Agile Network India | Supplementing agile with digital knowledge management proposition of knowledge driven development by Manoj Kumar Lal

1. Author: Manoj Kumar Lal
Supplementing Agile with Digital Knowledge Management
Proposition of Knowledge Driven Development (KDD)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions
expressed are my personal views as
an author.
Note: The theme and diagrams are taken from the books ‘Introduction to Business Domains for Software Engineers’ and
‘Knowledge Driven Development – Bridging Waterfall and Agile methodologies’, and related literature on KDD available online.

2. Agenda
Industry pain points relevant to our discussion
Introduction to Knowledge Driven Development (KDD)
Examples to visualise KDD
Usage scenario of KDD
Summing it up

3. Industry pain points relevant to our discussion
Card Basics & Terminology A-Z
Lack of effective knowledge management in project delivery – Prescriptive Waterfall Vs. Indicative Agile
Card Basics & Terminology A-Z
Lack of contextual knowledge in the project team delivering software products
Card Basics & Terminology A-Z
Loads of documents in the enterprise repository but hard to find the right information when needed
Card Basics & Terminology A-Z
Lack of a scientific way of learning domain knowledge, an important constituent of contextual knowledge
Agile has made a positive influence, however, more may be required particularly on the knowledge management front.

4. Introduction to Knowledge Driven Development - KDD

5. KDD optimises knowledge & execution in project delivery
Executing the
implementable
knowledge
Knowledge
about the
software
Working software
Knowledge + Execution
Implementable
knowledge
Problem and solution derived by
Contextual knowledge (industry
domain and enterprise knowledge)
Technical design artefacts and
test cases
Build, test case execution and defect
management
An attempt is made to
understand KDD at (1)
conceptual, (2) middle and at
(3) detailed levels.

6. (1) Three knowledge levels for software development
Domain
knowledge
Enterprise
knowledge
Project knowledge
Graduating Student
Run Business Change Business
Working Software
Working professional
The only reason for the project knowledge to exist is to keep
the enterprise knowledge continuously updated.

7. (2) From 3 knowledge levels to 7 building blocks
Domain
Knowledge
Enterprise
Knowledge
Project
Knowledge
1.Product: Offering of a domain
2.Process: Lifecycle of the product
3.Statement of relevance: Knowledge about product and process
4.Usage: Customise domain knowledge for an enterprise
5.IT Application: Bring sensible automation of the above building blocks
6. Requirement: Scope the project in the above five building blocks
7. Test case: Pick the testable digital knowledge in the above five building mechanism
to prove that the requirements are met
Knowledge levels scoped by the following building blocks

8. 1.Statement of Relevance
2.Process
3.Product
4.Non-functional attribute
5.Business data
6.Communication
7.Report
8.User interface
9.Message
10.Utility
11.IT application
12.Requirement
13.Project test case
1.Statement of Relevance
2.Process
3.Product
4.Usage
5.IT application
6.Requirement
7.Test case
(3) From 7 building blocks to 13 for project delivery

9. Knowledge (building block) specification
Inventory – SoR 01
Manual Defects
Bdt 01 values are wrong
Bdt 02 should not be linked to SoR 02
Automated Defect - Tst 01
is not linked to any
requirement
Req 01
Tst 01
Bdt 01
Bdt 02
SoR 02
SoR 03
SoR 04
Sor 05
Atomicity of knowledge nuggets (Inventory) is key to this structure

10. Examples to visualise KDD

11. (1) Example from retail banking domain
Project knowledge
Interest rate is updated from 4% to 3.5%.
Enterprise knowledge
The account earns an interest rate of 4% per annum.
Domain Knowledge
Savings account is an interest-bearing account.
Domain
knowledge
Enterprise
knowledge
Project
knowledge
Opening savings account

12. (1) Interest rate change – driven by project knowledge
Business inventories
IT inventories
Colour codes:
Updated
AS IS
Parameter file
containing interest rate
and effective date
Batch job to calculate
interest rate at daily
basis.
Module to calculate
quarterly interest
Module to credit interest
into the individual
accounts quarterly
Interest amount should
be rounded off to two
decimals
Interest rate is updated
from 4.0 to 3.5
Interest is credited to
customers at quarter
end
Effective date of change
and quarter end can be
different
Testable
There will be an effective
date of change

13. To be at par with competition, an insurance company decides to launch an
app. to capture claim notification for their individual travel insurance plan.
The process of claim notification is also called FNOL (First Notification of
Loss).
The current channels to capture claim notification are phone, email, post
and portal. Mobile app. needs to be added as one more channel.
A project is commissioned to add mobile apps as another FNOL channel.
(2) Project overview

14. Y
3
2
1
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Y
(2) Domain knowledge up to FNOL (First notification of loss)

