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Polls & Surveys

Poll Results: Software Development Methodologies (Agile vs Waterfall)

by The Cranky Product Manager on October 10, 2008

in Agile/Scrum,Polls & Surveys

Big thanks to the 119 of you who deigned to answer to the Cranky Product Manager’s lil’ Facebook poll on software development methodologies. The poll is now closed.

While this is hardly a scientific poll, the results show a HUGE change in software development methodologies between now (2008) and two years ago (2006).

Software Product Development Methdologies: 2008 vs 2006

Software Product Development Methdologies: 2008 vs 2006

  • In 2006, you reported that a sizable majority of product development used a waterfall methodology (55%), with Scrum garnering a mere 7%.
  • In 2008, the picture is very different. Scrum and its Agile cousins account for nearly 60%, where waterfall has dropped to a mere 28%.
  • The percentage of products using waterfall dropped by 50% in just two years! (from 55% in 2006 to 28% in 2008.)
  • Scrum increased by 410% (!), and is now definitely the most popular flavor of Agile.

Wow. What a difference in just two years.,

Poll Conclusions

The CPM sees the writing on the wall. She’s now on a mission to learn all she can about Agile/Scrum in order to stay employable. But geez, there’s got to be something better out there than that canonical (naive) Scrum book. Something that reflects the realities of developing software PRODUCTS for multiple customers, not doing custom one-off developing projects. Please, say there is.

Nonetheless, the CPM thinks we are approaching Agile’s “Peak of Inflated Expectations,” soon to be followed by the “Trough of Disillusionment” (to borrow phraseology from the much-despised Gardeners), as people realize Agile still has flaws and is no Silver Bullet. Plus, Agile’s flaws aside, waterfall is not going away completely as there are too many products that CANNOT be developed via Agile (hardware, medical, defense, heavily regulated industries, products with very spread-out or outsourced development teams, to name a few).

Detailed Results

119 people responded to this Facebook poll, run between September 12 and October 1. Bare in mind that the readers of this blog are hardly representative of the entire software industry, and that the ones that use Facebook might be even less representative. Nonetheless, the results are very telling.

Question 1: Is your product currently being developed with one of the following software methodologies?

Reported Software Product Development Methodologies in 2008

Question 2: Two years ago, what methodology was used for the product from Question 1?

Reported Software Product Development Methodologies in 2006

Reported Software Product Development Methodologies two years ago, in 2006

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POLL: Agile vs. Waterfall Software Development

by The Cranky Product Manager on September 12, 2008

in Agile/Scrum,Polls & Surveys

Hey there, the Cranky Product Manager has a new poll over at Facebook.  Its purpose is to informally see how much software development methodologies have changed over the past 2 years, be they  Waterfall, Agile / Scrum, Agile / But Not Scrum,  or Cowboy Coding. 

Only 2 questions. Won't take too long, promise.  You'll get to view the results immediately after answering.

And, yes, the Cranky Product Manager realizes that some of you DESPISE Facebook and won't take the poll, thereby skewing the results.  But the Cranky PM likes Facebook and the way it keeps people from voting twice even from different IPs. Plus she thinks Facebook is fun.  She loves answering Cosmo quizes like "what kind of shoe are you?" And its the Cranky Product Manager's blog, and her rules (even says so in the sidebar over there –> ). 

Besides, this is hardly a scientific poll, given that the readers of this blog are much more bitchy than the norm.

After a few weeks, the CPM will post the poll results to this blog so you can see them even if you don't belong to Facebook.

Enjoy, thanks, and have a great weekend!

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About Readers of This Here Blog

by The Cranky Product Manager on September 4, 2008

in Blog Business,Polls & Surveys

Like most product managers, the Cranky Product Manager is obsessed with any hard customer data that she can get her hands on.  So, a while back, she started up a page on Facebook to hopefully learn a bit more about you.  It was really fun. No, not in the Disney Land rollercoaster WOW kind of way but in the quiet satisfaction of sipping a great cup of coffee on a beautiful terrace kind of way.

Anyway, it was fun to see your profile photos. After all, you all have a picture of the Cranky Product Manager’s jean-clad posterior, so now we’re even, right? It was also interesting to learn how FEW of you actually live in the Boston Route 128 or Silicon Valley areas. Because those two areas are the center of the CPM’s world, you see.  She assumes EVERYONE lives there because she has a very myopic worldview — it’s all about HER dammit.

To learn even more about y’all, the Cranky Product Manager did a Facebook poll of your industry and job functions. 193 of you responded.  She promised to share the results with those of you who HATE! DESPISE! DETEST! LOATHE! Facebook.  So, here are the results…

Shock of all shocks, an overwhelming 73% of you are in software or online services.

Cranky Product Manager Readers: Industry breakdown

The vast majority of you are either product managers or product marketers (62%).  This surprised the CPM because some of her biggest traffic spikes are when developer sites post links to her blog. She thought more engineers were reading — they are only 6%…  Maybe those guys drop by but then get all offended and leave….

Cranky Product Manager readers: Job Function breakdown

And now for regular demographics.  Probably not surprising, but of those who chose to reveal their gender, about 36% were female. That’s a much higher ratio than the CPM has encountered in the workplace, but not entirely surprising because the CPM’s PM sistahs can relate to her experiences that are unique to being female in this crazy software product world. Such as being forced to dance with 4-5 geeky men at once at any work-related function with a DJ.

Cranky Product Manager readers: gender

Aslo, you’re kinda old.  It seems like the average age for product manager is getting older, wouldn’t you say?  At least that’s the CPM’s personal experience:

Cranky ProductManager readers: Age

OK, wasn’t that interesting? Now get back to work.

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Who ARE you people, anyway?

by The Cranky Product Manager on July 31, 2008

in Blog Business,Polls & Surveys

The Cranky Product Manager wants to know…. who the heck _ARE_ you,
anyway? Are you part of her Product Management posse? Or part of the
warring marketing or software engineering tribes? Do tell….

Or maybe you're just curious who else is reading?

Please take the "What's Your Gig" quiz on the Cranky Product Manager's Facebook page.  It'll show the results after you answer two simple questions….

Muchas Gracias,
The Cranky Product Manager

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