Services > Software Design > App Development
App Development
We believe it pays to develop applications using a consistent methodology, in order to achieve consistent results. An overview of
our approach to Software Application Development is provided below.
Our Approach to Software Application Development:
- Client Interview and requirements gathering
- Client Interview. As an owner (or senior manager)
of a Minnesota business, you are likely to understand the business requirements
for your software application development project better than anyone else. We prefer to begin
these projects with a
face to face meeting where possible.
- Detailed analysis and
requirements gathering, to solve YOUR business needs. We don't rush prematurely into the coding phase.
We take enough time to develop a complete and accurate understanding of
your business needs, translating these needs into a comprehensive IT requirements document.
Well-designed software solutions take more time to implement, however will
usually provide much better long-term value.
- An interactive process. Important details may not be known immediately,
from all areas the project depends on. We'll always circle back to
"connect the dots", filling in gaps with any missing requirements
details as they become
available.
- We solve problems before they happen. The earlier we discover and handle
project requirements, the less costly it is to make make necessary changes and
adjustments. We want to save you money, also avoid
unnecessary work on our part. We'll only move to the next level after all
personnel involved with the project are comfortable with the proposed solution.
- Creation of a comprehensive project requirements document
- Full Disclosure. We believe true requirements are often well-hidden.
Sometimes, they can only be discovered through extensive communication with
various members of the business and project teams. As new project requirements
are discovered, they will be fully discussed with
those affected (as appropriate), and fully documented as part of a comprehensive
Project Requirements document.
- In Writing. The hardest part of this process is to discover these
requirements; Writing them down is the easy part!
- Valuable for testing. Written requirements are invaluable for setting up solution testing in unit,
system, and user acceptance testing
project phases (For each project requirement, there will be a corresponding test
to satisfy before the project can move to the next phase).
- Valuable for knowledge transfer and communication. Development of
detailed formal written requirements is also very valuable for knowledge
transfer, and to avoid misunderstandings. There's a popular saying: "if it wasn't written, it
didn't happen" - If all parties are working from the same master plan,
we feel there will be much less opportunity for later misunderstandings regarding
important
project details.
- Creation of a clear, verifiable, and measurable project
plan
- Measuring Success, one task at a time. There is a saying in management
circles: "you can't fix what you can't measure". The same
holds true for software; After properly capturing project requirements in detail, the next step is to
combine these requirements together to create a workable plan with measurable
results.
- Weekly time frame. We break down our Application Development project
plans into small measurable steps (each taking approximately 1 work week or less
to complete).
- Easy to use. Our project plans are easily readable, detailed, and provide a roadmap showing
expected weekly milestones for all tasks within the scope of the application
development project. We also provide weekly status reports, showing progress against each of these
weekly application development milestones. A quick review of
the project plan against the week's status
report will quickly demonstrate our weekly performance.
- Software application development (coding and
testing)
- Project Prototyping. If feasible, we believe in providing important information, simple prototypes,
and partial information (as appropriate) to customers as early in the software
application development process as possible. We realize customers may be in a better position to refine and tweak the final
solution, after they've had an initial prototype to to experiment with.
- Providing results early. Rather than waiting to provide a "perfect" solution (which may differ from
customer's internal expectations), we prefer to provide working prototypes,
following up by working closely with the customer to provide any final revisions
needed.
- Don't call us - We'll call you! If there are any unexpected problems, we won't wait for you to contact us -
we'll call you first!
- Solution Delivery
- On time, and within budget. Because of our careful planning, we are
highly successful delivering projects as promised!
- Warranty Work. For a reasonable time after delivery and signoff (30 to 60
days, depending on project), we support/fix problems with software funtionality
which are found to be within the scope of the recently delivered project.
- Customer Satisfaction. Our ultimate goal is to find the solution to the
problem you are having. We'll honor our commitments, provide timely
communication, and always be courteous and professional.