THREE AMIGOS IN AGILE

INTRODUCTION

The three Amigos principle is all about hearing the viewpoint of Business, Development, and Testing to align to a common shared vision of the product being delivered. Sometimes hearing a different perspective is all it takes to strike the right balance to ship awesome products. This concept helps us from not being biased to a single point of view and helps foster the 3 C’s of a Good User story - Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. 
 

The prime focus remains on what issue we are trying to solve, how to model a solution to eliminate the issue, and be aware of all accepts in the software delivery process. The Three Amigos, which usually consist of a Business Analyst, Developer, and Tester, promote an agile mindset in the team. This ensures everyone in the team talks the same language, driven by a shared understanding of the requirements.
 
MEET THE THREE AMIGOS

As diverse as each of the amigos are, let’s understand their roles a bit deeper.

BUSINESS ANALYST explains the Business requirement and makes sure everyone has a common interpretation of the user story. Analysts listen to the perspectives of the other amigos and refactor the user story. Makes conscious effort the groom and matures the story with additional information, not specified.

DEVELOPER brainstorm on the requirements and what would be needed to build. They share ideas on the architecture and low-level design with the team. They also contribute by sharing their knowledge on technical restrictions.

TESTER is responsible for presenting their perspective on the functional and non-functional aspects of the product that is being shipped. They look to ensure their test cases are mature to cover edge cases and missing scenarios. They work to ensure their test cases cover all possible criteria to meet the definition of Done.

 
 
WHO should be present?

We usually have one amigo represent from Business Analyst, Developer, and Tester. But this should not always be limited to three. It is driven by how many people can add value. It is always a good practice to involve developers and testers who will eventually work on the actual delivery to reap the most benefit. At times, there is also a fourth Amigo representation from the UX team, or the Client himself is involved.
 

WHEN should the 3 Amigo meetings be held?

It advised that this meeting should be conducted in-sprint prior (N-1/N-2) to sprint N, where the deliverable is planned to be developed. If done sooner, the team might forget or miss out on crucial aspects and might not add much value. For the meeting to be effective, ensure that it is time-boxed between 30 minutes or a maximum of an hour. For the meeting to be fruitful, it is advisable that all amigos read the business requirements beforehand and have any questions ready to utilize the time best.

WHAT happens in the 3 Amigo meetings?

Business Analyst usually drives the meeting by sharing the business requirements of the increment. They may also choose to share the design wireframe as well. Other Amigos review the requirement and ask questions to seek clarity and alignment. They also provide their feedback to refactor the user story.
Once well-groomed, the Tester presents test cases or test scenarios. Others in the meeting review them and highlight any missing test cases or edge scenarios. The intention here should be to ensure test cases have good test coverage and meet the acceptance criteria.
The developer presents the architecture and design to build a product based on his understanding of the requirement been presented. Any dependencies or pre-requisites identified from the meeting are assigned for action to relevant team members. Artifacts of the meeting are usually kept in Project Management Tools like JIRA, which is accessible to the entire Team.
 

HOW will one benefit from the 3 Amigos approach?

The 3 Amigos approach inculcates a common language of the product and deliverables. The meeting encourages teamwork, thereby increasing team productivity. Any impediments or blockers are removed before the start of development which makes the delivery much smoother. Having different preceptive reduces bug slippages, in turn allowing a quality deliverable shipped. Improved product indirectly leads to happy customers.
 
CONCLUSION

This is simply not another meeting. If conducted diligently, this will benefit the team to ship quality products with minimum feedback loops. The 3 Amigos strives to embed a level of common understanding and eliminates any gaps that would occur before the start of development. The Three Amigo session is highly recommended to experience the change and value it brings to the table.

“It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we’re in it together.” ~ Essie