3-IJCI Vol. 3 No. 2-Feb 2024-Paper2-Dr. Ali2

Using Prototypes in Agile Software Development
Ali Hamzah Obaid

Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University Babylon Technical Institute Babylon, Iraq
[email protected]
Abstract
Prototyping has now become an important and essential part of software
development processes. As it is considered one of the ideal ways to receive new jobs
through changing requirements during the development process due to its speed and
efficiency in delivering models that simulate the final model and its ability to be
developed and changed according to the opinions of stakeholders.
Agile development and its iterative advantage and adaptability to changing
requirements from stakeholders allows business teams to clearly and accurately
understand requirements.
This paper explores that the use of prototyping in agile software development has an
essential role in early and continuous verification of requirements in the development
process through the creation of quick, concrete models of proposed features and
functionality. This helps in identifying errors, problems or misunderstandings early
in the process. Development and this understanding helps save time and material
costs allocated to the development process. Using prototypes and integrating them
into agile development helps work teams and stakeholders adapt flexibly, obtain a
clear vision of requirements, and identify weak points in the development process by
holding meetings and Periodic meetings to obtain a highly efficient product that
meets their desires and the desires of end users.
Keywords: Prototype, Agile, Software Development, Methodology, Development
Projects.
23
International Journal of Computers and Informatics, London Vol (3), No (2), 2024
https://doi.org/10.59992/IJCI.2024.v3n2p2 E-ISSN 2976-9361
The Aims
The current study aims to clarify the importance of using prototypes in agile software
development through exploratory knowledge.
1. Introduction
Early in the development process, when the solution to the problem is uncertain,
software development processes using Agile methodologies are characterized by
creativity and design thinking by focusing well on the end-user's or stakeholders'
needs to reach problem solutions faster. To create interactive models that simulate
the final product, a vision of the customer’s requirements can be accessed and
evaluated [1].
Agile software development methods that use prototyping facilitate the creation and
improvement of early iterations of a product because prototyping allows rapid
iteration in partnership with stakeholders and users [2].
Prototypes help in clarifying the final product and verifying requirements by
choosing a design method and identifying gaps and problems in real time early in the
development process. In the Agile software development process in general [3],
Prototypes promote a collaborative and iterative approach to obtaining early
feedback and the ability to adapt to changing requirements. Therefore, using
Prototypes leads to reduced development time through software solutions that meet
the needs of end users from The early stages of development [4]. Prototypes also
allow the development team to create multiple versions of the product and improve
it in cooperation with users and stakeholders to reach the final version of the product
by understanding the requirements and making appropriate decisions for the final
design after identifying problems and improving them early in the development
process [5].
24
The use of Prototypes methodologies in agile development enables adaptation to
changing requirements by stakeholders by promoting a collaborative, iterative
approach, which in turn ensures that the final software solutions meet the
expectations of end users from the early stages of design, and significantly improve
the efficiency of the development process to reach the best costs, less time in the
development process, and reduced software corrections and documentation [6].
Using Prototypes in Agile software development promotes a simpler and more
efficient development process, reducing the need for extensive changes and revisions
later on. Overall, using Prototypes in Agile software development helps reduce
requirements fluctuations and reduces the need for extensive changes and revisions
during the development process, resulting in a more successful and satisfying final
product [7].
1.1 Background
1.1.1 Agile Software Development
In recent years, many different methodologies and approaches to software
development have been introduced. Few methodologies are used today for many
reasons. (Nandhakumar and Avison,) [8] point out that traditional software
development methodologies are treated as an imaginative innovative design to
provide an image of control or to provide a symbolic status. While (Parnas and
Clements, [9], Wiegers, 1998, Truex et al, [10]) take an extreme position on
traditional methods. Through this simple background, the emergence of agile
software development methods are allowed.
Agile software development has its origins specifically in the Agile Manifesto
written by (Beck et al., 2001:6), which shows that it is a user-centered approach, and
the customer Who participates in development activities during the development
process is the focus, which also allows the product to be adapted according to needs,
25
including requirements and discovery, solution improvement, self-organization,
collaborative effort, cross-functional teams, cooperation with customers and end
users, and division of tasks [11].
Agile software is a methodology that has gained wide popularity in the software
development process due to its ability to facilitate continuous collaboration and
effective communication between development teams. The core principles of Agile,
flexibility to accept changing requirements, and strong collaboration between
developers, stakeholders, and end users, make it well-suited for projects that require
adaptability and continuous improvement. Additionally, Agile methodologies align
with human-centered approaches to creating the right design, which emphasizes the
importance of understanding end users and their technical contexts, and ensuring that
the programs that are developed and built are compatible with their views and
requirements. Agile argues that software specifications should emerge appropriately
and naturally through the development process, delivering prototypes continuously
in short periods of time throughout the development process. This allows for
improving previous Prototypes and incorporating good practices and patterns to
build efficient and high-quality software products. Also, Agile methodologies
emphasize the importance of face-to-face interactions between the development team
and stakeholders during the development process. This encourages regular
communication with clients to adjust priorities and changing requirements to the
appropriate time, scope, and project plan. It also enhances teamwork between
different development teams, and supports effective collaboration and
communication with work teams across different regions and different geographical
locations [12].
26
