FIT2002- IT Project Management
Semester 2 - 2024
Assignment Three – Team Assignment
Due Dates:
● Team presentation and Agile Artefacts (10%): Team presentation in the form. of a Stand-up Meeting to be conducted during Weeks 12 Applied sessions.
● Individual submission (90%): Deliverables 1-3 as an individual assignment through Moodle before the deadline - Monday, 28 October 2024.
Value: 25% of overall unit assessment
Mode of Submission: Online via Moodle
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The objectives of Assignment 3 are designed to deepen students' understanding and application of:
● Adaptive Project Management: Utilising Agile and Scrum methodologies to manage and adapt to evolving project requirements dynamically.
● Scrum Master Roles: Enhancing knowledge and skills pertinent to the roles and responsibilities of a Scrum Master within IT project management.
● Team Collaboration: Fostering advanced collaborative skills necessary for effective teamwork and project success in real-time environments.
THE CONTEXT
This assignment involves a series of deliverables that will guide you through the establishment of agile project foundations, detailed sprint planning and allocation and execution of the initial sprints. Each deliverable is designed to integrate the theoretical underpinnings of agile project management with practical application, allowing students to experience first-hand the dynamic environment of agile project execution.
● Transition from Planning to Action: Assignment 3 focuses on moving from the detailed project plans developed in Assignment 2 into an active development phase using agile methodologies.
● Focus on Agile Execution: You will learn to apply agile principles like sprints, continuous improvement, and regular evaluation for effective project execution.
● Practical Application of Agile Principles: The assignment includes deliverables that require students to:
○ Refine goals and requirements using agile approaches.
○ Create user personas to understand user needs.
○ Develop a high-level agile project timeline.
○ Breakdown the project into manageable sprints.
● Educational Objectives: This assignment fosters practical project management skills and prepares students to manage real-world projects within agile frameworks.
● Emphasis on User and Organisational Needs: Agile methodologies will help you develop solutions that are highly responsive to user needs and contribute to the stakeholder’s organisational goals.
● Bridging Theory and Practice: This assignment helps students apply their theoretical knowledge of agile project management to practical project scenarios, preparing them for future project management roles.
Note: A ‘Writing Guide' is provided to help you structure your responses effectively. Using this writing guide will ensure you address all key aspects of the questions and demonstrate your understanding of agile concepts.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. The workshop topics will address different components of the assignment (see Specification below).
You should actively participate and engage in classes and discuss emerging concepts as a team. Where required, discuss your progress with your tutor, who can provide support and advice.
2. There are two assignment requirements:
a. Group demonstration (Team stand-up meeting and Agile artefacts) due Week 12 during
Applied session. Short extensions are not available for this task and ALL team members must be present, unless they have explicit permission from the CE (Roisin McNaney). b. Individual submission (all deliverables) due Week 14 (28 October 2024, 11:55 PM).
3. Submissions (individual) must take the form. of a single PDF document.
a. Individual submission should be named: <<A3>>_<<Group #>>_<<Student ID>>.pdf.
- <<A3>> is Assignment 3.
- <<Group #>> is the group number that will be assigned to your group when you enrol yourself in groups through the Moodle portal.
- <<Student ID>> is your unique Monash University student number.
- For example, a file name could be A3_0301_12345678.pdf, where the group number is ‘0301’ and the student ID is ‘12345678’ .
PLAGIARISM DECLARATION
When uploading your assignment on Moodle, you are required to accept the Student Statement (which includes a declaration that you have not plagiarised during the preparation of your assignment solution). You are required to ACCEPT the Student Statement; otherwise, you will not be able to submit your assignment electronically and your assignment will NOT be assessed.
NOTE : Marks may be deducted for any paragraphs or tables containing text which have been inserted into the document as screenshots or images. Any sections created in another word document or spreadsheet must be copied and pasted as text.
GENERATIVE AI
AI & Generative AI tools may be used SELECTIVELY within this assessment. Where used, AI must be used responsibly, clearly documented, and appropriately acknowledged (see Learn HQ).
represent a sincere demonstration of your human efforts, skills, and subject knowledge that you will be accountable for.
