Every
company has worked on some projects that were a great successes,
and some projects that weren't as successful. What makes the
difference? Why do some projects succeed while others fail?
At StoneHenge we believe that our Nimble Methodology and our
people make a huge difference.
Four keys to success
We believe there are four keys that make a successful
project:
1. Documentation. We follow a very disciplined
process for gathering and documenting requirements. At times this
can be painful for the customer because we asked a ton of questions
that force decisions early in the project. But it is completely
necessary if you want all things known and documented before
construction begins.
No stone is left unturned and ambiguity is removed and every
last detail fleshed out. This results in a Requirements
Specification that clearly documents the system that the customer
wants and that we are going to deliver.
2. Measurement. Second, we used an accurate
tool for sizing and scoping projects. Instead of gathering a team
of developers over pizza and talking through how long they think it
will take, we use Function Point Analysis applied to a detailed
Requirements Specification. This results in an accurate sizing of
the project and number of hours the project will take to
execute.
The result is an accurate estimate that allows the team the time
needed to do the construction, and implementation.
3. User-centric. Third, we kept a constant
focus on the end user and the experience they will have using the
tool. We have skilled user experience architects that are
responsible for laying out detailed wireframes for every piece,
making sure the end result is something that would be very
intuitive for the end user.
More often than not, without this approach, you end up with
forms that aren't laid out the way the user is use to working and
many changes are required.
4. Disciplined. Fourth, we believe in
disciplined project execution. We like to have a firm grip, before
a single line of code is written, on exactly what the customer
wants and how it functions.
The project is broken up into a series of iterations. Within
each iteration, a business analyst first creates use cases. Those
use cases are then passed to the architect who would do the
detailed technical design, and to the tester who would write test
cases. The technical design is passed to the developers who code
the iteration. Notice that, before the first line of code is
written, we have a thorough understanding of what the customer
wants, how long it's going to take, and how we are going to build
it. Once the iteration has been constructed, it is passed to the
tester for testing against the test cases.
These iterations are staggered in such as way that the business
analysts goes immediately from iteration 1 use cases to iteration
2, and so forth.
Also, the customer begins seeing some results as the tester is
testing so they can inject change orders into the process if there
are changes they would like make from their original requirements.
The methodology had processes built into it for handling these
change orders and adjusting the schedule and pricing
accordingly.
These four steps, which are integral parts of our process, help
ensure a successful project. The development team feels like they
have produced a great product and the customer is pleased with the
results. The successful project boils down to the use of a
detailed, time proven, project methodology.
If you're interested in learning more about this, give us a
call.