How We work

The following describes our typical approach to a new project for the development of a web site or web based application. Depending on the context some of the steps of this life cycle might not be required or may be shortened.

Project Analysis

Once a client is ready to start discussing their requirements, our team will kick off the preliminary requirement analysis. As the web site or web based application is usually going to be a part of a larger system, it needs a complete analysis as to how it is going to integrate with the present system and how it is going to help the business. The first important thing is finding the target audience, in other words, who is going to use the application. Then, all the available hardware, software, people and data should be considered during the time of analysis. The analysis should be done in a way that it is not too time consuming and pragmatic. The team should be able to come up with a complete cost-benefit analysis and as the plan for the project will be an output of the analysis, it should be realistic. To achieve this, the analyst should consult the designers, developers and testers to come up with a realistic plan.

Input: Client interviews, mails and supporting docs by the client, discussions Notes, online chat, recorded telephone conversations, model sites/applications etc.
Output: 1. Simple work plan, 2. Estimated cost involved, 3. Team requirements, 4. Hardware-software requirements, 5. Additional Supporting documents and 6. The approval.

Specifications

Preliminary specifications are drawn up by detailing each and every element of the requirement. For example if the product is a web site then the modules of the site including general layout, site navigation and dynamic parts of the site should be included in the spec. Larger projects will require further levels of consultation to assess additional business and technical requirements. After reviewing and approving the preliminary document, a written proposal is prepared, outlining the scope of the project including responsibilities, timelines and costs.

Input: Reports from the analysis team.
Output: Complete requirement specifications to the individuals and the client or client’s representative.

Design and prototyping

After building the specification, work is scheduled upon receipt of the signed proposal, a deposit, and any written content materials and graphics you wish to include. Here normally the layouts and navigation will be designed as a non-working prototype.
In most of the cases clients may be interested in viewing two or three design with all images and navigation.
There can be a lot of suggestions and changes from the client side, and all the changes should be frozen before moving into the next phase.
Throughout the design phase the team should develop test plans and procedures for quality assurance. It is necessary to obtain client approval on design and project plans.
In parallel, the database team will sit and understand the requirements and develop the database with all the data structures and sample data will also be prepared.

Input: Requirement specification.
Output: Site design with templates and images, prototype.

Development

The design phase usually results in a non-working prototype. Now its time for the developers to add their magic without disturbing the design. Unlike traditional design the developer must know the interface. The developer should understand the design and navigation. The developer may need to interact with the designer, in order to understand the design. The designer may need to develop some additional graphic elements when ever they are needed. The developer should generate necessary testing plans as well as technical documentation.
The end-user documentation can also be prepared by the development team, which can be used by a technical writer who can understand them, to write manuals later.

Input: The prototype and the requirement specification.
Output : Working site or application, development documents.

Preliminary testing:

Web based applications need intensive testing, as the applications will always function as a multi-user system, 24×7. Testing includes: functionality testing, integration testing, stress testing, scalablity testing and cross-browser compatibility testing.

Input: The site or application, requirement specifications, supporting documents, technical specifications and technical documents.
Output: Completed site or application, testing reports, error logs, frequent interaction with the developers and designers.

Go live

After doing all the preliminary testing an additional live testing on the final server is necessary for web sites and web based applications. After uploading the site a complete testing round will be performed.

Input: Fully tested site or application, all documents signed off.
Output: Live site or application.

Maintenance

Web sites will need quite frequent updates. In that case we need to do analysis again, and all the other life cycle steps will repeat, albeit usually in a much quicker elapse time than the original project. Bug fixes will also be done during the time of maintenance. Once your web site is operational, ongoing promotion, technical maintenance, content management & updating, site visit activity reports, staff training and mentoring may be needed on a regular basis depend on the complexity of your web site and the needs within your organization.

Input: Site/Application, content/functions to be updated, re-Analysis reports.
Output: Updated application, supporting documents to other life cycle steps and teams