Project Analysis
Once a customer is started discussing his requirements, the team gets into it, towards the preliminary requirement analysis. As the web site is going to be a part of a system, It needs a complete analysis as, how the web site or the web based application is going to help the present system and how the site is going to help the business. The first important thing is finding the targeted audience. Then, All the present hardware, software, people and data should be considered during the time of analysis. The analysis should be done in the way, that it is not too time consuming. The team should be able to come up with the complete cost- benefit analysis and as the plan for the project will be an output of 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: Interviews with the clients, 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 covering up 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 customer/customer's representative.
Design and development:
After building the specification, work on the web site 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 nonworking prototype.
In most of the cases customer 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 customer side, and all the changes should be freezed before moving into the next phase. The revisions could be redisplayed via the web for the customer to view.
As needed, customer comments, feedback and approvals can be communicated by
e-mail, skype and phone.
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, Images and prototype.
Coding:
Its developers turn to add his code 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 grapic elemnts when ever they are needed. Coding team should generate necessary testing plans as well as technical documentation.
The end-user documentation can also be prepared by the coding team, which can be used by a technical writer who can understand them, writes helps and manuals later.
Input:
The site with forms and the requirement specification.
Output :
Database driven functions with the site, Coding documents.
Preliminary testing:
Web based applications need intensive testing, as the applications will always function as a multi-user system with many limitations. Some of the testing which should be done are, Integration testing, Stress testing, Scalablity testing, load testing, resolution testing and cross-browser compatibility testing.
After doing all the preliminary testing a additional live testing in final server is necessary for web sites and web based applications. After uploading the site there should be a complete testing.
Input: The site, Requirement specifications, supporting documents, technical specifications and technical documents.
Output: Completed application/site, testing reports, error logs, frequent interaction with the developers and designers.
Maintenance and Updating:
Web sites will need quite frequent updations to keep them very fresh. In that case we need to do analysis again, and all the other life cycle steps will repeat. Bug fixes can 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
