What does "development" refer to in Scrum?

In Scrum, "development" refers to a broad range of activities involved in creating a product. This encompasses not only writing code but also other essential tasks such as design, testing, quality assurance, integration, and any necessary documentation. The complexity of modern product development means that it often requires a collaborative approach, where cross-functional teams work together to ensure that all aspects—technical and non-technical—are addressed efficiently.

By viewing development in this holistic manner, Scrum emphasizes the importance of a team that possesses diverse skill sets, allowing them to tackle various challenges throughout the development process. This integration of tasks supports the agile principle of responding to change and iterating on feedback, which is crucial for delivering valuable and high-quality products to stakeholders.

This understanding of development aligns with Scrum's iterative and incremental approach, where the focus is not just on producing code but also on achieving the overall goal of delivering a working increment of the product that meets the needs of users and stakeholders.