● adhere to the guidelines for AI use set for the assessment task.
● reflect the university's commitment to academic integrity and ethical behaviour.
Inappropriate AI use and/or AI use without acknowledgement will be considered a breach of academic integrity.
LATE SUBMISSION
1. Submission must be made by the due date. Unless an extension or special consideration has been granted, or otherwise specified in the learning management system, students who submit an assessment task after the due date will receive a late-submission penalty of 5 percent of the available marks in that task. A further penalty of 5 percent of the available marks will be applied for each additional day (24-hour period), or part thereof, the assessment task is overdue.
2. If you cannot complete an assessment (due to exceptional circumstances beyond your control), you may be eligible for a short extension or special consideration. A short extension is two calendar days and is available once for each eligible assessment. The first short extension for a unit will be granted without a reason given. All subsequent extensions require a reason when the application is submitted. Special consideration is a longer extension (for more than two days). Eligible students must supply a reason and supporting documentation.
3. For more details of the Special Consideration procedure and rules, and how to apply, visit:
https://www.monash.edu/students/admin/exams/changes/special-consideration
ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY
To formulate a successful portfolio, your team and you (as a Scrum Master for your individual project) will complete the following deliverables. Discussion of the deliverables will be the focus of Workshops and Applied Sessions in weeks 9 to 12 of the semester:
● Individual Submission:
○ Deliverable 1 (30%): Agile Project Foundations [Relevant content: workshop 10; workshop 11; applied 10]
○ Deliverable 2 (40%): Agile Planning and Sprint Allocation [Relevant content: workshop 11, applied 11]
○ Deliverable 3 (10%): Agile Reflection and Professional Development [Relevant content: workshop 11; applied 9; applied 10; applied 11]
● Team Presentation and Agile Artefacts (10%) [Relevant content: workshop 12; applied 12; Recorded Deep dive]
● Completeness and correctness of statements; Referencing (10%)
ASSIGNMENT TASKS
Building on the groundwork established in Assignment 2, students will now act as Scrum Team, leading their teams through the execution of their individual projects developed in the previous assignment. This stage introduces the practical challenges and decision-making processes typical in agile project environments, requiring students to iteratively develop and refine their project outputs based on real- time feedback and evolving project needs.
This shift to a practical, hands-on approach in Assignment 3 ensures that students not only learn about the theoretical aspects of IT project management but also gain valuable experience in applying these principles in a controlled yet dynamic and responsive learning environment.
DELIVERABLE 1: Agile Project Foundations
Key Focus: Setting a strong foundation for iterative development by refining your understanding of the problem, the users, and laying groundwork for an agile workflow.
Task 1.1 Project Vision and Initial Requirements for your individual project
● Refine your project’s Vision: Using the writing guide provided, develop a clear project vision statement. Describe what your project aims to achieve, including its scope, elaborate on the value your project offers, and identify the stakeholders who will benefit the most.
● Problem Statement: Clearly define the problem your project will solve, focusing on the benefits for the game players or end users.
● High-Level Requirements: Identify and list a minimum of 6 essential features your product (game) must include to meet user needs. Use user-friendly language, avoiding technical jargon, and focus on the benefits to the game players. These features will eventually be included in your product backlog (e.g., “Allow players to easily transform. into different forms to solve puzzles” instead of “Implement a transformation system for character avatars”).
Note: Task 1.1 may have similarity and overlap with some of your Assignment 1 and 2 deliverables, however, it should not be a repetition of your previous work. Use the formative feedback you have received across your other assignments to refine your project vision.
Task 1.2 Scrum Persona
Personas represent the various types of users who will interact with your game or product. Use the writing guide provided in Moodle for this task to develop two personas that will help you better understand user needs, behaviours, and goals. These personas should be directly related to the type of player or user who will engage with the project you’re developing.
Include the following details for each persona:
● Name and Photo: Give each persona a realistic name and include a representative image.
