Our previous post introduced the principles guiding our agile hardware development process. Today, we’re taking you further down that road, highlighting the specific practices we use at IRNAS to ensure rapid iteration, effective collaboration, and most importantly, products that meet our client’s unique needs. We will be exploring topics like:
- How we use Agile methodologies to better suit our team and projects
- Our implementation of sprint-based development
- How we ensure the right project direction.
- The importance of discerning customer priorities
- Why maintaining transparency with clients is key
- Reflecting on project experiences for continual learning and improvement
Modifying Established Methodologies for Better Results
In the world of Agile methodologies, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Merely following these methodologies like a recipe could lead to missing out on their full potential. At IRNAS, we understand that the essence of Agile lies not in rigidly adhering to a set of rules. Instead, it lies in embracing the principles these rules represent and customizing them to align with our unique team dynamics. 
Our Two-Week Iteration Cycle
At IRNAS, we were faced with a challenge: the iteration cycles in electronics development were considerably lengthy. This prolonged timeline, combined with our reliance on external partners, pushed us to seek opportunities for improvement. We recognized that to truly embrace agile development, we needed to invest in infrastructure that supported faster iteration. To address these issues and seize the opportunity, we purchased a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly line. This not only enabled us to reduce our iteration time to two weeks but also significantly increase our control over the quality of our products. This allows us to be both fast and deliver high-quality hardware solutions.
Aligning Our Vision: The Importance of Regular Meetings
As we embark on each new two-week cycle of iteration, alignment meetings serve a crucial role in our development process. These meetings are not just technical debriefs but are the compass that helps us ensure we are heading in the right direction. We want to ensure the changes are well-defined and strategically integrated into the project roadmap. This approach, stemming from past experiences with unplanned and undefined changes, keeps our development process nimble, enables well-planned pivots, and ensures changes are incorporated before the first MVP stage, reducing uncertainties and fostering a smoother development path.
Introducing Customers to Our Customized Agile Development
Our journey towards integrating clients into our agile development process commences right from the first meeting. Here, we present our unique framework, explaining the intricate balance between time, scope, and budget, and how we customize these elements in our agile approach. 
We’ve discovered that a common problem often by teams in our industry is the struggle to prioritize customer features effectively. To tackle this, we have developed our proprietary methodologies that allow us to discern our clients’ priorities and allocate resources more effectively. This enables us to better understand our client’s needs and align our efforts with the most important aspects of the project. Throughout each project, we maintain a steady rhythm of weekly meetings with our clients. In these meetings, we outline the features targeted in each phase of development. This structured and transparent approach allows our clients to actively participate in the journey, tracking the realization of their vision, sprint by sprint.
Striking the Balance: Internal Management Operations
At IRNAS, we believe a strong focus on productivity and “moving forward” shouldn’t compromise how well things are defined, implemented, or tested. To ensure that our quality of work remains high, we:
- Read datasheets thoroughly
- Conduct systematic code/design reviews
- Write up testing protocols
- Define corner cases
- Perform thorough testing
This is particularly important in the earliest sprints when we are implementing high-priority features that need to be robust, stable, and sellable.
Retrospective
Embracing a culture of continuous learning and improvement, we pay careful attention to any deviations from our project timelines. It’s crucial to note that we avoid stopping at the explanation “it took longer than expected.” Instead, we delve deeper into understanding why this occurred – was it because we underestimated the effort? Was it due to insufficient time spent reading datasheets, or a lack of thorough planning and thinking? Or perhaps there was an external factor at play? Regardless of the cause, we constantly strive to learn and adapt from these experiences.
Conclusion
- At IRNAS, we believe in the power of Agile methodologies. We selected the good practices from many of them to suit our unique context and needs. Our journey of evolution and improvement has led us to develop our proprietary practices for managing agile hardware development.
- We have tailored our iteration cycles to be responsive and efficient, underpinned by infrastructure that supports quick and high-quality outcomes. Our alignment meetings ensure we stay on course, ready to adapt effectively to any changes before they can derail our progress.
- Integrating customers into our development process and using our custom methodologies, we are able to effectively discern the priorities of our clients and ensure their visions are realized, sprint by sprint.
- Our commitment to learning is unwavering. Instead of settling for explanations like “it took longer than expected,” we delve into the ‘why’ behind such occurrences, striving to continually learn and grow from each experience.
While we are proud of the systems and practices we have developed, we acknowledge that the journey of improvement is never-ending. We are committed to continually refining our processes and learning from each project. It’s part of our philosophy – to seek constant evolution, knowing that there’s always room for improvement. We hope this deep dive into our hardware development practices has shed light on our commitment to delivering high-quality products. If you’re intrigued and would like to learn more or discuss a project, we’d love to hear from you. Stay tuned for more insights from IRNAS in our future posts!
