Waterfall and Agile are two widely used approaches to creating apps. Whilst most digital agencies choose one over the other when working on a project, the Xortie app development team believes in taking advantage of both methods, making sure the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Here are their pros and cons.

Waterfall Approach

In the Waterfall approach, we plan stages of design, development, testing, and further development consecutively. By following this app development method, we ensure that each stage is completed and signed off before proceeding to the next stage. Pro: A key advantage of the Waterfall method in app development is complete transparency of the project’s progress and better control of your resource expenditure. If you are new client or if you prefer to have minimal daily involvement in the development phase, this style is ideal for your project. Con: Waterfall is relatively slower in pace as progress and revisions are not across the board. This development approach also reduces the creative input of the digital team as a strict schedule needs to be followed.

Agile Approach

If your project is highly dependent on user feedback,  then Agile might be more apt. The stages of design, development, testing, and further development are planned concurrently in this approach. We refer to each stage as a ‘scrum.’ which is a round of development. Typically after each scrum, the app development team does a round of testing. Pro: Agile is better than Waterfall in terms of speed and quality of delivery. With Waterfall, a developer often has one shot to get it right. Agile, in contrast, is ideal for complex app development projects involving lots of user experience learning along the way. Con: A key disadvantage of the Agile method is ambiguity. Oftentimes clients quickly lose track of the project unless they’re regularly following the progress. The Xortie app development team knows that considering each unique client requirement will help them to settle on the best approach. Whichever approach you choose, at the end of the day, it’s the positive user experience that will help your business to generate leads and guarantee a return on your investment.