Getting your product or service as fast as possible in front of your customers has become imperative. Let’s consider Apple’s iPhone for a second. We get a new one in September of every year, like clockwork.

And when you think about it, 12 months is an insanely short time to market, considering how complex of a product an iPhone is. And if you are wondering how Apple does it, the answer is not necessarily innovation, but iteration.

In fact, Apple is using iterative processes to come up with a new iPhone every year, with each one being slightly better than its predecessor. And if it works for Apple (and it obviously does) there is no reason to believe it won’t work for your agency team.

With that said, let’s take a look at what the iterative process is, why it should matter for your agency, and how you can use it to your agency’s benefit.

What is an Iterative Process?

The iterative process is a methodology or approach to creating, developing, and improving a project or product through a series of repeating cycles. Through a process of trial and error, as well as by gathering feedback throughout the project life cycle, you continually improve your product until reach the final product you are satisfied with.

Although the iterative process is usually implemented by Agile teams in the software development or automotive industry (from vehicle prototype to road legal version), it is also used by creative agencies to quickly react to market changes or client requirements.

For example, your web design agency presents the client with the first draft of the new website design, receives client feedback, and implements the necessary changes, as opposed to waiting to complete the final version and then presenting it to the client.

Iterative Vs. Non-Iterative Vs. Incremental Processes

There is a certain level of confusion about the term “iterative”, as it’s often used interchangeably with the term “incremental”. Also, some are not sure about the difference between iterative and non-iterative processes, so let’s define what’s what.

Iterative vs. Non-Iterative: As explained previously, the iterative process involves revising and updating the product after every cycle. Non-iterative process (also known as the waterfall methodology) involves creating and completing the product or project in a linear fashion throughout phases. The final product is reviewed only after it’s been finished.

Iterative vs. Incremental: This is where most of the confusion stems from. The iterative and incremental processes are similar, because both are based on continuous improvement. However, this is where that overlap ends.

The incremental process involves breaking the project or product development into several smaller segments, after which they are released in succession. Each segment adds a different functionality or characteristic to the product until all segments are done and there is a final version of the product.

Benefits of Iterative Processes

If you are not sure if iterative process implementation would help your agency or organization, consider the following benefits that come with it:

• Flexibility and adaptability: Because you are allowed to revise the product, project, or initiative, you can refine them more quickly, especially if the marketing demands are changing very quickly. The iterative process also works as a troubleshooting tool.
• Cost-effective: The iterative process enables you to identify potential product issues or shortcomings early on, so it’s much easier and cheaper to do a small course correction, rather than fix the finished product.
• Reduced project-level risk: By addressing the high-risk aspect of your project or product first, you reduce the risk of unwelcome surprises later on. Plus, you give yourself enough time to resolve issues.
• Higher quality: Every product or project has a small issue that can go unnoticed right until the very end. With iterative processes, you catch these problems through different iterations, resulting in a more polished product.
• Increased collaboration: Because the product changes often through frequent revisions, it requires the entire team to communicate more, brainstorm, and provide feedback during each iteration.
• Constant and reliable feedback: An iterative process can also involve receiving regular feedback from your customers during each new cycle, which aligns the product more closely with their expectations and needs.

Next up, let’s see what are the 5 stages of the iterative process and how they can be used in your agency.

The 5 Steps of Iterative Process and How They Apply to Your Agency

The iterative process, similar to all iterative methodologies, follows a series of five steps:

We will explain each one, and show how you can implement them in your agency’s projects.

Planning

During the first stage of the iterative process, you should take the time to research all the necessary project requirements and create a project plan.

This means outlining some of the product specifications based on customer input, establishing important deadlines, allocating a budget, creating and maintaining a record of relevant documents, and breaking down the project into smaller, actionable tasks.

Even though the iterative process involves fewer hard requirements than non-iterative frameworks, it’s still a crucial step without which you risk running multiple iterations and missing the deadline.

Agency Application: Whether you are running a marketing, content and SEO, or design agency, you will need to break down each project into a series of tasks, assign roles, and come up with a deadline for the first iteration.

With a productivity workspace like ActiveCollab, you can manage each interaction using the Projects feature. You can create projects, break them down into individual tasks and assign them to your team members, set due dates, and rearrange everything if necessary.

You can also make use of visual, Gannt-like charts that provide you with a comprehensive and easy-to-understand overview of the progress your team is making, as well as time-tracking tools and reports to make sure everybody stays on track in terms of productivity.

Analysis and Design

After the planning stage, it’s time to understand your goals and start translating them into the technical requirements of the project. By carefully analyzing each individual segment of the project, you can put a test system in place that will enable you to hit your goals more closely.

