One of the researches McKinsey has conducted lately, states that around 45% of projects on software development go way over the originally calculated budget. As a matter of fact, it takes a long way for a startup to flourish, and multiple obstacles (budget exceeding, deadline missing) might become pretty fatal.
Did you know that skipping the opening stage that implies estimating and planning belongs to the major reasons for business failures? So, let’s figure out what this initial phase, called Discovery, shall take care of to avoid sad consequences.
#1. Consultation
The very first step is devoted to communication which is essential during the whole development process. During the consultation as a part of the IT project discovery phase, a business plan has to be thoroughly examined, and project’s strong and weak points shall be outlined. Moreover, it’s vital to analyze the market, study potential competitors, think through the user journey, as well as plan how to achieve the established goals.
At this point, the below activities are to be carried out:
- clearly determine the project mission;
- define who the final user is and what his/her needs are;
- check possible rivals (their pros and cons);
- identify the value(s) of the final product;
- enumerate the functionality to implement;
- specify which metrics to apply for to measure the project success;
- decide on the technologies to take advantage of.
You might want to discuss more issues during this stage to completely understand all aspects of the project in question. Such considerations shall help all parties involved to be on the same page, which is crucial while working on any project. After having collected the data required, it’ll make sense to visualize it for everyone to have a clear understanding of what we expect at the end.
#2. Artifacts
Every project has its artifacts, so the idea is to closely examine every item you have till now. Artifacts usually involve project documentation on vision, procedures, and requirements, as well as legacy codes. All of that serves as a kind of starting point to proceed confidently.
#3. Legacy code
Does it actually deserve particular attention? Yes, it does. In fact, it’s a real art to be able to write excellent codes, moreover, all further processes will be based on what these artists will create. We’re not trying to diminish the efforts of other specialists. We only want to break down the overall software development process into its components and emphasize the importance of each part.
The development team shall provide their professional feedback. The elimination of possible imperfections will allow mitigating multiple risks related to the designing process in order to launch a decent digital product with great performance.
#4. Workshop
The next step is to meet the team of professionals. All forces shall be joined to once again list the goals of your business and present them as a project action plan to build a release plan. The approach is to explore the goals in detail and choose the most optimal technologies to use. Then, it’s time to work on users’ requirements and system specifications. Before moving on to the next step, you shall receive the below-mentioned deliverables:
- Workshop documentation;
- Detailed user stories;
- Architecture design;
- Comprehensive functional requirements;
- Application cases;
- Release strategy.
#5. Design
Let’s now create the wireframes. In case you don’t know, those are schematic representations of the final design your software will have. The wireframes help to visualize the product structure to figure out the user experience it’ll manage to deliver. You’ll realize how the screens will look, as well as how the navigation will work. On the whole, you will be able to see the general logic of your future service.
#6. Prototyping
A POC, which stands for a Proof Of Concept, serves to assure that a product you plan to create can actually be developed by means of the technologies you choose, and make sure it’ll fulfill its purpose. A POC is to prove the technical feasibility of the project. Prototyping, in its turn, is aimed at how the software will feel and look. It concerns usability and design complexity. It’ll help you figure out how your targeted audience shall interact with your website or the application.
#7. Architecture
Now, it’s time to lay the foundation and create the blueprint to make the service itself. During this stage, it’s vital to decide on structural components and how they’re supposed to interact. One shall make the final decision regarding the infrastructure architecture, bearing in mind that further changes can possibly cause extra expenditure.
#8. Software requirements specification
There are no projects that would be up and running without an SRS. As a rule, the given documentation:
- determines project scope;
- enumerates all the applicable requirements;
- characterizes software functionality;
- coordinates the collaboration of everyone engaged.
Basically, software requirements specification serves as a guiding star for people involved in the project.
#9. Strategy
Ultimately, you can clearly see your final destination and technical instruments to successfully reach it. Thus, at this point, it’s time to sum up the findings to establish a thorough plan, considering such aspects, as budgets, deadlines, risks, and manpower. When the strategy is ready, your project is good to go.
As you can see, the discovery stage involves essential activities that must not be skipped to ensure future product success.
