Developers solve user and business problems

By merely fulfilling the tasks that are given to them and specializing in a part of the product development process, workers are unable to identify what value they are generating based on this fragmented work.

The work of Developers of a product, however, is oriented towards solving the real problems of end users in order to generate business value. In other words, they seek to meet needs or allow for opportunities to be taken advantage of. Since they are directly responsible for this value generation, Developers seek to obtain feedback and understand how real users are using the parts of the product that have already been released to them. Together with the Product Owner, they then adjust the product accordingly to better resolve any issues and understand what is most important to do next.

The Product Owner orders the Product Backlog items based on the next most important business problems to be solved, aimed at resolving the users’ problems. In each Sprint, the Developers and Product Owner choose from among the items at the top of the Product Backlog those that will be implemented and establish a Sprint Goal that reflects the problem to be solved based on the implementation of these items (see the chapter Commitment: Sprint Goal). The Developers collaborate throughout the Sprint, sharing accountability for the realization of this common goal. In this way they stay aligned and focused on producing results of value, not simply working to accomplish tasks. Any tasks performed by the Developers throughout the Sprint are, directly or indirectly, aligned with this goal. In addition, each Sprint Goal is aligned with and fulfills part of the broader goal, the Product Goal (see the chapter Commitment: Product Goal).

Ideally, the Developers should go beyond just aligning with the definitions made by the Product Owner. The mindset of separating who defines from who performs the work, or who thinks from who does, is unfortunately still very present in organizations. The most effective Scrum Teams, however, are those in which the Developers are fully involved in and engaged with everything from understanding the problems to be solved to defining, implementing, and validating the solutions, working side by side with the Product Owner, customers, users, and other stakeholders throughout the process.