#186 – Agile Hardware Development

Agile principles and practices can also be used in hardware development; as there is often uncertainty in any type of development, empiricism (i.e., working in a fact-, evidence- and experienced-based manner) can help deliver the right value in the right manner.

Even though we accept that, at some point in hardware development, manufacturing needs to happen, all the way up until that point, an agile approach can be beneficial. It’s all about accelerating learning by shifting left on integrating and testing the designs, simulating every part of the prototype, virtualizing as much as possible and reducing risks before manufacturing starts. Combining this with a Set-Based Design approach where multiple designs are viable options until validation has happened, and feedback has been gathered to take that design decision, will accelerate and increase your value-delivery, even if hardware development is a big part of your products.