15. 15
SoR-01 (Policy number –
a must for notifying a
claim)
SoR-02 (Email id and
mobile number can
assist finding policy
number)
SoR-03 (Same email /
mobile can be linked to
multiple policies)
SoR-04 (Claim can be
made upto after 90 days
of claim event taking
place)
SoR-05 (Anyone and not
just policyholder can
notify claim)
SoR-06 (Claim related
details needed for
notifying a claim)
SoR-07 (There can be
various reasons for
making travel claim)
SoR-08 (Various types of
incurred expenses need
to be reported)
SoR-09 (Necessary
documents need to be
submitted for claim
notification)
SoR-10 (Documents if
submitted later, will only
delay claim processing
SoR-11 (There are
different types travel
insurance coverages i.e.,
Loss of baggage)
SoR-12 (Payment
details may also be
specified while notifying
a claim)
SoR-13 (The policy must
be active for the claim to
be notified)
SoR-14 (Claim should be
attached to the
appropriate coverage of
the policy)
SoR-15 ( check for
duplicate claim must be
made before creating a
new claim)
SoR-16 (A check for
fraud must be made
before creating a new
claim)
SoR-17 (A claim id is
created for the new
claim that will have a
specific format)
SoR-18 (Claim once
created can be assigned
to a normal user or an
expert user)
SoR-19 (Service level
agreement SLA starts
the moment claim
number is generated
and assigned to a user)
SoR-20 (For normal user,
SLA for claim evaluaton
is 3 days and for expert
user it is 5 days)
SoR-21 (Registered user
can use their login
details to notify claim)
Product
(Branded
product)
Process (First
Notification of Loss)
Colour codes:
Updat
ed
AS IS
New
Updated
AS IS
(2) Domain knowledge constituent of Project knowledge

16. 16
USG-01 (Policy number
identification screen)
USG-02 (Claim details
screen)
USG-03 (Expense details
screen)
USG-04 (Upload
documents screen)
USG-05 (Preferred
payment method
details screen)
USG-06 (Claim status
check screen)
USG-07 (An email with
the claim number must
be sent to the mail id
and the phone of the
customer)
USG-08 (A report to
provide the split of the
channels and SLA
compliance for claim)
ITA-01 (Claim record
table)
ITA-02 (Policy validation
service)
ITA-03 (Coverage
validation service)
ITA-04 (Claim number
generation service)
ITA-05 (Claim
notification email
service)
ITA-06 (Document
storage service)
ITA-07 (Payment
method details update
service)
ITA-08 (Claim workflow
creation service)
ITA-09 (Report to
provide the split as per
channels and SLA
compliance.)
Colour codes:
Updat
ed
AS IS
New
Updated
AS IS
(2) Enterprise knowledge constituent of project knowledge

17. (2) Digital (inter connected and atomic) project knowledge
US
06
US
05
SoR
A01
US
04
US
02
US
03
US
01
ITA
04
ITA
05
ITA
09
ITA
06
ITA
07
ITA
03
ITA
02
ITA
01
ITA
08
SoR
A02 SoR
A05
SoR
A06
SoR
A07
SoR
A12
SoR
A11
SoR
A10
SoR
A09
SoR
A08
SoR
B01
SoR
B02
SoR
B03
SoR
B04
SoR
C01
SoR
D01
SoR
D02
SoR
D03
US
07 US
08
ITA
10
ITA
11
Business inventories
IT inventories
SoR
A03
Notation:
Easy to test
inventory
SoR
A04

18. Usage scenario of KDD

19. KDD – A new project delivery methodology
Construction
Testing
Deployment
System Design
Requirement
Analysis
Sprint 0 Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint n
Iteration
- - - - - -
Part software
Full software
Delivery - - - - - -
Build
Test
Build
Regression
Test
Build
Regression
Test
Build
Regression
Test
Backlogs
Waterfall Agile
KDD Knowledge evolution
KDD Differentiators:
1. Starts with domain knowledge
2. Enterprise knowledge reusability,
3. Based on digitisation of project
knowledge
4. Requirement and test
management reimagined
5. Influenced by exhaustive of
knowledge approach of Waterfall
and execution approach of Agile

20. Structured way of learning industry domains
20
Intersection of Process & Product
Process
Rule
Product
Products are offerings of a domain:
• Savings account in banking
• Term insurance plan in insurance
• Car in automobile
Processes are lifecycle activities of a
product:
• Product launch
• Product administration
• Product decommission
Rules tell us more about the process of a
product:
• The min. age to take a term insurance policy is 16
years.
• For updating name, documentary evidence is a must.
• There is a limit on the max. amount that can be
withdrawn online in a day.

21. Reorder point sets inventory quotas that determine
when reordering should occur, considering current
and future demand as well as lead time.
Y
Y
Same structure multiple domains: Automobile
Level 1
Level 2
21
Sample Statements of Relevance

22. Y
Y
Level 1
Level 2
22
KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements
must be met before opening of an account.
Sample Statements of Relevance
Same structure multiple domains: Retail banking

23. Domain knowledge hierarchy: bridging industry and academia
Y
12 SoR
15 SoR
14 SoR
9 SoR
17 SoR
12 SoR
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Academia
Industry
Level 4
12 SoR 15 SoR
14 SoR
9 SoR
General
awareness of
the domain
Domain
knowledge on
platter for
software
development

24. KDD puts organisation on a continuous improvement path
Project 1:
367 inventory
2306 relationship
0% reuse
Project 2:
200 inventory
1498 relationship
10% reuse
Project 3:
300 inventory
1400 relationship
20% reuse
Growing reuse percentage with subsequent projects
Growing structured enterprise knowledge with subsequent projects
• 200 inventory
• 450 relationship
• 300 inventory
• 650 relationship
• 440 inventory
• 994 relationship
A sample for visualisation

25. Summing it up
KDD can enrich Agile from its digital project knowledge proposition.

26. Literature of this proposed course is available in the books
Published:
June 2021
Published:
June 2018
To Software Development
From Domain Knowledge
Text book Reference book
Books are also available
in Amazon
More than 60 colleges have footprints of KDD

27. Thanks for your time
Time for Q & A and your feedback
Link with details of KDD:
• https://knowledgedrivendevelopment.com/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a7JDRvGC3E
Author details:
Manoj Kumar Lal
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manoj-kumar-lal-43724a1/
9916866684
Manojkumar.lal1@gmail.com 27