Don’t Settle for Mediocre Results: Unleash the Power of Fidelity Dimension in Triangle Project Management
Fidelity in software refers to the finesse and precision of a feature or solution. It relates to the well-known Iron Triangle of Project Management, where scope, cost, and time are essential to project delivery, and quality is an additional non-negotiable variable. Fidelity can be used to understand the difference between incrementing and iterating and how they can be effectively combined in an Agile approach.
Agile’s approach is to build each feature individually at low Fidelity, then gradually add features and increase their loyalty until the right combination is achieved. This approach combines the incremental and iterative process and provides the required flexibility to deal with fixed scope, cost, and time without compromising quality.
The concept of Fidelity can be compared to Dimensional Planning, where several different solutions are planned with varying levels of usability. Another source is Jeff Patton’s approach to grading features, where each part can be graded from A to F based on its level of quality.
In a Big Bang approach, architectural components are built to full Fidelity for the full scope and are fully integrated at the end. Each feature is built to full Fidelity individually in a purely incremental approach. In a strictly iterative process, all the parts are made to the lowest Fidelity first, then gradually increased to the highest level.
In conclusion, Fidelity provides a mechanism to effectively vary scope while meeting customer needs and solving their problems, making it a valuable tool in Agile project management.