Figure (1): The 12 Agile Principles of the Agile Manifesto
1.1.2 Prototype Methodology
Prototypes methodology is an iterative approach to software development by
creating a working copy to develop the proposed or required system. Different
methods can be used in the development process. The prototype is developed
according to methodologies based on the basic assumptions, concepts, and processes
in the product life cycle. The development process is carried out according to
techniques that are compatible with the knowledge available to the organization at
that time. Prototypes methodologies allow for early feedback during the development
process and validation of the proposed system's functionality and usability during the
design period [13].
The prototype methodology is an approach to software development before the full
version of the system is developed. It focuses on creating multiple mini-versions to
demonstrate functionality and receive feedback from stakeholders. It is frequently
27
applied in circumstances where requirements and needs are not defined or are likely
to change over a period of time of system development.
In Prototypes methodologies, during the planning and analysis stages, multiple tools
are used, such as taking the opinions of experts and users and looking at other similar
projects, in order to make estimates of the material costs and time costs of the effort
required in the next stages of the development life cycle [14]. These estimates are
usually made in detail. Then, the first model methodology moves to the design and
development stages after taking into consideration the organization’s requirements
to create a working model for the required system based on the organization’s initial
requirements and the specifications required for the design. In this stage, the
development and design team works closely to produce a prototype that simulates
the requirements, features of the product, and its basic functions to reach the final
product. As the development process progresses, new features and improvements are
added based on the desire of end users or stakeholders to produce a more realistic
version of the final product. Collaboration and exchange of ideas during the
development process is a characteristic of prototypes due to their iterative nature in
creating multiple versions of the product, and this is what encourages stakeholders
to communicate with work teams to determine the functionality and needs of the end
user at each stage of delivery [14]. The final model undergoes a series of tests and
evaluations in order to ensure that the product is free of any errors or problems in
design or programming, which can be fixed early before the product is delivered
[16].
28
Figure (2): Prototype Methodology
2. Integrating Prototyping Methods into Agile Software Development
Lack of understanding of requirements is one of the most important problems facing
software development teams, which may cause the delivery of a product that is not
good and does not meet the ambitions of stakeholders. Given the advantages of
prototypes in continuous and effective communication with stakeholders, this
communication provides a better understanding of requirements and access to
designing a product that satisfies all parties. Early feedback allows for the design of
a product that meets the expectations of stakeholders [17].
Incorporating prototypes into agile development enhances the transparency of
requirements through the exchange of ideas between development teams and end
users. This collaboration enhances the early identification of additional functionality
and avoids problems that may occur during the product delivery process [18].
Continuous improvement allows the production of a highly efficient product through
early integration in understanding requirements based on consensus between work
teams and end users through effective cooperation and understanding.
29
In order to achieve the best results in the final product, the process of iteration and
experimentation is carried out between the developer and the user through
continuous evaluation by collecting comments and suggestions during the
development period from the client. Through Continuous evaluation: The product is
continuously improved to achieve the best results through the feedback provided by
users. The use of the prototype methodology is one of the common methods in agile
development due to the flexible and iterative approach to software development that
aims to deliver a highly efficient product in short increments. The agile development
methodology focuses on collaboration, adaptability, and user satisfaction [19].
When integrated into software development, Agile is the process of quickly building
a basic version of a product to gather feedback, test product functionality, and define
requirements. This approach allows for rapid iteration and improvement, creating a
product that meets the customer's requirements, needs, and expectations as shown in
Figure (3).
Fig. (3): Merging Prototyping in Agile Software Development.
30
Merging Prototypes with Agile helps to reuse the development components and
reduce the restrictions imposed on the development process, Through the process of
documenting the development components of Agile [20].
3. Steps to Develop Agile Software Using Prototypes
There are many important steps in creating Prototypes in Agile software development
after collecting requirements from the customer. The development team identifies
and distinguishes these requirements, collects functions, and includes them in the
prototype. After that, the design team creates a rough design for the user interface,
specifying the basic design of the product and its most important elements through
requirements-based planning using prototype tools. This model focuses on basic
functions and is called a low-level prototype [21]. It helps validate stakeholders’
requirements at an early stage. Once the comments are collected in the low-level
model, a higher-accuracy model is built with more functions, elements, and
interactive features.
The prototype allows to deal efficiently with unstable conditions, especially with
fluctuating requirements to achieve early course correction (Menéndez and Silva,
2016). Building the prototype facilitates the users and stakeholders to fully visualize
the program through the concrete representation of requirements and the possibility
of dealing with comments. The necessary modifications are made by the
development team. Due to the ability of Prototypes to deal with the requirements
accepted by stakeholders, it is an essential technique in agile development with
recommended categories including business, ease of use, performance, and capacity
of the prototype (Münch et al., 2013).
In general, the use of Prototypes in rapid development is extremely important to
effectively manage requirements and volatile and unstable conditions.
31
The iterative steps in Prototypes used in Agile development ensure that the software
is continuously improved based on end-user feedback. Figure (4) includes the steps
on how to use Prototypes in the Agile software development process.
Figure (4): Steps to develop agile software using prototypes

