Software is changing and influencing the world around us in so many ways than one. Everywhere you go, there seems to be software to use. Because of this demand, it’s not surprising how software development companies are regularly coming up with new products. The market is there. They just have to ensure every software released has gone through a rigorous development process, like this one from https://powersolution.com/. It’s a complicated process, to say the least. Companies thoroughly conduct each step to successfully say they’ve gone through all the critical items to come up with no less than effective, good, and sought-after software.
These are the six items you must include in your software development checklist. Read on to find out:
1. Requirement Gathering And Analysis
This step is where the software development teams of businesses can study and analyze what features customers are looking for in a software. Otherwise, your business may risk coming up with software that won’t even be marketable.
To do this, organizations must conduct extensive and thorough customer research and analysis. Then, whatever information gathered from that research process is forwarded to the group that takes care of identifying the exact list of software features.
With that list, you now have the proper information to add to the software project plan. This helps propel your software forward, and now that you’re certain that whatever software you develop, it’ll be marketable to your target audience.
2. Ideation
Now that you have a good understanding of what your business’ or clients’ needs are, you can actively start the brainstorming or ideation process. Yes, every software starts with an idea, but it doesn’t mean that the idea can be a random one. It has to be well-studied, so you’re not simply wasting time creating software that won’t address business needs.
The ideation process can be done in many ways: through creating flowcharts, mind mapping, and even making sketches. Here, the software development team has to come up with as many possible solutions before narrowing it down to what the best one is.
3. Code Review Process
It’s during this code review process that the software development can ascertain with 100% accuracy that the codes used in the software are all understandable. Moreover, this step ensures all the codes can regularly be tested or debugged and follow all the guidelines set.
The goal of the code review process is to achieve an ideal optimization rate of at least 90%. Remember this general rule: when a user is running an app, 90% of the time spent on that app is using only 10% of the code. It’s up to your software development team to figure out what that 10% includes, so you can focus all your optimization efforts there.
4. Design The Software
Then, the software development team starts designing the software. This process can include prototypes, interface designs, and even user experience (UX) outlines. Moreover, it’s during this process of software design that firms should also identify what the hardware and system requirements are.
5. Filter Out Any Bad Ideas
As the team goes through the design process, it’s also here that they may come face to face with the reality that some ideas that they may have wanted to include and implement on the software aren’t that good. This necessitates the need to filter out any of those bad ideas which have been identified.
This step may sound quite simple, but there’s more than meets the eye. This is where experience and expertise come in as advantages to properly identify which solutions can achieve the business needs.
6. Testing
When the bulk of the work is completed, you can now then proceed to testing. Never release any software or app to the general public without first testing it. Otherwise, you could be facing so many complaints and requests for debugging. In effect, your software’s reputation may suffer as well.
The quality control department is responsible for this function. When tests are successful, it’s expected that several glitches will be uncovered. Once every test is successfully passed without error, that’s when your team can have the confidence to release that new software you’ve created.
Final Thoughts
During the software development process, you have to understand that each stage of the cycle is as important as the last one. This means all the items above are equally important. It’s not an absolute checklist, but it can give you a good starting point so you know where and how to begin. Most importantly, remember that every mistake or lapse in each item on the checklist may potentially result in a setback. Do this as thoroughly as you possibly can for your software to be a hit.
