1. Our Agile Journey
Research Instruments
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Rob Thompson

2. Company Background
Research Instruments (RI) provides
systems which are used in fertility
laboratories (IVF)
Based in Falmouth
Employing 60+ people
70 distributors providing coverage in 60
countries

3. Technologies and Standards
Windows software – C#, SQL, WPF
Embedded C on microcontrollers
Electronics hardware
Mechanical
ISO 13485 – Medical Device Directive
Federal Drug Administration (FDA) 21 CFR 820

4. Our OLD process

5. Our Agile Journey – so far
2 day workshop
‘Kanban’ board
Sprints (2 week)
Test Driven Development
Pair Programming

6. User Story Development
As a User I would like the software to
remember my settings so that I don’t
have to re-calibrate and re-configure
the software each time I use it.
As an Embryologist I would like to be
able to replay stored videos of
procedures so that I can see how they
were performed
As a Patient I would like to see
confirmation that both me and my
embryo have been identified
correctly so that I can relax and feel
confident

7. Magic Board

8. Graphs !!
Development Effort

9. The Benefits
Team enthusiastic, focused, motivated
Encourage changes in requirements
Easier management
Higher quality
Predictability + Flexibility
Identify problems quickly

10. Outside the dev team
Other teams want to adopt Agile principles
Quality dept is happier
Snr Management have graphs to play with
Marketing speak the same language
Customers given accurate timescales
Development process is simple

11. Myths / Preconceptions
It’s for large teams / small teams / sw house
It’s undisciplined / chaotic
It’s not compatible with quality systems
It’s for software developers

12. Conclusions…
Cannot introduce Agile without help
Agile is a journey, not a destination
Encourages/requires change in culture
We would never look back