Evolution via Agile

Technologies evolve, processes evolve, businesses evolve and even people evolve (some more than others). Of those, I think that technology evolves quicker than anything else. It seems like overnight technologies can change.

With technology changes, there is a need to constantly be updating and evolving digital communications as well. When I say digital communications, I am referencing websites, web applications, blogs, email newsletters.

I have worked on several development teams that have adopted the Agile approach and I have learned a lot and adopted many of the Agile processes to my development process on freelance projects. Some staples of agile development are Sprints, Epics, SCRUM, Stand-Ups, and Feature Driven Development. I won't go into detail for each one, but a good article can be found here.

I just recently redesigned my portfolio website, Inspired-Evolution.com. I made it live earlier this month knowing that it wasn't perfect, and since I am somewhat of a perfectionist, it may never be perfect. I am going to continue to update and evolve the site in an agile manner with iterations. By that I mean I will make small incremental changes that will add up to major changes over a given time period. I started the site back in 2005 to showcase my projects and skills and I have redesigned the site probably 5 times since the initial rollout. It is interesting to go back and see the evolutionary changes to my website via Wayback Machine. Back in the day, responsive design, HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap, and JS frameworks weren't around, so I have had to evolve over time with my knowledge and skills (this is why I decided to name my consulting Inspired-Evolution. Business and Technology are always evolving which is inspiring).

In my opinion, a company should do a refresh of their website, web applications, and email templates at least every 2-3 years. Maybe not an entirely new design but at the very least some code refactoring, new features, and SEO tweaks. Design trends, coding standards, and SEO requirements by the almighty Google change very quickly. (I know this all too well).

There is no stopping the evolution of technology, but with an Agile mindset your company can always stay ahead of the curve and thrive in a challenging business climate.