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Agile development is really a strategy of software development in which the process occurs though short increments. The phases of the development process occur continuously in iterative cycles, involving a requirements phase, design and implementation, testing, and reporting. Stakeholders and designers meet after every increment to discuss what has occurred, re-evaluate requirements and determine priorities. This allows for greater transparency between clients and programmers and clients have greater influence in what is being designed to ensure the merchandise is what they want. The traditional waterfall method general involves the stakeholders at the beginning requirements phase, and then the development company takes over and designs the web site. The stakeholders or clients only start to see the finished product, which might or may possibly not be what they had at heart. There are Agile Software Development to agile development over the traditional models.

1) Agile development reduces the chance of client dissatisfaction

Since the stakeholders are involved in the process the complete time, the agile model reduces the risk that the product will not meet the needs of your client. When the stakeholders are only mixed up in requirements phase, they could not see that certain areas of the design usually do not work or are irrelevant with their customer base. With everyone working together and continuously re-evaluating, the project is more likely to produce a useable product.

2) Permits more change and adaptation

In the agile development method, the large, irreversible project elements are delayed until the last moment so as many changes as possible can be made to make sure the project is strictly right. Changes could be made after each increment; the designers aren't stuck with one model. Agile development is very adaptive to the changing needs of the client, the developers and the available technology. Because requirements can always change as new software is developed, these changes can be incorporated into the project instead of making the look obsolete before it ever would go to market.

3) Work will start before all of the requirements are known

Clients might not know everything they want in their finished product, but with agile development, they do not have to wait to get started working on the software. They can start with a basic idea and because they're included through the entire development process, they can add requirements because they decide what they need and based on the work that has come first. Clients can continuously reprioritize so they have a usable product in a shorter period of time

4) Increases likelihood a project will reach industry

A great deal of development projects never make it to the marketplace for various reasons including it was not what your client wanted, it is now obsolete, or it is not useful. Using the agile development method, the opportunity that the product will go to the market is actually much higher because the chances that the client will approve of and discover the product useful is higher. Also, the program developers can develop the highest priority designs first, allowing the product to be used immediately, even if it isn't in its completed form.

5) Saves time and money

Stakeholders get excited about agile development through the entire process and everyone is working together, so the opportunity for miscommunication and incompatibility are smaller. This saves time by resulting in fewer mistakes and it saves money because the project is finished faster. Once a client makes a decision on a requirement, they are able to see results quickly. Your client will see results after each iteration and determine if the software meets their needs. Less time is wasted on features that are not going to be used.