When I first wanted to build a mobile app, the idea was very daunting. I was going to have to learn a new technology or two — especially if I wanted to put it on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. There were some options to make it cross-platform compatible, like Xamarin…
Insights
Let’s Talk Tech (and more!)
Our people are passionate about their work, and they have a lot to say about it! Check out our weekly insights for our thoughts on technology, data, Agile, and program management.
How We Did It (with Agile): Building the USCIS Civics Test Study Tools App
This spring, with Excella’s help, the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released their first official mobile application. The Civics Test Study Tools app is available to both iOS and Android users. The app, which expands on content from the innovative myUSCIS website, helps aspiring US citizens study for the civics…
Sprint Zero or Not to Sprint Zero
A colleague of mine recently asked me and a few other Excella developers our opinions about creating user stories. The developers my colleague was working with had said that the stories did not specify the underlying infrastructure of the software, so the developers had no direction by which to develop on. Now it had become…
How to Set Initial WIP Limits
Teams new to Kanban often spend far too much time debating what their initial work-in-progress (WIP) limits should be. It’s not that they don’t understand Little’s Law or disagree that WIP limits serve as a useful constraint. It’s just that they don’t know how to set them. Here are the three most important things to know:…
All About the Flow – Lean Kanban North America 2017
2017’s Lean Kanban North America (LKNA) was a fast-paced, dynamic gathering of expertise and exploration. David Anderson kicked things off with a thought-provoking keynote emphasizing Kanban as an alternative path to business agility, we experimented with the Okaloa Flow Lab simulation, and a diverse collection of speakers described their experiences with Kanban. I added my…
How to Create a System Model
In my previous blog, I explained why learning about system models (also known as causal loop diagrams) was one of the most useful takeaways from Certified LeSS Practitioner training. These diagrams can be a powerful tool for creating a shared understanding of the system dynamics at work in an organization. There are a few basic…
Serverless Development with Angular, Firebase, and Cloud Functions
ng-conf 2017 was a great opportunity to learn many of the features that are on the horizon with Angular 4.0.0 as well as the tools that will improve developer workflow while using the framework. Of all the back-end solutions discussed, one prevailed: Firebase. Google’s cloud-based service allows for quick setup and easy development since it…
Taking Control with Angular CLI
Going into ng-conf 2017, I thought I knew everything I needed to about Angular’s official command line tool, Angular CLI. Though the first stable version just recently released (coinciding with the release of Angular 4.0.0), alpha and beta versions of the CLI have been out for quite some time. I picked it up quickly as…
Q&A with UX Legend Jared Spool
Last week on a rainy Thursday night, Jared Spool stood before a packed audience at Excella’s Arlington Tech Exchange and said, “We’ve got to take teams from unconscious incompetence through to conscious competence or even unconscious competence.” Across the room attendees scribbled in their notebooks and nodded their heads. Most seemed to understand this idea implicitly…
Best Tech Events for June 2017
Summer is almost here! Let’s celebrate by checking out this month’s tech events. Check out our list of upcoming events this month in the DC metro area. 10th Annual InnovateIT Awards Sponsored by: AFCEA, Bethesda Chapter Thursday, June 1st 11:00 AM – 2:15 PM Washington, DC Catalytic Leadership Sponsored by: Agile Leadership Network, DC Metro Area…
