A football team has many jobs
A football team has a goalkeeper, defenders, a captain and a coach. Each person has a job. If everyone chases the ball, the team loses.
A software team is the same. Each role has a different job. You will meet ten roles today.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Role | A job that a person does in a team. | tester |
| Responsibility | Something a person must do or look after. | keeping the budget |
| Product owner | The person who says what the product must do. This can be the client. | the shop owner |
| Scrum master | The person who helps the team work well together. | solves problems that stop the team |
| Quality assurance | Checking that the work is good enough. | testing |
| Requirement | Something the software must do or be. | pay by card |
| Agile | A way of working in short rounds, delivering a little at a time. | a new version every 2 weeks |
| Stakeholder | Anyone who cares about the project or is affected by it. | client, users, staff |
| Scope | What the project will do, and what it will not do. | order and pay, but no delivery map |
| Test plan | A list of how and when you will check that the software works. | try the order screen with five users |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check: who is who?
Have a go
Quick check: who is who?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The people who lead
| Role | Main job | A question they ask |
|---|---|---|
| Product owner or client | Sets and shares what the product must do | Does this give users what they need? |
| Scrum master | Helps the team work well together and get what they need | What is stopping the team? |
| Technical lead | Gives technical advice and help to the team | Is this the right way to build it? |
| Project manager | Plans and manages budget, scope, schedule, risk and quality | Are we on time and on budget? |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
The people who build and check
| Role | Main job | Everyday example |
|---|---|---|
| Systems analyst | Studies the current system, writes the requirements for the new one and uses them to design it | Watches how staff take orders now |
| UX and UI designer | Talks to users, studies the market and designs the screens | Interviews customers, draws screen designs |
| Software developer or engineer | Builds and looks after software that is easy to use, safe and does not break | Writes and fixes code |
| Operations engineer | Keeps the product running without problems | Watches the server, restarts a failed service |
| Security engineer | Keeps the product safe from attack and mistakes | Checks logins and finds weak points |
| Software tester | Checks the quality of the software and of the way it is made | Runs test plans and reports bugs |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Small teams share roles
data-callouts.tip.label
In a team of three, one person might be the developer and the tester. Another might be the analyst and the designer. The jobs still exist. Somebody must do each one.
Who do you ask?
Have a go
Who do you ask?
5 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.