4. User Feedback on Prototype Methodology and its Integration into Agile
Development
User feedback is an essential element in the development process. It helps uncover
and identify product problems, allowing for improvement and providing a good
vision for the final product. This feedback provided by prototypes can be
32
incorporated into Agile software development and collected through early prototypes
allows teams to Making adjustments to meet their needs. To ensure that the product
meets the ambitions of stakeholders. Prototypes allow crucial decisions to be made
through iterative observations and feedback. The iterative feedback loop helps ensure
that the product meets the customer's aspirations. The participation of end users in
expressing their opinions through participation in the development process
contributes to making decisions in the final form of product design, defining the
necessary functions, and directing work teams to deliver a product that is more
appropriate to the requirements [22].
User comments and their identification of software defects are of great benefit in
feedback for product development and allow development teams to identify defects
and errors in product functionality, which contributes to resolving problems early in
the delivery process. An Agile software development timeline with prototyping To
provide high-quality products, it is of utmost necessity to deliver the product on time
and meet customer expectations [23,24].
5. Prototyping Strategy in Agile Development
Prototyping allows for continuous feedback, meeting requirements, and
collaborating with customers throughout the development process, ensuring
alignment with customer needs and requirements (Kaur et al., 2015). In addition,
agile methodologies allow Adaptability and flexibility by making adjustments and
responding quickly to changing requirements.
By following an agile software development timeline approach using prototyping,
development teams can iterate on the basic designs and functionality of a product,
incorporate end-user and customer feedback, and incrementally improve product
quality (Williams, 2010). Figure (4) represents three sprint phases, each of which
represents a time-bound iteration in agile development using prototyping. The first
33
phase of the sprint focuses on low-cost (Low-Fi) and high-fidelity (High-Fi)
prototyping activities. The second sprint phase focuses on developing the first sprint
of prototypes, while the third sprint phase focuses on improvement processes and
integrating requirements and comments to improve the product. The arrows indicate
the flow of work in progress in the prototypes to the development and improvement
process, which illustrates the iterative and incremental process of agile development
of continuous and organized feedback loops that each cycle contributes to agile
development. Prototyping fits into the timeline of Agile development. The scope of
development projects is prioritized based on the tasks, their importance, and the
actual need for them. The requirements for the first sprint are directly linked to the
requirements desired by the client based on end-user feedback. In this sprint, an
initial version of the product is created using prototypes, building, iterations,
debugging, improving, innovating, and writing code. Iteration in production ensures
that the prototype is improved and all requirements are validated. Once the
prototypes are improved and requirements are validated, the process of Production
and release of the program begins and the product enters the maintenance phase, and
any changes or other necessary requirements that are determined by the end users are
made. This is what characterizes the second and third sprint phases.
34
Figure (5): Agile software development timeline with prototyping
Conclusion
The use of prototyping in Agile development is to learn and improve the product. It
allows us to effectively test ideas, make necessary adjustments, and ensure that the
final product meets the user's needs.
Using the prototyping methodology in Agile software development contributes to
achieving many advantages, the most important of which is its contribution to the
success of the project and its effectiveness in meeting requirements to reach the best
quality through continuous and early feedback. Prototyping allows early feedback to
be collected from customers and end users to improve the compatibility of the final
product. The agile approach emphasizes continuous collaboration between work
teams and stakeholders and involving them in the development process and
evaluation of the final product, which helps in communication and understanding,
which is what prototypes work on with visual and tangible representations of the
product, which in turn help end users visualize the design and functionality of the
35
software, which contributes to reducing the costs allocated to the development
process.
Reference
1- Davison, R. M. (2020). Research contributions: The role of the iconoclast. Information Systems
Journal, 30 (2), 215-219.
