Customer Satisfaction and Agile Methods

Between February 11th and the 13th of 2001, 17 individuals possessing a broad range of expertise in software development and management met at the Lodge of the Snowboard ski resort in Utah where they talked about software development. The ideas and principles arrived at during the course of the meeting were compiled in a document entitled: "Manifesto for Agile Software Development", and it was signed by all of the participants. According to this "Agile Manifesto", customer satisfaction is the highest priority of the agile software development methodology. It is achieved through rapid and continuous delivery of high quality software. Agile proponents contend that using agile methods produces greater customer satisfaction and better software than using plan-driven methods. This study examined empirically if the use and results of agile-driven software development methods satisfied customers more significantly than the use and results of plan-driven software development methods.