For example, this could involve creating design mockups and prototypes, if we are talking about design teams, or a topical plan, in case of content and SEO teams.

Agency Application: If you are running a marketing agency, this stage is where you should think about putting all the major campaign details on paper, such as setting a budget, and consider which marketing and social media channels you will be using.

Implementation

During the implementation stage, your team will develop the first functional iteration of the product. As mentioned earlier, the goal isn’t to create a finished product, but a version that meets the minimum project requirements, after which you will improve upon it with each new iteration.

In other words, you need a version of a product that can be tested, so that you can learn what needs to be improved and applied to the next iteration of the process. This is also the point at which you gather feedback from your internal stakeholders.

Agency Application: For example, your web design team creates an initial version of the website and sends it to your client for review. Keep in mind that it’s a good idea to define how many iterations are allowed before the client is satisfied with the design in order to prevent scope creep and keep the costs within budget.

Testing

After the first iteration has seen the light of day, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start testing. If you have sent the design, content, or any other product to your client, this is the time when you gather feedback.

Apart from collecting information from internal and external stakeholders, a good rule of thumb would be to try out methods such as servers, beta testing, and focus groups. You are looking not only to improve the functionality and/or the quality of the product at this point, but also to zero in on the potential weakness, bugs, and glitches.

Agency Application: One of the most popular techniques you can use at this stage is A/B testing, which involves testing two or more versions of the same product, design, or copy and see which one performs better with focus groups, stakeholders, or customers.

For example, as part of your email marketing campaign, you can create several versions of the email you send out, each one with a different subject line or promoting a different aspect of your product. The one that earns the most subscriptions, demos, or replies is the winning version.

Another option is to use data analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, and monitor how your campaign ads, social media posts, or any other element of your campaign are performing. With the intel gathered, you can make quick changes and tweaks and roll out the next iteration in no time.

Evaluation and Review

The fifth and final step in the iterative process is the evaluation of your iteration.

Consider the following questions to gauge the success of the iteration:

If the iteration matches your initial plan and goals, then your product has reached its final form and it’s ready to be delivered. If not, you should go back to the second step and repeat the process to create the next iteration.

Agency Application: So, you’ve tested how your new content is performing, for example, and it’s not ranking like you’ve expected it to. During this stage, you review the reasons behind the lackluster performance, be it too much fluff in the content itself, poor formatting, or missing the user intent altogether.

You should also check the bounce rate on your website, because it may be slow to load or maybe there is an annoying pop-up that turns people away from it. Analyze the data coming in from the previously mentioned SEO and analytics tools and see how it can be applied in the next iteration.

Keep in mind that you can only do so many iterations, because they take time, and they cost money. In order to make sure that you stay within your budget, and to see if each iteration was productive, you will need a tool like ActiveCollab which can record all relevant data and generate detailed time reports.

With the Time Report feature, you can see how much time your teams and their individual members are spending on tasks during each iteration. After that, you can easily identity potential bottlenecks and blockers, and make each iteration more efficient and cost-effective.

Iterative Process Challenges

Even though the iterative process is beneficial to your agency for the most part, you can expect to come across a handful of challenges, because no methodology is perfect.

Here are the most common iterative process challenges:

• Scope creep: Because there is constant experimentation and testing, requirements may add up over time, causing project scope to increase and project delays to creep in.
• Resistance to change: Iterative process might work wonders for some, while others may scoff at it, so be prepared to meet resistance from your team members. Make sure to manage it by explaining all the pros of the process and how they translate into project success.
• Complexity: If you are managing multiple iterations, it can be really complex to keep track of all the updates and feedback.
• Managing client expectations: Although client feedback is necessary for the iterative process, make sure they are aware of how it works, so they can manage their expectations.
• Changing deadlines: Some iterations may take more or less time, so it can be hard to come up with a fixed iterative timeline.
• Quality issues: Although one of the main advantages of the iterative process is that results in a product of higher quality, if you focus too much on making the iterations as quick as possible, it may have a negative impact on product quality.

Conclusion – Make Iterative Process Implementation Smooth with ActiveCollab

The iterative process is ultimately an approach that enables you to arrive at a cost-effective, high-quality output. Even if your agency is not using Agile, you can still adopt the trial-and-error approach of the iterative process to offer better products to your agency’s customers.

However, keeping track of all the iterations, updates, feedback, as well as how they affect your project’s progress, as well as your agency’s bottom line, is almost impossible without a capable tool like ActiveCollab to support the entire process.

With its powerful project management, team collaboration, time tracking, and time reporting features, ActiveCollab provides the backbone for the iterative processes inside agencies and businesses.

Sign up for our 14-day free trial, or book a demo, and have our capable team guide you through all the ActiveCollab’s features that can make each new iteration as efficient as possible!