DSDM - Core Concepts

The following list describes the core concepts of DSDM.

Active User Involvement

The people who will be using the product must be actively involved in its development. This important in order for the product to end up being useful to the people who will be using it.

The Team Must Be Empowered to Make Decisions

The team should be able to make rapid and informed decisions, without having to cut through red tape to get those decisions approved.

Frequent Releases

DSDM focuses on frequent releases. Frequent releases allow for user input at crucial stages in the product's development. They also ensure that the product is able to be released quickly at all times.

Iterative Development, Driven by User Feedback

The development is the system is done in iterations, which allows for frequent user feedback, and a partial but prompt solution to immediate needs, with more functionality being added in later iterations.

Changes Must Be Reversible

All products should be in a fully known state at all times. This allows for backtracking if a certain change does not work out well.

Requirements are Initially Defined at a High Level

High-level requirements are worked out at the beginning of the project, before any coding, leaving the details to be worked out during the course of the development.

Fitness for Business Purpose is the Goal

Meeting the business need is more important than technical perfection.

Integrated Testing

Testing is done at every step of the way, to ensure that the product being developed is technically sound and does not develop any technical flaws, and that maximum use is made of user feedback.

Collaboration and Cooperation are Essential

Collaboration and cooperation between all interested parties are essential for the success of the project. All involved parties (not just the core team) must strive together to meet the business objective.

20% / 80% Rule

DSDM assumes that 80% of the solution can be developed in 20% of the time that it would take to produce the total solution. DSDM focuses on this 80%, leaving another 20% for later revisions. DSDM assumes that not all of the requirements for the final solution are known to begin with, so it is likely that the final 20% of non-essential features are likely to be flawed anyway.