Here is how Agile Software Development can Improve Your Customer Experience

Over the past two decades, agile methodologies have improved the application quality, IT team management and productivity, and the success rate of software development. Recent data shows that nearly 71% of companies in the U.S. prefer agile software development over traditional waterfall methodology.

Being agile enables you to adapt to the ever-changing business environment and make ongoing adjustments to your customer-facing software based on end-user feedback. While the benefits of adopting agile are manifold, the most exceptional reward it offers your business is superior customer experience.

Why is Agile the best method to develop your software, and how does it deliver greater value to your customers? Let’s dive in to understand.

What is Agile Software Development?

Agile software development is a pragmatic methodology that considers stakeholder inputs throughout the application development cycle. The Manifesto for Agile Software Development, published by a team of 17 software developers in 2001, underlines the four core principles of Agile, as stated below:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change by following a plan

These four fundamental values of agile aim to improve your focus on efficiently delivering business value. An agile software development team:

• delivers work in small increments (known as Sprints),
• supports rapid and continuous evaluation of software requirements, plans, and results,
• boosts your ability to respond to change quickly, and
• delivers value to your customers faster.

How Does Agile Development Boost Your Customer Experience?

Delivery of working software in pieces rather than a whole application fosters a better understanding between stakeholders and application developers. As each sprint involves change, with testing of the product happening throughout the development cycle, the customer gets high-quality software output that will be loved and accepted by their end users.

Here is why being agile is key to customer experience success today:

1. Boost Transparency and Trust

Agile methodology involves clients in every stage of project management, right from prioritizing features to planning sprint iterations and performing reviews. This boosts your organization’s transparency and helps you earn more customer trust. It also improves your working relationships.

2. Predictability and On-Time Delivery

The advantage of fixed, time-boxed sprints (of 1-4 weeks) ensures rapid, continuous, and predictable delivery of new product features in small iterations. Well-planned and executed sprints lead to early software release, which delivers higher business value than expected.

3. Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

Including clients at every step of development – before, during, and after a sprint – solidifies the client engagement with the development team. There is less room for errors and more opportunities to understand the client’s vision better.

4. Accommodate Changes Quickly Than Ever

A systematic review of sprints by the customer allows development teams to reprioritize the product development backlog. When new or improved features are requested, they can be addressed in the next sprint, providing developers with new opportunities to make additional changes. Agile allows development teams to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the process on the go.

5. Forecast and Control Costs

The fixed duration of every sprint makes costs more predictable and scheduled. Agile software development teams can provide customers with detailed estimates before each sprint, mentioning how every feature is priced based on the development efforts and complexity. It leads to better prioritization of development tasks and allows clients to forecast and regulate expenses.

A Few Tips for Agile Development Teams to Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience

Follow these tips to boost your client experience further:

• Be empathetic to your client, listen to their concerns, and be quick on your feet to offer the right solution.
• Conduct regular training and mentor your team to improve their knowledge of the tools that can go a long way in delivering exceptional CX.
• Analyze your feedback and experiences with the customer to improve interactions in the future.
• Provide timely and effective responses that are acceptable to your clients rather than passive rejoinders.

Agile is the right response to the new business landscape that demands adaptive planning, early delivery, and evolutionary development. If you are looking for a trusted agile software development company that can handle your application requirements efficiently, contact us right away. Work with a reliable, proficient, honest, and collaborative team that anticipates your needs and risks and delivers the best results.