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The MDN development team follows the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_%28development%29 Scrum development framework] to manage its work.
Version: 0.4


== Overview ==
== Purpose ==


The team works in short development periods called <em>Sprints</em>. Each Sprint starts with a [[MDN/Development/Process#Planning_and_Retrospective_Meeting|Sprint Planning meeting]] and ends two weeks later.
This document provides an overview of the process that the MDN development team uses to manage its work. This process is based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban Kanban] and other techniques that the team finds to be helpful.


At each Sprint Planning Meeting, the team decides on a subset of features important to the MDN and commits to completing them before the two weeks end. The tasks needed to complete those features are captured in a list called the [[MDN/Development/Process#Sprint_Backlogs|Sprint Backlog]].
== Summary ==


== Artifacts ==
Users and other stakeholders can request changes to the MDN at any time by [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/form.mdn filing a bug on Bugzilla]. The MDN project manager occasionally reviews these requests and, based on priorities that are identified, chooses some for the team should complete. For each of these, a new Kanban card is created and added to a phase called ''Selected''. Over time, these cards move out of ''Selected'' and through four other phases in order: ''Research & Design'', ''Development'', ''Review & QA'', and ''Released''.


The team maintains a few [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artifact_%28software_development%29 artifacts] to keep track of work.
<span id="bugzilla-ssot"></span>


=== Product Backlog ===
The team uses Kanbanery and Bugzilla to manage this process. Each Kanbanery card refers to the Bugzilla bug (created by the ''Mozilla Developer Network Feedback'' form) that describes the original request. The team uses the bug to collaborate as progress is made. For example, the team uses the bug to share designs and hold technical discussions.


Available at: [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?list_id=4575510;cmdtype=doit;remtype=asdefault;query_format=advanced;bug_status=UNCONFIRMED;bug_status=NEW;bug_status=READY;bug_status=ASSIGNED;bug_status=REOPENED;product=Mozilla%20Developer%20Network Bugzilla]
When a phase is completed (see the section [[#Phases|Phases]]), the card is marked as ''Ready'' in Kanbanery. At any point, a team member working in the next phase can pull a ''Ready'' card into his phase and begin working on it. Phases are not skipped when a card is moved. If a phase is not needed for a particular card, the group responsible for that phase simply marks the card as ''Ready'' immediately after it is pulled in.


The <em>Product Backlog</em> is a large list of features that the team plans to implement. The Product Backlog is prioritized by a combination of thoughts from the development team, feedback from users, and strategic planning.
All requests go through this process. The team can elect to work on any requests that interest them by contributing to priority discussions.


The MDN Product Backlog is currently very large and somewhat difficult to understand, but the team plans to reorganize it soon to make it more understandable to outsiders.
== Phases ==


=== Sprint Backlogs ===
=== Selected ===


Available at: [http://scrumbu.gs/t/mdn/ Scrumbugs]
One card is added to this phase for each change that should be completed soon.


At each [[MDN/Development/Process#Planning_and_Retrospective_Meeting|Sprint Planning meeting]], the development team decides what features it should complete in the upcoming Sprint. The individual tasks that are needed to complete those features are captured in a list called the <em>Sprint Backlog</em>. A different Sprint Backlog is created for each Sprint.
=== Research & Design ===


==== Organization ====
The team investigates a technical solution to the change. The team also decides if the change is small enough to be implemented without a detailed design, if a detailed design is needed before development beings, or if the feature is so big that it should be implemented behind a feature flag (allowing the team can iterate on it over time). The card is marked as ''Ready'' when the team feels comfortable starting development.


Tasks in the Sprint Backlog can sometimes become very broad, making the work more intimidating and more difficult to track. To avoid this, the team uses a few different criteria to break them down.
=== Development ===


In general, the team breaks tasks down to be as small as is reasonable. For example, a task for implementing user login might be broken further into tasks like "Design interface for user login" and "Talk to Tim about how he implemented user login". The team also uses research tasks whenever possible. For example, when building a user login feature, the team might create a task like "Research: What services can we use to power login?". The team discusses the question and shares decisions in an associated Bugzilla bug.
The development team implements the change. The card is marked as ''Ready'' after a pull request is submitted for the change.


