Things You Need To Know

Is there a course book?

Yes. Furthermore, the course-book is short, to the point, and fun to read.

We use Henrik Kniberg: Scrum and XP from the trenches, 2nd edition, available at
http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/scrum-xp-from-the-trenches-2 Links to an external site.
Downloading the book requires a zero-cost registration.

What kind of product can we develop?

Your team can have an external project or an internal project.

External projects have a product-owner at some company or organization. These projects are typically suggested by the external product-owner.

Internal projects have a team-member as the product-owner. These projects are typically suggested by the team.

Sometimes, a teacher at KTH has the role of product-owner. In this case, the examiner determines whether the project counts as external or internal.

In all cases, the examiner must approve the team's choice before the project can start.

Product ideas should preferably bring something new to the world, by having features or properties which are unavailable in current products. This is not easy, and you will probably have to do some brainstorming.

Keep in mind that hiring a team of developers (like you) for the four weeks of project work, would typically cost between SEK 500000 and SEK 1000000. Please propose a project that could be worth that kind of money.

Can the product include hardware?

Yes.

For external projects, the external company or organization funds and/or supplies hardware according to the rules of that company or organization.

For internal projects, there is a small hardware budget for the course. For details, see the page on buying hardware.

Please keep in mind that a product with hardware is likely to require in-person meetings (non-digital, "physical" meetings) during the project work.

How many people can there be in a team?

Each team will have 5-9 students, or thereabouts. The examiner decides the teams, and will assign students to teams randomly.

Must we work from 08:00 to 17:00?

Yes. The group members need to work together, at the same place, at the same time, to get the best results. See the course book - look for "Seat the team together".

Update (2020-03-13): see also the page "Telecommuting".

I'm sick, or I must do X, during the project weeks. What do I do?

All absence is treated equally - your reasons for absence do not matter.

  • If you are absent up to 8 hours (1 day), in total during the whole project, you and your group should agree on how you can work extra time to compensate.
  • If you are absent 8-24 hours (1-3 days), in total during the whole project, you must notify the teachers immediately by emailing F Lundevall. "Immediately" means as soon as you realize that you need to be absent (preferably well before the first time you are absent). You will perform extra work of some kind to compensate. Please suggest extra work that could be suitable.
  • If you are absent 24-40 hours (4-5 days), in total during the whole project, you must notify the teachers (by emailing F Lundevall) before the first time you are absent. You will perform an individual task in early June, to compensate. Please suggest tasks that would interest you.
  • If you are absent more than 40 hours (more than 5 days), in total during the whole project, you fail the course and must take the course again next year.
  • You also fail the course if you are assigned extra work, or an individual task, but do not complete that work or task satisfactorily and timely.

Extra work, or an individual task to make up for absence, is decided in agreement between the examiner and the student (but the examiner will have the last word, of course). Usually, the output from an individual task is a short report, with contents that are potentially useful to other people after the course. The task is designed so that the expected amount of work approximately equals the amount of absence from the project. Extra work (to compensate for 1-3 days of absence) can be either directly related to the team's project, or similar to (but smaller than) the individual tasks for 4-5 days of absence.

Are the Sprint Retrospectives special?

Yes. You should be present at all Sprint Retrospectives.

You must be present at no less than two of the first three Sprint Retrospectives.

How about my work in the methodology course, IV1303?

In general, your 8 hours per day should be spent on the project (in II1305). Additionally, the methodology course IV1303 requires you to take 5-10 minutes each day to fill in a report. Since this is just a small amount of time, it can be included in your daily 8 hours of project work.

What should the project web site look like?

The project web site must present your product for outsiders. Consider another team in this course, such as the team next door. Ask yourself what you would like to know about their product. The answer will most likely be a good guide to what to put on the front page of your own project web-site.

As stated above, presenting your project for outsiders is a must for the project web site. The site must also include a way to contact the development team. These two items are mandatory, and must be readable by anyone, without any access control.

The whole web-site should be world-readable without access control, since the main purpose of the site is to inform the world about your project. However, this is not a mandatory requirement.

Apart from the mandatory requirements, there are many good things to have on a project web-site. You can have the current (and previous) sprint info pages - see "How we communicate sprints" in the course book. There can be downloadable source code and/or executable files for your product, an instruction manual for your product, a small blog with week-by-week highlights of your work.

When deciding what to publish, please consider that your project web-site has to be publicly accessible for anyone. Links to the project web-site may be re-published on world-readable web pages, within Canvas or outside Canvas.

Of course you must also follow Swedish law, and the KTH Rules for Publishing on the Web.

Please send the link to the project web-site, via e-mail to flu@kth.se, no later than the second day of the first sprint. These links are published on the Canvas page "Current and Finished Projects".

Will we fail the course if we cannot finish the product?

No.

Reason 1: Don't think of it as an "unfinished product". It's a demo-version that shows the most important features of your product.

Reason 2: The outcome of the course is that you are a better developer. Compared to that, the product shrinks into insignificance.

Is it possible to fail the course at all, then?

Yes.

In the course, you become a better developer through active participation, and by reflecting on your choices. So not participating actively, or not reflecting, means that you fail the course.

For rules on participation, see "I'm sick, or I must do X, during the project weeks. What do I do?".

For rules on reflection, see "What is the Individual Project Reflection?"

What is the Individual Project Reflection?

Your Individual Project Reflection must be handed in after the project.

Generally: with the experience gained from this project, what advice would you give to yourself when starting a similar project?

Please describe at least two good ways of working, that you would do again. Also describe at least two ways of improving this kind of project. Personal views are very welcome.

Use either English or Swedish as the language of your Individual Project Reflection.

The recommended size is 2-3 pages (size A4), and the recommended effort is 2-3 hours.

Your Individual Project Reflection must consist of one PDF file. Other formats are frowned upon, and may be rejected. Submit your Individual Project Reflection here in Canvas.

What are the admission criteria?

For general information about the course, please see https://www.kth.se/social/course/II1305/

The admission requirements are updated for 2021. You must have completed courses in all of the following fields:

  • Programming equivalent to ID1018
  • Algorithms and Data Structures equivalent to the test part ARBA (course work) in ID1020 
  • Computer Hardware Engineering equivalent to IS1200 

Active participation in a course offering where the final examination is not yet reported in LADOK is considered equivalent to completion of the course. Registering for a course is counted as active participation. The term 'final examination' encompasses both the regular examination and the first re-examination.

Where can I find the Course Analysis?

Course analysis for 2018: Download ii1305analys2018.pdf

Course analysis for 2019: Download ii1305analys2019.pdf

Course analysis for 2020: (not available)