● Description: Provide key information about the persona’s background (e.g., age, occupation, interests, skill level).
● Goals/Needs: Define the persona’s primary goals and what they want to achieve when interacting with your game.
● Frustrations/Pain Points: Identify any challenges or frustrations the persona might encounter while playing the game or using the product.
Using empathy to guide your decision-making, write a short reflection (50-100 words) on how your persona might benefit from one of the features in the game
Task 1.3 Journey Mapping
Map Out a Critical User Journey:
To ensure your journey map is focused on user-centred design, select one of the personas you developed in Task 1.2 and use it as the basis for mapping a critical user journey. This will help you understand how this specific user type interacts with your game or project.
Choose a critical journey that is essential to the success of your project. The journey typically begins when the player becomes aware of a need (e.g., solving a puzzle, completing a level) and concludes when they either make a decision or accomplish their goal. By linking your journey map to the persona, you will be able to empathise with the user, identify their pain points, and propose improvements that make the experience more tailored and engaging.
Using the provided writing guide, map out this journey and include the following elements:
1. Stages:
● Stage 1. Awareness & Consideration: Describe how the user first becomes aware of the game or product and what factors contribute to their decision to engage.
● Stage 2. First Interaction: Detail the user’s first experience with the game mechanics or core product features.
● Stage 3. Engagement & Problem Solving: Explain how the user interacts with the core features and what challenges they face.
● Stage 4. Decision Point: Outline the factors influencing whether the user continues to engage with the product or leaves.
2. Steps: Detail how the user progresses through each stage, from becoming aware to deciding whether to continue using the product. Break down these steps into clear sprint tasks that can be tackled iteratively.
3. Touchpoints: List all interactions the user has with the system, interface, or other people. Identify which interactions can be refined in future sprints.
4. Pain Points: Identify frustrations or inefficiencies the user might face at each stage. Each pain point should translate into a user story or task that can be prioritised in the backlog for future sprints.
5. Ideal Journey Improvements: Propose changes or new features that address the identified pain points. Each improvement should be associated with specific sprints for future development.
Note:
In real-world Agile projects, the journey map is often revisited and refined after each sprint based on user feedback. However, for this assignment, you are required to submit one version of the journey map as part of your deliverables.
Deliverable 1: structure & criteria
Deliverable 1
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Task
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criteria
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Weight
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Agile Project Foundations
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Task 1.1
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Develop a project vision document and high-level requirements (<350 words) that includes the following:
● Project’s scope that describes what you are going to create.
● Describe the core problem your project will address and the overall solution you propose
● List a minimum of 6 essential features and functionalities your system must have to achieve the refined business vision.
|
10%
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Task 1.2
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Develop two scrum personas (< 500 words in total) for your project that includes the following:
● Name and Photo
● Description
● Goals/Needs
● Frustration and pain points
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10%
|
Task 1.3
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Journey Mapping (<400 words)
● Complete a focused journey map for a critical journey within your project.
● Clearly identify user pain points and potential areas of friction.
● Propose transformational improvements that align with your project goals.
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10%
|
DELIVERABLE 2: Agile Planning and Sprint Allocation
Key Focus: Translating your project vision into actionable sprints, prioritising impactful features, and demonstrating adaptability within an agile framework.
Task 2.1 Develop a comprehensive product backlog incorporating five major epics specific to your project. Utilise the writing guide provided in Moodle and include the following essential categories in your product backlog:
i. Define Your Epics:
● Identify 5 major epics that represent the core functionalities of your project. Breakdown each epic into features (smaller epics) as needed.
● Describe each epic in detail and clearly explain how it contributes to the project’s goals.
● Link each epic to stakeholder needs or business value to ensure alignment with the project vision. ii. Break Down Features & User Stories:
For each epic, create a minimum of 2 specific features, written in user story format: “As a [user type], I want to [action], so that [benefit].”
Apply the INVEST criteria when writing user stories:
● Independent: The story should be self-contained.