The team sometimes needs to coordinate with IT to complete a feature. When this happens, the feature is broken down by responsibility, with at least one task for the team to complete and at least one task for IT to complete. The tasks are written to be independent, so that the team can mark its tasks as complete even if the IT tasks are progressing more slowly. If more work is needed from the team after IT finishes its tasks, new tasks are open for the team.
=== Review & QA ===


The team pays special attention to breaking work down when a feature goes a long time without being merged into the MDN source code repository. When this happens, the work is broken down into one or more back-end tasks and one or more front-end tasks. As back-end tasks are implemented, they are merged without the corresponding front-end tasks. If there is more than one front-end task, the team uses Django Waffle flags during implementation to ensure that the front-end is not accessible until all of the tasks are complete. When all of the front-end tasks have been implemented, the Waffle flag is enabled to make the entire front-end available. Waffle flags can also be used to make incomplete parts of the front-end available to special users for testing.
The development team completes a code review and a spot check. Sometimes, additional quality assurance is completed and sign-off is requested from the person (or group) who signed off on the detailed design. The team considers not only functionality but also security, performance, and other important factors during this phase. The card is marked as ''Ready'' when the team is confident that the change works as designed and meets other quality standards.


=== Sprint Burndown Charts ===
=== Released ===


Available at: [http://scrumbu.gs/t/mdn/ Scrumbugs] (shown on each Sprint's page)
A card is moved here when the corresponding change is pushed to the production server.


The team uses a <em>Sprint Burndown Chart</em> during each Sprint to measure progress. A Sprint Burndown Chart lists amount of work on the y-axis and time on the x-axis, so that the trend line gradually moves toward the bottom right of the chart as work as completed.
== Card Management ==


=== Velocity ===
=== Work in Progress Limits ===


Available at: [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtSmmChL-hpUdFNXeFVwbmZGMDFzbUhVQS1oQ0FnbFE#gid=1 Google Docs]
The team uses Work in Progress (WIP) limits to limit the amount of work being done at a given time. A card is not pulled into a new phase if its limit has already been reached.


To estimate how much work can be completed in each Sprint, the team measures its development speed or <em>Velocity</em>. Velocity is measured in <em>story points</em>, a unitless value of development effort.
{| class="wikitable" style="background-color: transparent"
! scope="col"| Phase
! scope="col"| WIP Limit
|-
|Selected
|6
|-
|Research & Design
|4
|-
|Development
|5
|-
|Review & QA
|3
|}


=== Status Reports ===
=== Work Types ===


Available at: [http://standu.ps/project/mdndev Standups]
Cards are grouped into three different work types.


The team tracks its progress throughout each Sprint. Each team member shares a status update occasionally as important work is completed. If a member of the team is having a hard time making progress on a task, he or she can add the tag <code>#blocked</code> to his status report to request help from the Scrum Master.
* BLOCKER - a severely critical defect on the production site; these should interrupt other work
* BUG - a defect affecting the production site
* FEATURE - a new feature
* CHANGE - a change to an existing feature
* DEV - a task to make developers happier


== Meetings ==
=== Size ===
 
Cards are roughly equal in size. If a request seems particularly big, the project manager works with the team to identify a smaller piece to start on. A card is created for that piece and added to the ''Selected'' column. The process is then repeated until the entire request is completed.
 
=== Assignment ===
 
Every card is assigned to someone in Kanbanery, with the exception of cards in the ''Selected'' phase. Assignment is self-directed. The person assigned to a card is not necessarily the only person working on it, but the person ultimately responsible for ensuring that the card becomes ''Ready''.
 
When a person is no longer working on a card, he changes the assignee to ''nobody''. At any point, another team member can assign one of these cards to himself and begin working on it.
 
=== Deadlines ===


=== Planning and Retrospective Meeting ===
The ''Deadline'' feature of Kanbanery is used to highlight changes that have hard deadlines. The team and project manager pay special attention to these cards to ensure they are completed on time.


The team meets at the beginning of each Sprint for a <em>Planning and Retrospective Meeting</em>. The meeting is broken into two parts.
=== Subtasks ===


==== Retrospective ====
The team is encouraged to use the ''Subtask'' feature of Kanbanery to break work into more manageable pieces.


