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University of Virginia
Agile Development Specialization
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  2. Computer Science
  3. Design and Product
University of Virginia

Agile Development Specialization

Drive to Value with Agile Methods. Master an adaptive approach to product development

Alex Cowan

Instructor: Alex Cowan

62,269 already enrolled

Included with Coursera Plus

•Learn more
4 course series
Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
4.7

(2,855 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Recommended experience

Beginner level

Some familiarity with software development is helpful, but not required.

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

4 course series
Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
4.7

(2,855 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Recommended experience

Beginner level

Some familiarity with software development is helpful, but not required.

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
  • About
  • Outcomes
  • Courses
  • Testimonials

What you'll learn

  • How to determine what's valuable to a user early by focusing your team on testable narratives and creating a strong shared perspective

  • How to drive a focus on outcomes over outputs by facilitating a culture of experimentation and a test-driven, results-driven approach to agile

  • How to charter and focus an analytics (and data science) program that enhances your core objectives

  • How to iteratively identify and test the right agile practices from leading frameworks like scrum, XP, and kanban to your team's work

Skills you'll gain

  • Persona (User Experience)
  • Team Leadership
  • Usability Testing
  • Product Development
  • Product Management
  • Product Testing
  • DevOps
  • Product Improvement
  • Continuous Delivery
  • Agile Project Management
  • Design Thinking
  • Team Performance Management

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English

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Specialization - 4 course series

Beyond practices and beyond principles, you'll learn the applied skills that enable an agile team to succeed. While applying an evidence-based approach across the four courses, you'll practice what you've learned by creating an actionable, adaptive focus for a digital product team.

Applied Learning Project

You will apply agile practices to a project of your choice or to a provided venture concept. Over the course of the Specialization, you will define what's valuable to the user, design end to end testing, and charter your team with an adaptive view of the right agile practices that make sense for them. You’ll finish the Specialization with a portfolio-building design brief that demonstrates your learning and specialized skills in agile product development.

Agile Meets Design Thinking

Agile Meets Design Thinking

Course 1•9 hours

What you'll learn

  • How to evaluate and explain the relevance of concepts and practices from the agile development methodologies

  • How to create a strong shared perspective and drive to value using design methods like personas and problem scenarios

  • How to diagnose what software will be valuable to the user and how to test your ideas using agile user stories and prototypes

  • How to facilitate narrative collaboration with user stories and prototypes

Skills you'll gain

Category: User Story
User Story
Category: Agile Methodology
Agile Methodology
Category: Agile Product Development
Agile Product Development
Category: Persona Development
Persona Development
Category: Design Thinking
Design Thinking
Category: Discussion Facilitation
Discussion Facilitation
Category: Agile Software Development
Agile Software Development
Category: Product Design
Product Design
Category: Software Development
Software Development
Category: Testability
Testability
Category: Product Management
Product Management
Category: Product Improvement
Product Improvement
Category: Innovation
Innovation
Category: User Centered Design
User Centered Design
Category: Product Development
Product Development
Category: User Research
User Research
Hypothesis-Driven Development

Hypothesis-Driven Development

Course 2•10 hours

What you'll learn

  • How to drive valuable outcomes for your user and reduce waste for your team by diagnosing and prioritizing what you need to know about them

  • How to focus your practice of agile by pairing qualitative and quantitative analytics

  • How to do just enough research when you need it by running design sprints

  • How to accelerate value delivery by investing in your product pipeline

Skills you'll gain

Category: Usability Testing
Usability Testing
Category: Lean Methodologies
Lean Methodologies
Category: Product Testing
Product Testing
Category: Prototyping
Prototyping
Category: Agile Methodology
Agile Methodology
Category: DevOps
DevOps
Category: Continuous Delivery
Continuous Delivery
Category: Product Development
Product Development
Category: Innovation
Innovation
Category: User Research
User Research
Category: Agile Product Development
Agile Product Development
Product Analytics and AI

Product Analytics and AI

Course 3•15 hours

What you'll learn

  • How to naturally, habitually tie your team’s work to actionable analytics that help you drive to user value.

  • How to pair your hypotheses on customer personas and problem with analytics.

