What to expect from the software development process?

The software development process involves cooperation between two parties — the development team and the client. For the collaboration to be successful, each step must be carried out with due diligence. The more thorough the initial stages are, the fewer delays and problems will arise in the later stages. The initial phases are defining the goals, terms of cooperation, and all expectations from the product. So, it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with the development process stages and focus on each step so that the final product fully meets your initial requirements.

The first step of the entire process may seem obvious, but not everyone pays proper attention to it. The more thoughtful the idea, the fewer misunderstandings between the development team and the client. Improperly defining the objective can translate into more consultations and project delays than anticipated. That’s why it’s essential to answer the questions before you begin product implementation activities:

What is the product supposed to accomplish?

What problems will the product address?

What is the target group?

The description of a product’s needs, objectives, and goals often seem apparent, although, in many instances, it is not. By choosing to work with our experienced technical specialists, you can be sure that the process will be handled according to plan. The first step in an official collaboration is to complete and discuss a brief. This document contains a series of questions about the product and allows the software house to know its assumptions, role, and customer expectations. A brief is also a great time to revise your beliefs about your product. It is an integral part of the process; it depends on the definition of the implementation plan and, in the long run, the plan’s coverage with the objectives and with the predicted progress and on schedule to complete the project.

If the product objective has been defined successfully, the next important step is to plan the implementation time and budget. Establishing these two criteria is essential not only for the customer but also for the project manager and the development team. Sometimes a set deadline for a particular project allows you to continue to seek funding or investors for the next steps involved in bringing a new product to market. If this is your case, it is worth informing the project manager. This will minimize any risks that may arise during the process and in the completion date itself.

Anticipating and knowing the possible risks associated with a product launch is a good idea, not only when implementing the product depends on increasing the budget and receiving funding for further development activities. Remember that you are the one who has to propose a date for the completion of the project. A project manager and the whole team will perform a risk analysis at each stage of the software product development process. The entire risk analysis stage will run most smoothly if all people involved in the project know its goals, expectations, and tasks. So it is worth asking directly about possible risks at each stage and what the development team can propose possible solutions.

In addition to the workshop sessions, the project team meets for brainstorming sessions. Teamwork allows us to identify problems and needs at each stage and for each specialist (developer, designers, testers) to achieve the goal. This aspect is critical because the team working on your project comprises seasoned professionals who can recognize risks and challenges that you might not even consider. It is useful to clarify any suggestions made by professionals on this topic, so if something is unclear to you, ask. When the final iteration of a given production stage is released longer than you planned, that’s the best way to escape misunderstandings and surprises.

From day one, ensure that you recognize the duties and obligations of each of the team members. In the long term, this information will strengthen your correspondence, and you will know whom to call to dispel concerns, make any suggestions, or get the notifications you need. When it is evident to you which the team codes part of your application or website and who is responsible for delivering reports and results, you will be confident that you and the whole team can enjoy working more efficiently together.

The development process led by a project manager is usually based on scrum or agile methodology. Each of these methods has a different flow, and therefore the individual phases may differ from each other. If you are unfamiliar with these methods, ask for all the details.

You should know what each level of implementation entails, what concrete consequences you should expect from them, and which features will be introduced later. Knowing each point of progress’s priorities would save considerable quantities of time for you and the team and avoid misunderstandings.

When you start a project, it is clear that you want it to be complete and successful. If you do not know the programmer’s stages of work in creating a new product process, you may not know what to expect. Lack of information and discernment can create confusion. Know that the information provided to you will not be immediately applicable to the complete product. Work on the project is divided into different stages and if any of them seems incomprehensible to you, ask for details and what you, as a customer, can expect.

The next step is to decide what the communication will look like. To explain questions or find answers about the project, get to know the team members, and learn with which person you can contact. Later, this would result in more fluid collaboration, the developers’ productive job, and a satisfactory result. In general, project managers use validated approaches and tools that are successively uniquely tailored to client needs, project specificity, and the technologies in which it is created. Access to software that helps developers connect is often free of charge, and they are intuitive to use.

Usually, an instant messenger is used in communication to make the transfer of information smooth and fast. For more legal issues, we also communicate via regular emails, and much of the communication is also done via video conferencing. The client can participate in such video calls with their entire team to make the meetings as useful as possible. Regular meetings and calls allow software houses to provide up-to-date information and reports on solutions implemented and progress on the project. This is also an excellent time to ask questions about the project or communicate the desire to make adjustments that change the original findings.

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