In the first part of the meeting, the team discusses aspects of its process that have been working well and aspects of the process that could use improvement.
=== Blockers ===


All thoughts shared in the Retrospective are reflected on this page. The Scrum Master treats this page like a Developer Bill of Rights, and works to ensure that the policies written here are enforced.
If a card cannot move forward until some other work is done, that other work is marked as a ''Blocker'' in Kanbanery. The blocker might be another card, the address of a Bugzilla bug, or even just a written description of the impediment.


==== Planning ====
== Meetings ==


In the second part of the meeting, the team decides what features it should complete in the upcoming Sprint based on the priorities reflected in the [[MDN/Development/Process#Product_Backlog|Product Backlog]]. Tasks needed to complete these features are captured in the Sprint Backlog.
=== Priority meeting ===


The team aims for variety in the features it chooses so that everyone can find something interesting to work on. The team plans to complete about two-thirds of the work it normally completes as reflected in its average [[MDN/Development/Process#Velocity|Velocity]]. The remaining one-third of work is left open for other features that developers choose based on their interests. These features are not added to the Sprint Backlog because doing so would complicate Velocity and cause bumps in Sprint Burndown Charts.
The product manager and project manager meet every two weeks to discuss priorities. Over time, other MDN stakeholders will be invited to this meeting to inform priority decisions.


After building the Sprint Backlog, the team plays [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker Planning Poker] to discuss the tasks in more detail and estimate how long it will take to complete each. If the team realizes that it has taken on too much or too little work, it adds or removes features from the Sprint Backlog accordingly.
== Planning and Retrospective meeting ==


== Working ==
The development team, product manager, project manager and interested users meet every two weeks to discuss process improvements and review the state of development.


=== Assignment ===
== Working with contributors ==
 
The project manager lists himself as a mentor in bugs that seem like good candidates for contributors. Contributors are encouraged to choose bugs from this list, but can work on any other bugs that interest them.
 
== Tracking Progress ==


During each Sprint, the team works on the features that they added to the Sprint Backlog. When a developer has decided to work on a particular feature, he assigns that feature to himself. If he later decides that he does not want to work on the feature, he removes the assignment so that someone else can work on it.
=== Visual Overview ===


=== Handling development annoyances ===
The [https://mdn.kanbanery.com/projects/32137/board/?key=0383ba5f05e165e0eb19d8476654fe9775ce2ca7 best indication of progress] is the visual overview provided by Kanbanery.


The team occasionally encounters minor annoyances that affect their development work, such as receiving an overwhelming amount of error report emails. These problems are usually not serious on their own, but they can become more serious as they pile up. To manage this, each team member opens a Bugzilla bug with the keyword [dev-papercut] in the Status Whiteboard. At each planning meeting, the team considers a list of [http://mzl.la/UeVyMo ignored papercuts] when building the Sprint Backlog.
=== Written Overview ===


=== PTO ===
The team sometimes communicates [http://standu.ps/project/mdndev more detailed progress] using Standup.


Team members notify the Scrum Master when they file PTO, so that he can help the team prepare accordingly.
=== Notifications ===


== Updating the MDN ==
The team publishes several RSS feeds that stakeholders can subscribe to for notifications about progress. The status of a card might change by the time a notification is seen, so subscribers are encouraged to always consult the corresponding Kanban card for the most up-to-date information.


Throughout the Sprint, the team occasionally pushes new changes to our production server. The team does this about once per week, usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Pushes on Monday and Friday are avoided.
* [http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=a3d378990547aff38f71f3874fb99b73&_render=rss All team progress]
* [http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=635225e2ec8e20390f63d44e2bf52dc0&_render=rss Changes that are ''Ready'' to be pulled into the next phase]
* [http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=31bcc67c8ed29426bd10e889850332a0&_render=rss Changes that are being designed]
* [http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=de2003d8825b98844ceacda135a3ffcb&_render=rss Changes that have moved into a new phase]
* [http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=5cf8dd8eb931c1494aa8f9bc954a1dac&_render=rss Changes that have been released]

Latest revision as of 23:25, 8 July 2014

Version: 0.4

Purpose

This document provides an overview of the process that the MDN development team uses to manage its work. This process is based on Kanban and other techniques that the team finds to be helpful.