  • How to test propositions (a la Lean Startup) so you don’t build features no one wants.

  • How to instrument actionable observation into everything you build (a la Lean UX).

Skills you'll gain

Category: Customer Insights
Customer Insights
Category: Data Science
Data Science
Category: Usability Testing
Usability Testing
Category: Product Management
Product Management
Category: Agile Methodology
Agile Methodology
Category: Analytics
Analytics
Category: Customer Analysis
Customer Analysis
Category: Advanced Analytics
Advanced Analytics
Category: Product Development
Product Development
Category: Data-Driven Decision-Making
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Category: AI Personalization
AI Personalization
Category: Customer Demand Planning
Customer Demand Planning
Category: Agile Software Development
Agile Software Development
Category: User Experience
User Experience
Category: Software Development
Software Development
Category: A/B Testing
A/B Testing
Category: Product Testing
Product Testing
Managing an Agile Team

Managing an Agile Team

Course 4•11 hours

What you'll learn

  • How to select and test agile practices to adaptively improve your team’s practice of agile

  • How to create an agile team charter that aligns your team’s focus with company strategy while leaving it free to work creatively

  • How to facilitate retrospectives with your team to iteratively, collaboratively improve your practice of agile

  • How to support your team’s transition to agile

Skills you'll gain

Category: Agile Methodology
Agile Methodology
Category: Kanban Principles
Kanban Principles
Category: Agile Project Management
Agile Project Management
Category: Backlogs
Backlogs
Category: Sprint Retrospectives
Sprint Retrospectives
Category: Team Leadership
Team Leadership
Category: Discussion Facilitation
Discussion Facilitation
Category: Team Management
Team Management
Category: User Story
User Story
Category: Selling Techniques
Selling Techniques
Category: Process Improvement
Process Improvement
Category: Team Building
Team Building
Category: Decision Making
Decision Making
Category: Lean Methodologies
Lean Methodologies
Category: Prioritization
Prioritization
Category: Team Performance Management
Team Performance Management
Category: Sales Presentation
Sales Presentation
Category: Agile Software Development
Agile Software Development

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Instructor

Alex Cowan
Alex Cowan
University of Virginia
28 Courses•511,444 learners

Offered by

University of Virginia

Offered by

University of Virginia

A premier institution of higher education, The University of Virginia offers outstanding academics, world-class faculty, and an inspiring, supportive environment. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, the University is guided by his vision of discovery, innovation, and development of the full potential of students from all walks of life. Through these courses, global learners have an opportunity to study with renowned scholars and thought leaders.

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Frequently asked questions

The Digital Product Management Specialization is a superset of the Agile specialization- you've already earned it.

You may earn Project Management Institute (PMI) professional development units (PDUs) and Contact Hours for completing courses in the specialization. To do so, log in to PMI Opens in a new tabto access your account and submit a report.

At the end of the specialization, you’ll be able to:

  • Explain how key agile methods fit into best current practices across software engineering, general business, and product design; and how those matter for your particular project

  • Apply product design best practices to your project through user stories, prototypes, and narrative collaboration

  • Focus your work on outcomes (vs. output) with hypothesis-driven development

  • Introduce agile practices to your team & customers on an incremental, success basis

  • Integrate your activities across development, QA, and operations

  • Conduct phase-appropriate usability testing

We suggest you take the courses in the order presented to get maximum benefit from the materials.

While no specific background knowledge is needed, learners might find it helpful to have a basic understanding of digital product development.

Coursera courses don't carry university credit, though some universities may choose to accept Specialization Certificates for credit. Check with your institution to learn more.

Admission to Darden is highly competitive and based on a number of requirements, including undergraduate record and degree, GMAT scores, and work experience. Successful completion of the Specialization is in no way a guarantee of admission, but please do mention this achievement in your application.

All course materials are for your personal use while participating in this course. You are not allowed to share or distribute them in any form; however, they are available for licensing. If you’re interested, please contact DardenOnline@darden.virginia.edu.

This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policyOpens in a new tab.

Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aidOpens in a new tab.

More questions

Visit the learner help center

Financial aid available,

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