2- Martin, R. C. (2003). Agile software development: principles, patterns, and practices. Prentice
Hall PTR.
3- Obaid, A. H. (2017). Tools for conceptual-algorithmic prototyping in solving design problems
in the development of systems with software. In INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS: Problems of
Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 276-282).
4- Münch, J., Fagerholm, F., Johnson, P., Pirttilahti, J., Torkkel, J., & Jäarvinen, J. (2013). Creating
minimum viable products in industry-academia collaborations. In Lean Enterprise Software and
Systems: 4th International Conference, LESS 2013, Galway, Ireland, December 1-4, 2013,
Proceedings (pp. 137-151). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
5- Obayes, K. A., & Hamzah, A. (2022). Using of prototyping in develop an employee information
management. Measurement: Sensors, 24, 100557.
6- Sarma, A. D. (2019). One-pot synthesis of requirements elicitation for operational bi (obi)
system: in the context of the modern business environment. Journal of Information Systems
Engineering and Business Intelligence, 5 (2), 131. https://doi.org/10.20473/jisebi.5.2.131-145.
7- Menéndez, D. A., & da Silva, P. C. (2016). A requirement elicitation process for BI
projects. Lecture Notes on Software Engineering, 4 (1), 20.
8- Nandhakumar, J., & Avison, D. E. (1999). The fiction of methodological development: a field
study of information systems development. Information technology & people, 12 (2), 176-191.
9- Parnas, D. L., & Clements, P. C. (1986). Correction to “a rational design process: How and why
to fake it”. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, (8), 874-874.
10- Knosalla, K. (2009). Is the world agile? A review of the IT knowledge base and debate on agile
methodolo-gies in the field of information systems development. From the Head of Group, 20.
11- Al-Husseini, K. A. O., & Obaid, A. H. (2020). Interaction between project tasks and risk
management tasks in software development. Periodicals of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 8
(4), 2300-2308.
36
12- Fowler, M., & Highsmith, J. (2001). The agile manifesto. Software development, 9 (8), 28-35,
ISO 690
13- Jiménez, M., Piattini, M., & Vizcaíno, A. (2009). Challenges and improvements in distributed
software development: A systematic review. Advances in Software Engineering, 2009.
14- Al-Saqqa, S., Sawalha, S., & Abdelnabi, H. (2020). Agile Software Development:
Methodologies and Trends. Int. J. Interact. Mob. Technol., 14, 246-270.
15- Comella-Dorda, S., Lohiya, S., & Speksnijder, G. (2016). An operating model for company-
wide agile development. McKinsey Quarterly, May, 1-10.
16- Dennis, A., Tegarden, D. P., & Wixom, B. H. (2003). Systems analysis and design: an object-
oriented approach with UML. Wiley.
17- Chamberlain, S., Sharp, H., & Maiden, N. (2006, June). Towards a framework for integrating
agile development and user-centred design. In International Conference on Extreme
Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering (pp. 143-153). Berlin, Heidelberg:
Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
18- Higuchi, M. M., & Nakano, D. N. (2017). Agile design: A combined model based on design
thinking and agile methodologies for digital games projects. Revista de Gestão e Projetos, 8(2),
109-126.
19- Schuh, G., Doelle, C., & Schloesser, S. (2018). Agile Prototyping for technical systems–
Towards an adaption of the Minimum Viable Product principle. DS 91: Proceedings of
NordDesign 2018, Linköping, Sweden, 14th-17th August 2018.
20- Tanvir, S., Safdar, M., Tufail, H., & Qamar, U. (2017). Merging prototyping with agile software
development methodology. Circulation in Computer Science. Int Confr Eng Comput Info
Technol, 50-54.
21- Huber, T. L., Winkler, M. A., Dibbern, J., & Brown, C. V. (2020). The use of prototypes to bridge
knowledge boundaries in agile software development. Information systems journal, 30(2), 270-
294.
22- Dönmez, D., & Grote, G. (2018). Two sides of the same coin–how agile software development
teams approach uncertainty as threats and opportunities. Information and Software
Technology, 93, 94-111.
23- Leite, M., & Braz, V. (2016). Agile manufacturing practices for new product development:
industrial case studies. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 27(4), 560-576.
37
24- Obaid, A. H. (2017). Tools for conceptual-algorithmic prototyping in solving design problems
in the development of systems with software. In INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS: Problems of
Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 276-282).
38

3-IJCI Vol. 3 No. 2-Feb 2024-Paper2-Dr. Ali2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

3-IJCI Vol. 3 No. 2-Feb 2024-Paper2-Dr. Ali2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

3-IJCI Vol. 3 No. 2-Feb 2024-Paper2-Dr. Ali2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Using Prototypes in Agile Software Development

Ali Hamzah Obaid

Fig. (3): Merging Prototyping in Agile Software Development.

Figure (4): Steps to develop agile software using prototypes

You might also like