● Negotiable: The story should allow room for discussion and flexibility.
● Valuable: It should provide value to the stakeholders.
● Estimable: The story should be estimable in terms of effort.
● Small: It should be small enough to complete within one sprint.
● Testable: There should be clear acceptance criteria for when the story is complete.
iii. Prioritise Strategically: Apply an agile prioritisation method (such as MoSCoW, Kano, or Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF)) to your backlog. Ensure that Must Have features are included in the early sprints to address critical stakeholder needs and pain points. Prioritise stories based on business value, risk, and dependencies.
iv. Estimate Effort:
● Assign story points to each user story using techniques like Planning Poker or relative estimation. Be sure to estimate effort based on complexity, risk, and uncertainty.
● Ensure that effort estimates are realistic, considering the team’s capacity and experience.
Task 2.2 Strategic Sprint Allocation
Your team faces the challenge of planning a project over three months, divided into five sprints. You've already developed a prioritised list of five major epics (Task 2.1). Now it's time to strategically allocate these epics to sprints, delivering value incrementally while addressing critical pain points.
a. Total Duration: 3 months (12 weeks)
● Number of Sprints: 5
● Average Sprint Length: 2.4 weeks per sprint b. Steps for Sprint Allocation:
● Break Down Large Epics:
○ Review the five epics you defined in Task 2.1 and determine if any epics need to be broken down into smaller sub-epics or features to be distributed across multiple sprints.
○ Example: If you have an epic like “Level Design” in Eidolon’s Veil, it might be broken down into “Initial Environment Design” (Sprint 1) and “Advanced Puzzle Layouts” (Sprint 3).
● Prioritise & Allocate Epics:
○ Allocate epics or sub-epics to each sprint. Use an agile prioritisation method like MoSCoW, Kano, or Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) to ensure that the most critical features (e.g., “Must Haves”) are addressed early.
○ Deliver Incremental Value: Ensure that each sprint delivers a usable, functional piece of the project. This could be a feature that stakeholders can use, test, or provide feedback on at the end of each sprint.
○ Example: For Retro Rivals, Sprint 1 might focus on developing basic racing mechanics and core car physics, while Sprint 2 focuses on implementing the synthwave soundtrack and retro visuals.
● Resolve Pain Points & Dependencies:
○ Focus on resolving key pain points early in the project, especially those that stakeholders have prioritised. If any features depend on others being completed first, make sure to allocate them to earlier sprints.
○ Example: For Cipher Protocol, you might need to complete the hacking mechanics in Sprint 1 before working on more advanced stealth systems in Sprint 2.
● Theme-Based Sprints (Optional):
○ If applicable, organise sprints around broader themes such as “Core Gameplay Mechanics,” “User Experience Enhancements,” or “Narrative Development.” This helps create a structured progression in the project.
○ Example: For Stellar Nexus, Sprint 1 could be focused on procedural galaxy generation (core mechanics), while Sprint 3 might focus on diplomacy systems (narrative enhancements).
c. Adaptability:
● Create a Buffer: Ensure that each sprint plan includes some buffer time to accommodate unexpected challenges or scope changes. This will allow your project to remain flexible and adaptable to new requirements.
● Adapt to Changes: Be prepared to adjust your sprint allocations mid-project if new requirements or critical issues arise. Justify how you would manage scope changes, explaining which features might be delayed or reprioritised.
d. Justify & Explain Trade-offs:
● Provide a detailed explanation for why you allocated specific epics to particular sprints. This should include any trade-offs you made, such as prioritising core functionality over non-essential features or delaying a less critical feature for a future sprint.
● Example: If you delayed implementing a minor feature in Retro Rivals to prioritise core racing mechanics, explain how this decision improves overall project outcomes.
e. Critically Analyse Your Plan:
● Identify any gaps or missing information in your sprint allocation plan and explain how you would address them during the project.
● Example: If you’re unsure how long a particular feature might take to develop (e.g., advanced hacking systems in Cipher Protocol), explain how you would gather more information and adjust your plan as necessary.