DSDM Phases and Roles¶

DSDM is the most formally governed of the agile methodologies. It prescribes a lifecycle and a named role for every decision, which is why it survives in regulated and contract-driven environments where lighter methods struggle.

The lifecycle¶

graph LR
    PRE[Pre-project] --> FS[Feasibility]
    FS --> FN[Foundations]
    FN --> EV[Evolutionary Development]
    EV --> DEP[Deployment]
    DEP --> EV
    DEP --> POST[Post-project]

Phase	Purpose	Output
Pre-project	Confirm the idea is worth investigating	Terms of reference
Feasibility	Is this viable technically and commercially?	Outline plan and business case
Foundations	Agree scope at a high level, plus architecture and delivery approach	Baselined high-level requirements
Evolutionary Development	Build in timeboxes, iterating with users	Working, tested solution increments
Deployment	Release into use, then loop back for the next increment	Deployed increment and review
Post-project	Did we get the expected benefits?	Benefits assessment

Foundations is the distinctive phase. It is a deliberately short, up-front step that baselines requirements at a high level only, which is how DSDM keeps a fixed date without pretending detailed requirements are knowable early.

Timeboxes¶

Evolutionary Development runs as a series of timeboxes, typically two to four weeks, each structured as Investigation, Refinement, Consolidation, with a formal review at the end. Scope inside a timebox is managed with MoSCoW.

The roles¶

Category	Role	Responsibility
Business	Business Sponsor	Owns the business case and the budget, the final escalation point
Business	Business Visionary	Holds the vision, interprets business needs
Business	Business Ambassador	Day-to-day user voice inside the team
Business	Business Advisor	Subject-matter input, often a real end user
Management	Project Manager	High-level planning and governance, not task assignment
Management	Technical Coordinator	Architectural coherence and technical governance
Delivery	Team Leader	Facilitates the team, close to a Scrum Master
Delivery	Solution Developer	Builds the solution
Delivery	Solution Tester	Tests throughout, not at the end
Support	Workshop Facilitator, DSDM Coach	Facilitation and method guidance

The Business Ambassador is the role that carries most of DSDM's agility. It is a real user embedded in the team, equivalent to XP's on-site customer, and the method assumes their availability rather than hoping for it.

DSDM compared to Scrum¶

	DSDM	Scrum
Up-front work	Feasibility and Foundations phases	None prescribed
Roles	Around ten, spanning business and delivery	Three
Governance	Explicit, documented products	Left to the organization
Scope control	MoSCoW with an enforced budget	Ordered Product Backlog
Best fit	Regulated, contractual, multi-stakeholder programmes	Product teams

Check Your Understanding¶

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What is the purpose of the Foundations phase?

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Which DSDM role most closely corresponds to XP's on-site customer?