Kanban vs. Waterfall: Which One Should You Use?

Intro

Kanban and Waterfall are two popular software development techniques. Both the software development techniques are excellent and can be very helpful for a development team. But which technique/methodology is better than the other? So, today, we are going to learn about both Kanban and Waterfall methodology/framework in detail and try to find out the answer to this question.

Here’s everything that you need to know about both these phenomenal software development techniques.

What Is Kanban?

It is a robust software development technique that empowers a firm to maximize its efficiency and productivity in a short amount of time. The framework relies upon visual representation of workflow (Kanban/visual boards) for improving the productivity of an organization. In Visual boards, all the tasks are organized on the basis of priority/importance. Moreover, the boards empower team members to easily see the progress of different tasks in an organization’s workflow. The methodology relies heavily upon client interaction for improving the efficiency of an organization.

Benefits of Kanban

• It is a client-centric methodology and helps them in keeping themselves up to date about the progress of the project.
• Helps out a firm in improving its efficiency and productivity.
• It enables firms to optimize their productivity without compromising the development’s quality.
• The methodology focuses on incremental progress.
• It empowers a firm to reduce development risks. To learn how this fantastic methodology can help a firm in reducing development risks, feel free to join the Kanban System Design KMP-1 Online Certification
• It brings transparency to the workflow of a firm, etc.

Disadvantages of Kanban

• It is not suitable for small-scale development projects.
• The methodology requires lots of dedication from team members to deliver results.
• Teams may face lots of difficulties or problems due to communication.
• It may cause issues with clients as it requires a high level of consumer interaction.

What Is Waterfall Methodology?

The waterfall methodology is a sequential software development technique. Moreover, the Waterfall project features five/or seven steps that a development team must complete in order. In this methodology, a team must complete each step completely before moving to the next step. Moreover, the methodology does not rely heavily upon client interaction like Kanban.

Benefits 

• It is an easy to manage methodology.
• It encourages faster completion of development projects.
• The methodology is perfect for small-scale development projects.
• Help in distributing load among team members more efficiently.
• It does not rely heavily upon client interaction.
• It empowers developers to easily find and rectify errors during the initial stages of the projects.

Disadvantages 

• The waterfall methodology is not suitable for large-scale development projects.
• It does not encourage client interaction during the development process.
• The methodology is ineffective if the requirements are not clear from the start.
• In this methodology, making changes in the previous steps of the project is not that easy. It is a complex and time-consuming task.
• It may not satisfy the expectations of the clients.

What Is the Difference Between Both Methodologies?

1. Kanban offers more flexibility to its users in comparison to Waterfall.
2. Kanban methodology relies upon client interaction. On the other hand, the Waterfall methodology does not depend upon client interaction.
3. Kanban framework is highly adaptable and is perfect for complex and large-scale projects. In contrast, the Waterfall methodology is very rigid and is ideal for developing small-scale projects. To learn about both the methodologies/frameworks in detail, feel free to join the Kanban System Design KMP-1 Course in Delhi.
4. The waterfall model may not satisfy the expectations of the clients, unlike Kanban.

Conclusion

Both Kanban and Waterfall are phenomenal software development methodologies. However, both software development techniques have their own benefits and disadvantages. But overall, Kanban appears to be a better option than the Waterfall methodology. Moreover, the Waterfall methodology works out on a large/complex development project.