OStatic

By Craig Harris on Jul. 05, 2008

Important question - is the team going to be in-house or not (you mentioned outsourcing companies). If the team is sitting right next to you, you should use Agile, since you can iterate a lot quicker. If the team is remote, you probably do want to make sure you spec everything out, get deliverables like click-throughs and mockups BEFORE you start development and get complete signoff on that before you start real work. This will help you clarify what you are looking to get done anyway.

By an anonymous user on Aug. 05, 2008

In waterfall model Writing specs in a fast changing environment and delivering huge updates just does not work. By the time the ink is on paper, it is out of date.

Agile method's greatest strength is actually about early delivery of working results. The end of the first iteration (usually somewhere between one and four weeks) results in a little bit of software that actually works. Here is comparison of Agile Methodology waterfall Model

Waterfall model to Agile Software Development

By an anonymous user on Aug. 05, 2008

http://www.techbaba.com/q/1057-moving+waterfall+model+agile+software+dev...

By Ed Tennant on Aug. 22, 2008

I feel web projects in general lend themselves to using Agile methodologies. If you are shipping software it may be a disadvantage to have frequent new releases. For a web project frequent updates are much easier logistically and are helpful as it demonstrates to your users that you are actively developing the site. I agree with cdharris that being remote will make Agile methodologies more difficult to use. There is never a one solution fits all answer so be sure to consider all the factors involved in the project including where the team members are located.

By akan dfxs on Aug. 28, 2008

agile. just like a game project. first,you get a demo. to show the basic ui of the project. and test some critical technologes. Then you can do it better and better.

By kan guo on Aug. 28, 2008

I am using Agile methodologies.

By lin quan on Aug. 28, 2008

For a web project frequent updates are much easier logistically and are helpful as it demonstrates to your users that you are actively developing the site

By lin quan on Aug. 28, 2008

gogo

By Allan Cayanan on Aug. 29, 2008

In a fast face, environment where specs always changed the waterfall approach won't work. We are using agile in our developement process, and we are delivering more enhancements, features and bug-fixes very well.

By Alex Osyatnikov on Aug. 29, 2008

Actually deciding which way to go is really very specific to the project itself.

I’d ask myself the following questions:

How much do I already know about the Product? Do I believe that changes in the requirements will be minor or major? Do I like an idea of eliciting requirements as project goes in an energetic manner?

Then, is it possible to say for sure that project consists of almost independent parts?

Also, how do I plan to organize QA, configuration management, etc? Which roles can be reasonably outsourced?

Finally, which way of project flow is the most comfortable for me, so that I can manage it effectively?

I think that by the information given, potentially there can be a joint model of both agile core team and outsourced teams working on relatively independent tasks, sharing the common delivery plan.

Personally I have a positive experience using Agile for this sort of projects.

By china long on Aug. 30, 2008

agile is better

By Tsegaselassie Tadesse on Aug. 30, 2008

I guess I would have to agree with most of the comments above if you are very interested about using a really useful and very delivery orient process, try Getting Real. http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ , made famous by 37 Signals who were also behind ruby on rails' rise to fame. They make very useful web 2.0 application with a very small team. And I believe one of the members lives across the Atlantic.