers-need>
WANG, Xiaofeng, Kieran CONBOY and Minna PIKKARAINEN. 2012. ‘Assimilation of Agile Practices in Use’. Information systems journal (Oxford, England)22(6), 435–55.