The document summarizes Martin Bauer's presentation at the eZ Publish Conference 2011 about using Scrum methodology for website development projects at The Financial Times. It describes challenges faced with early sprints, including incomplete analysis and missed deadlines. Later sprints improved with better planning, definition of requirements, and collaboration between teams. Lessons learned included the importance of thorough initial analysis, clear expectations, and addressing issues promptly through retrospectives.

1. eZ Publish Conference 2011
The Financial Times, Scrum
and eZ Publish
Presenter: Martin Bauer, Programme Manager
Experts in eZ Publish consulting & development

2. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Contents
➜ FDI Intelligence
➜ The Banker
➜ Swiss Pension News
➜ Key Learnings
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3. Why Sprint 4?

4. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint 4 – The Theory
➜ Showcase completed items
➜ Sprint 4 Retrospective
➜ Sprint 5 Plan
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5. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Start of the Meeting
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6. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint 4 – The Reality
➜ Showcased only a few items
➜ Not a single user story was completed
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7. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
After Progress Review
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8. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint 5 – Plan
➜ Only included items that we had analysis for
➜ Assumed everything would take 20% longer
than estimated
➜ PM focused on management
➜ BA focused on analysis
➜ Ensured Product Owner were available to
answer questions
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9. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
How we felt after the meeting
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10. Sprint 5

11. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Challenges
➜ Many features not fully analysed
➜ Developers working independantly
➜ System testing difficult as features not
integrated
➜ Continual adjustments to existing functionality
when reviewed
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12. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint 5 Review
➜ Able to showcase much more
➜ Covered analysis on most outstanding features
➜ Had completed ~ 90% of what we’d planned
➜ Working closer with product owner
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13. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
After the meeting
Relief!
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14. Sprint 6

15. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint 6
➜ Still some items requiring analysis
➜ Development progressed well
➜ Main issue was integration
➜ General mood was better
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16. UAT

17. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
UAT
➜ Normally not required
➜ Agreed it was necessary to properly test
➜ Initially planned for 3 weeks
➜ Completed after 4 weeks
➜ Still some areas that weren’t fully understood
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18. Launch

19. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Launch
➜ Went live 24th September
➜ 6 weeks later than originally planned
➜ Only minor tweaks post go live
➜ Overall success
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20. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
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21. Retrospective

22. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Retrospective
➜ Happy face , sad face, mad face
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23. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Mad
➜ Rushed, not enough time to test
➜ Basecamp!!!!
➜ Definition of done not commonly agreed
➜ Not enough thinking upfront
➜ Too many loose ends
➜ Elements lost through translation or de-scoped
➜ Moving target
➜ Too many changes
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24. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sad
➜ Deadline was missed
➜ Wish we had less defects
➜ Got a tad nasty towards the end
➜ Felt us versus them at times
➜ Lost too many features
➜ Took on too many changes without assessing
impact
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25. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Happy
➜ FT Editorial team were realistic & pragmatic
➜ Didn't kill each other (almost ;-)
➜ Everyone had a professional attitude
➜ Implemented complex system
➜ Very smooth launch
➜ We launched with a great product
➜ Site well received
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26. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Conclusion
➜ Initiation - Agree tools, definition of done,
analysis before dev, product visibility, user
journeys, objective of user stories
➜ Keep building on the 'Team'
➜ Keep building cools sites
➜ Agree how to handle costs / changes
➜ Provide a checklist of dependencies in sprint 0
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27. The Banker - Sprint 1

28. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Kick off meeting
➜ Agreed tools (no basecamp!)
➜ Definition of done,
➜ First sprint pure analysis
➜ Agreed early product visibility,
➜ Confirmed user journeys & objective of user
stories
➜ Checklist of dependencies in Sprint 0
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29. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
DONE
➜ (put in definition)
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30. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint Retrospective
➜ Each team member filled out form
➜ Opportunity to raise concerns
➜ Opportunity to be heard
➜ Results discussed in sprint kick off meeting
➜ If required, action taken based on feedback
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31. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint Retrospective
➜ (show form)
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32. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint Retrospective
➜ Show results for a sprint
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33. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Sprint 2 Hiccup
➜ Some dependencies not delivered (internally
priorities)
➜ Impractical to continue development
➜ Project halted
➜ No pointing fingers
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34. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Launch
➜ Site launched x date
➜ Took 4 sprints as initially planned
➜ Some additional features added
➜ Additional cost understood & accepted
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35. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Launch
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36. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
End Result
➜ End result MUCH better than previous site
➜ Client happy
➜ Team happy
➜ Everybody happy!
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37. Swiss Pension News

38. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Swiss Pension News
➜ 6th site
➜ Backlog defined well in advance
➜ Sitemap, taxonomy, design all provided upfront
➜ Entire site ready for first review in two weeks
➜ Launched in under 6 weeks
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39. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Launch
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40. Key Learnings

41. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Key Learnings
➜ Don’t try Scrum without experienced support
➜ Adapt to the project team
➜ Be open & honest
➜ Be willing to make mistakes & learn from them
➜ Never stop trying to do better
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42. eZ Publish Conference London 2011
Thank you
Questions?
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43. Martin Bauer
martin.bauer@visionWT.com
www.martinbauer.com
info@VisionWT.com
+44 207 354 4300 VisionWT.com

44. How to find us
Vision with Technology
Aberdeen Centre Unit 18AS
22/24 Highbury Grove
N5 2EA
London
info@VisionWT.com
+44 207 354 4300 VisionWT.com