It takes a lot of work to complete a software development project. To handle issues and master this complexity, a variety of process models are offered. For modeling tasks throughout the project, a procedural model provides a description of individual stages and procedures for their implementation. The concept promises to improve product quality by increasing planning and process control.
But with so many process models already in existence, a new issue has emerged: how can you choose the one that’s right for your project based on certain criteria? Of course, a business that provides custom digital product creation is free to select its model. However, how can you be confident that this model meets your requirements and expectations?
In our post, we outline the phases of the product development process and the factors that must be considered when choosing a development model for each step to help you navigate the enormous number of process models available.
6 phases of product development
We quickly outline the six stages that a software product experiences during the product development process. Whichever model of the process is chosen, it must be made sure that every phase’s processes are visible. So that the project’s status can always be tracked and project milestones should be aligned accordingly.
1. Planning
Planning is considered a crucial step in the preparatory process for product creation and business plans, which also involves market research and business analysis. You now speak with a product development provider, go over the product concept, and decide which model will probably work best for your project.
2. Requirements analysis
After the product concept has been developed, your provider can define the product requirements in close collaboration with business analysts. It goes on to list and explains every feature you want to use.
- One of the other process models is used for product development depending on how clear or unclear, steady or unstable your needs are because:
- For certain models, every requirement needs to be properly defined ahead and never altered.
- When requirements change, other process models offer more flexibility.
For particular models, adding new requirements during the product development process has almost become a regular procedure.
The more flexibility you need, the more likely you are to modify or add to your current list of requirements during implementation.
3. Draft
Product development is a critical process for any business that wants to stay competitive and succeed in the marketplace. By automating key aspects of product development, businesses can save time and money while ensuring that their products are of the highest quality.
Hence, architecture, interfaces, programming languages, hardware and software platforms, and other properties of the product to be built (or its components) are defined based on requirements and their interactions during this phase of product development.
At this point, the vendor must notify you of your future product’s restrictions, cloud hosting options (if you’re building a SaaS solution), and hardware options (when your software product becomes part of a device or facility). This also includes user experience and interface design.
4. Development
The next stage of product development, the implementation phase, starts once you, the product owner, have given your approval for each choice made during the design phase. Your predefined needs are technically implemented during this phase. In this step, you may either obtain the finished final result or simply a portion of it, depending on the process model you’ve chosen.
5. Quality Assurance
Always align quality assurance (QA) with the implementation stage. This stage is everywhere, including event planning, venue management, customer service, and so on. Tests make sure that every predefined criterion is met for each component as well as the complete product. Depending on the model being utilized, tests may be run whenever and however frequently.
6. Delivery and Maintenance
Your completed software product, its executable version, or individual features may be installed on certain hardware or integrated into a particular system and afterward made available for use in this stage of product development, depending on the process model utilized.
After delivery, the longest phase of the product life begins with maintenance and support. Bugs that were missed in the initial stages will be fixed during this phase, along with any improvements and support that may be provided.
It is common practice for your clinician to offer you additional care and assistance. You can also form an in-house support team or turn to another provider for support and maintenance.
Choosing a suitable model: your requirements are paramount
After going through all the basic product development phases, we’ll concentrate on the common process models that outline the duration, importance, and repeatability of the development process.
Several critical figures can offer crucial assistance in choosing an appropriate process model. We’ll focus on the three factors that best reflect your needs: release frequency, requirement flexibility, and collaborative style. Each of these factors can be rated on a scale, with each model receiving a different rating.
Rigid requirements ↔ flexible requirements
The procedural model decides when (if ever) adjustments are possible and how flexible the requirements for your software product can be. All criteria must be specified in detail at the outset of the project for models like the waterfall and V-model. It is not anticipated that the project will change. RUP, Spiral Model, and Iterative Model all offer greater adaptability to changes. Continuous modifications during the project lifecycle are achievable with Agile methodologies like Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), and Kanban.
A big release ↔ Continuous delivery
Do you want to watch the finished work after it has been released in its totality? Next, you can select from two sequential models like the waterfall or V-model. But it’s important to remember that both strategies work well for small projects in particular. Otherwise, there is a chance that there will be more bugs in the finished product because testing is only done right before release.
A big release is a great opportunity to showcase the power of continuous delivery and data visualization. Additionally, it is now considerably more expensive to make corrections. Shorter and more frequent releases are used frequently for all other models, including the Iterative Model, Scrum, RUP, and Kanban. This enables the creation of a working product after each release cycle and its subsequent development of it.
Documentation ↔ communication
A process model outlines the level of involvement and level of collaboration with a provider for each party participating in the project. After each step, comprehensive documentation must be created for many models, including the spiral model, V-model, and waterfall model. However, communication is not given much attention. Iterative models and RUP make an effort to balance documentation and communication. One of the most important functions of the agile group’s models, including Scrum, EX, and Kanban, is communication.
Last thoughts
It can be quite difficult to stay on track when there are so many different project process models available. Knowing the factors to take into account at certain product stages will help you choose the most appropriate model development. Additionally, there are a few characteristics that can help your decision-making. You can select an appropriate model or even mix various models and their benefits depending on your goals, how you set priorities, how long your project can run, or how strongly you want to be involved in the project. Making the appropriate decision helps in project implementation success.
