Our experience shows that DPs transition more easily to new systems and have a smoother overall learning experience. For management, having users who are engaged in development translates into operational efficiencies that lead to better communication, fewer errors and increased productivity.
Software Element’s Seven Step Development Process
- Initial Meeting — Here, the Project Team is identified, including: a Project Owner (PO) to manage feature-related issues; a QA Unit Member for overseeing validation; and DPs to provide input and feedback regarding usability. Responsibilities for each team member are also defined.
- Definition of User Requirements — In this step the PO formalizes all high-level and other known user requirements. This is an updateable, evolving list that can cover one to two cycles and is updated at the end of each cycle to assure inclusion of new, emerging requirements.
- Validation Overview — A meeting between Project Team Quality members to define a cost-effective, risk-based validation strategy and deliverables required by the specific project.
- Regular Usability Reviews — As time permits throughout development, Software Element will moderate and guide DPs and POs through application usability reviews. This helps ensure that requirements are implemented accurately, according to user preferences.
- Execution of Validation Plan — In conjunction with the project QA Unit Member, and in accordance with the initial validation strategy, this step includes completion of all required activities for each cycle. This produces a fully validated application before the next cycle begins. These activities typically include protocols execution, SOPs update or creation, as well as user training. Since the number of new features deployed in each cycle is carefully managed, this step usually requires days instead of months.
- Cycle Retrospective — Before starting any new cycle, the Project Team analyzes the last completed cycle to identify ways to streamline development of subsequent cycles. In many cases, this step creates efficiencies that can cut weeks or months off the development process.
- Requirements Update — Planned from the start and integrated into the process, Requirements Updates define an agreed-upon timeframe and methodology for updating or revising user requirements.
Would you pay for features you’d never use?
It’s surprising how many people do.Incredibly, users regularly access about one in every five (20%) features implemented in a typical software application.
This is largely due to a lack planning—not reconciling actual needs to users’ perceived needs.
Over half of the errors in a software application are introduced while gathering requirements.
This happens because different users have different ideas and expectations about requirements.
Users routinely, almost reflexively, request additional functionality. However, adding extra features without thinking them through can increase the overall cost of a project, and add complexity that leads to errors and code that’s difficult to maintain.
The best way to avoid unused features is by careful planning at the outset, and through regular features reviews.
These faulty features may remain undiscovered up until implementation, months or even years later.
The best way to identify potentially problematic features is through a frequent delivery process.