Summary

Users and other stakeholders can request changes to the MDN at any time by filing a bug on Bugzilla. The MDN project manager occasionally reviews these requests and, based on priorities that are identified, chooses some for the team should complete. For each of these, a new Kanban card is created and added to a phase called Selected. Over time, these cards move out of Selected and through four other phases in order: Research & Design, Development, Review & QA, and Released.

The team uses Kanbanery and Bugzilla to manage this process. Each Kanbanery card refers to the Bugzilla bug (created by the Mozilla Developer Network Feedback form) that describes the original request. The team uses the bug to collaborate as progress is made. For example, the team uses the bug to share designs and hold technical discussions.

When a phase is completed (see the section Phases), the card is marked as Ready in Kanbanery. At any point, a team member working in the next phase can pull a Ready card into his phase and begin working on it. Phases are not skipped when a card is moved. If a phase is not needed for a particular card, the group responsible for that phase simply marks the card as Ready immediately after it is pulled in.

All requests go through this process. The team can elect to work on any requests that interest them by contributing to priority discussions.

Phases

Selected

One card is added to this phase for each change that should be completed soon.

Research & Design

The team investigates a technical solution to the change. The team also decides if the change is small enough to be implemented without a detailed design, if a detailed design is needed before development beings, or if the feature is so big that it should be implemented behind a feature flag (allowing the team can iterate on it over time). The card is marked as Ready when the team feels comfortable starting development.

Development

The development team implements the change. The card is marked as Ready after a pull request is submitted for the change.

Review & QA

The development team completes a code review and a spot check. Sometimes, additional quality assurance is completed and sign-off is requested from the person (or group) who signed off on the detailed design. The team considers not only functionality but also security, performance, and other important factors during this phase. The card is marked as Ready when the team is confident that the change works as designed and meets other quality standards.

Released

A card is moved here when the corresponding change is pushed to the production server.

Card Management

Work in Progress Limits

The team uses Work in Progress (WIP) limits to limit the amount of work being done at a given time. A card is not pulled into a new phase if its limit has already been reached.

Phase WIP Limit
Selected 6
Research & Design 4
Development 5
Review & QA 3

Work Types

Cards are grouped into three different work types.

  • BLOCKER - a severely critical defect on the production site; these should interrupt other work
  • BUG - a defect affecting the production site
  • FEATURE - a new feature
  • CHANGE - a change to an existing feature
  • DEV - a task to make developers happier

Size

Cards are roughly equal in size. If a request seems particularly big, the project manager works with the team to identify a smaller piece to start on. A card is created for that piece and added to the Selected column. The process is then repeated until the entire request is completed.

Assignment

Every card is assigned to someone in Kanbanery, with the exception of cards in the Selected phase. Assignment is self-directed. The person assigned to a card is not necessarily the only person working on it, but the person ultimately responsible for ensuring that the card becomes Ready.

When a person is no longer working on a card, he changes the assignee to nobody. At any point, another team member can assign one of these cards to himself and begin working on it.

Deadlines

The Deadline feature of Kanbanery is used to highlight changes that have hard deadlines. The team and project manager pay special attention to these cards to ensure they are completed on time.

Subtasks

The team is encouraged to use the Subtask feature of Kanbanery to break work into more manageable pieces.

Blockers

If a card cannot move forward until some other work is done, that other work is marked as a Blocker in Kanbanery. The blocker might be another card, the address of a Bugzilla bug, or even just a written description of the impediment.

Meetings

Priority meeting

The product manager and project manager meet every two weeks to discuss priorities. Over time, other MDN stakeholders will be invited to this meeting to inform priority decisions.

Planning and Retrospective meeting

The development team, product manager, project manager and interested users meet every two weeks to discuss process improvements and review the state of development.

Working with contributors

The project manager lists himself as a mentor in bugs that seem like good candidates for contributors. Contributors are encouraged to choose bugs from this list, but can work on any other bugs that interest them.

Tracking Progress

Visual Overview

The best indication of progress is the visual overview provided by Kanbanery.

Written Overview

The team sometimes communicates more detailed progress using Standup.

Notifications

The team publishes several RSS feeds that stakeholders can subscribe to for notifications about progress. The status of a card might change by the time a notification is seen, so subscribers are encouraged to always consult the corresponding Kanban card for the most up-to-date information.

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