|
Best Practices for Software
Projects - Prototyping
The most critical part of
software development and project management is to ensure that you first
agree with your client on the requirements and the scope of the
project. If this is not done well, your project has very little
chance of succeeding. Since everything in the software
lifecycle is driven from requirements, all follow-on tasks to the
requirements gathering will be flawed if the requirements are not
correct.
A technique for improving the
requirements gathering process is prototyping. With prototyping,
your team works with the client to collect their requirements, normally
done during JAD (Joint Application Development) sessions. As
requirements are collected, your technical team should develop prototypes
of the screens, reports, processes and the associated workflow. Once
developed, the JAD participants can tangibly see that you have (or have
not) captured their requirements accurately. Discussions by JAD
participants will refine the prototypes until you have reached agreement
on the exact requirements.
Below are the advantages to
prototyping:
- provides early feedback on the
requirements when the cost of making changes is low
- provides buy-in from client and
JAD members to ensure that everyone agrees to the
requirements
- provides visible progress,
improving team moral and sense of accomplishment
- reduces project timeline because
requirements are solidified up front, allowing programmers to architect
a better solution that enhances code reuse
- lowers defect rates because of
clear requirement definition
- quickens the ability for new team
members to get up-to-speed on the project, as everything is well
defined
The best way to demonstrate
prototyping is from a real-life example. Recently, we implemented a
time sheet system for a client that was delivered on-time and
on-budget. The names of the client and sensitive information have
been removed. Here is how we did it:
- JAD Sessions - Initially,
we held JAD sessions with the client. Because this
was a fairly small project, the JAD participants were the client's
project manager, and 2 of the end-users. From our team, we had the
project manager and the software architect attend the meeting. The
project manager was responsible for setting up and running the meetings
as well as putting all the documentation together. The software
architect was responsible for putting together the prototypes and aiding
the project manager in putting together the documentation. The JAD
session consisted of 3 meetings that spanned over one
week.
- JAD Session 1 -
Prior to meeting, the client sent us some rough requirements that
consisted of time sheet layouts for salaried vs. hourly employees and a
short description of how each person would be using the time sheet
system. Our project manager called the client project manager and
discussed the requirements in detail and talked about workflow.
Then the project manager and software architect worked together to
create a first draft of the requirements without any prototypes.
Here is a copy of the initial requirements document we put together and
discussed in JAD Session 1:
http://www.pragmaticsw.com/newsletters/JADVIL0039a.pdf
JADVIL0039a.pdf (Local link)
Notice that this document does not have any prototypes, it just
explains the time sheet system in general terms. In JAD Session 1, we reviewed
the requirements with the client to ensure we had captured their
requirements and workflow accurately. At the conclusion of the
meeting, another follow-on meeting was scheduled for 2 days later and we
promised a prototype.
- JAD Session 2 -
Prior to the meeting, our project manager worked with the software
architect to develop a prototype based on the feedback from JAD
Session 1. The software architect used Microsoft FrontPage to
create the prototype (but could just have easily used Adobe Photoshop or
Dreamweaver). Here is a copy of the requirements document we put
together and discussed in JAD Session 2:
http://www.pragmaticsw.com/newsletters/JADVIL0039b.pdf
Notice
that this is the same document used in JAD Session 1, but contains
screen shots and other information about the prototype. It
discusses the behaviors of each function, etc. In JAD Session 2,
we reviewed the prototype with the client to ensure we had captured
their requirements and workflow accurately. At the conclusion of
the meeting, a final follow-on meeting was scheduled for 2 days later
and we promised an estimate and a workflow prototype.
- JAD Session 3 -
Prior to the meeting, our project manager worked with the software
architect to develop a workflow prototype based on the feedback from
JAD Session 2. The software architect used Macromedia's
RoboDemo to create the workflow prototype and also put together a
detailed deisgn so that he could estimate the total effort. Here is a
copy of the requirements document we put together and discussed in
JAD Session 3:
http://www.pragmaticsw.com/newsletters/JADVIL0039c.pdf
Notice
that this is the same document used in JAD Session 2, but contain
links to a workflow prototype, shows screen shots of the prototype and
also contains a Detailed Design. This allowed us to provide the
client with a fixed price estimate for doing the project. At the
conclusion of JAD Session 3, the client gave us final approval to
move forward.
As you can see, creating prototypes can dramatically
increase your chances of delivering on-time and on-budget. As
development began, we used Software Planner (http://www.softwareplanner.com) to track project
deliverables and defects found during the testing process.
Below are some helpful templates to aid you in developing
software solutions on-time and on-budget:
About the Author
Steve Miller is the President of Pragmatic Software
(http://www.pragmaticsw.com). With over 20 years of experience, Steve has extensive
knowledge in project management, software architecture and test design.
Steve publishes a monthly newsletter for companies that design and develop
software. You can read other newsletters at http://www.PragmaticSW.com/Newsletters.htm. Steve's email is steve.miller@pragmaticsw.com.
|