A Catalogue of Agile Smells for Agility Assessment

Background: The Manifesto for Agile Development has already inspired many software development methods such as Scrum, XP, and Crystal Reports. However, being “agile” is not trivial and only a few companies are capable of mastering so-called agile practices. Failure to apply the agile approach properly can do more harm than good and may jeopardize the benefits of an agile method. Thus, evaluating an organization’s ability to apply agile practices using an agility assessment tool is critical. Aims: In this paper, we extend the metaphor of code smell and introduce the term agile smell to denote the issues and practices that may impair the adoption of the agile approach. The focus of the paper is defining and validating a catalogue of agile smells that can support agility assessment. Method: A literature review and a survey were conducted to identify and confirm the characterization of agile smells. Once identified, the agile smells were organized in a structured catalogue. Results: The literature review found 2376 references published between 2001 and 2018. We selected 55 papers for full consideration and identified 20 agile smells. The survey consulted 20 participants to determine the relevance of the selected agile smells. Conclusion: We have identified a set of 20 agile smells that were ranked according to their relevance. For each smell, we proposed at least one strategy to identify the smell’s presence in real projects. The catalogue can be used by companies to support the assessment of their agility ability.