Artifact: Iteration Assessment

	The Iteration Assessment captures the result of an iteration, the degree to which the evaluation criteria were met, lessons learned, and changes to be done.
Role:	Project Manager
Optionality/Occurrence:	Required.
Templates and Reports:	Template: Iteration Assessment
Examples:	CREG Iteration Assessment - Construction Phase CSPS Iteration Assessment - Elaboration Phase
UML Representation:	Not applicable.
More Information:	Guideline: Iteration Assessment - Informal Representation

Purpose Timing Responsibility Tailoring

Input to Activities:  Assess and Improve Test Effort Iteration Acceptance Review Lifecycle Milestone Review Prepare for Phase Close-Out Prepare for Project Close-Out Project Acceptance Review Write Release Notes

Output from Activities:  Assess Iteration Prepare for Phase Close-Out

Purpose

Each iteration is concluded by an Iteration Assessment, where the development organization pauses to reflect on what has happened, what was achieved or not and why, and the lessons learned.

Timing

Iteration Assessments are created at the end of each iteration. They are not updated.

Responsibility

The Project Manager is responsible for this artifact.

Tailoring

The Iteration Assessment is an essential artifact of the iterative approach. Depending on the scope and risk of the project, and the nature of the iteration, it may range from being a simple record of demonstration and outcomes to a complete and formal test record.

Additional Information

This assessment is a critical step in an iteration and should not be skipped. If an Iteration Assessment is not done properly, many of the benefits of an iterative approach will be lost.

Note that sometimes the right thing to do in this step is to revise the evaluation criteria, rather than reworking the system. Sometimes the benefit of the Iteration Assessment is in revealing that a particular requirement is not important, or is too expensive to implement, or creates an architecture that cannot be maintained. In these cases, a cost and benefit analysis must be done, and a business decision must be made.

Metrics must be used as the basis of this assessment.

Rational Unified Process