Abstract
Mobile application development is a highly competitive environment; agile methodologies can enable teams to provide value faster, with higher quality and predictability, and a better attitude to deal with the continuous changes that will arise in the mobile context application (App), and the positive impact of that on sustainable development through continuous progress. App development is different from other types of software. For this reason, our objective is to present a new agile-based methodology for app development that we call Agile Beeswax. Agile Beeswax is conceived after identifying the mobile development process’s issues and challenges, and unique requirements. Agile Beeswax is an incremental, iterative development process composed of two main iterative loops (sprints), the incremental design loop and the incremental development loop, and one bridge connecting these two sprints. Agile Beeswax is structured in six phases, idea and strategy, user experience design, user interface design, design to development, handoff and technical decisions, development, and deployment and monitoring. One of its main strengths is that it has been created with academic and business perspectives to bring these two communities closer. To achieve this purpose, our research methodology comprises four main phases: Phase 1: Extensive literature review of mobile development methodologies, Phase 2: Interviews with mobile application developers working in small to medium software companies, Phase 3: Survey to extract valuable knowledge about mobile development (which was carefully designed based on the results of the first and the second phases), and Phase 4: Proposal of a new methodology for the agile development of mobile applications. With the aim of integrating both perspectives, the survey was answered by a sample of 35 experts, including academics and developers. Interesting results have been collected and discussed in this paper (on issues such as the development process, the tools used during this process, and the general issues and challenges they encountered), laying the foundations of the methodology Agile Beeswax proposed to develop mobile apps. Our results and the proposed methodology are intended to serve as support for mobile application developers.
Highlights
Smartphones, tablets, and apps have become words and technologies central to our lives
This study found that 86% of survey participants thought agile methods and practices are suitable for app development
We focused on agile principles, for example, whether the developers used the Sprint in Agile methodology
Summary
Smartphones, tablets, and apps have become words and technologies central to our lives. Mobile applications (apps) have become the center of attention for everyone, given the favorite features and opportunities smartphones offer. The availability of high-speed internet combined with the remarkably fast, accessible interface in a smartphone has increased the convenience apps bring. We have apps for advertising, education, communication, shopping, cooking, and much more, all at our fingertips; there is an urgent need to develop apps. According to statista.com [1], users downloaded 28.3 billion, 8.2 million apps from. Google Play and Apple App Store, respectively, in the third quarter of 2020.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
