Superb software development: six steps to a great result

What separates superb products from mediocre ones is UX, functionality and beautiful design work. Visually attractive product sparks curiosity that should be then supported by a user-friendly structure. UX means a pleasant experience through relevant content and logical structure, i.e., easy to use and understand. The role of functionality is no less important here. At the end of the day, what’s important is that stuff works and company can enjoy easier and more time-efficient ways of working.   

Software development is not an easy thing to learn by watching Youtube at home. Yes, there are loads of materials, tutorials and workshops, but it’s just not that straightforward to learn and put into practice in real life. Especially when you’re running a business. 

Software development is a fascinating matrix system where, next to practical and innovative solutions, there are different (very important) phases. These phases are needed to gain maximum quality and vibrant service with minimum cost and time. Shall we have a closer look?

Six phases of software development:

1. Mapping and analysing the project needs. This is the first and most important step. During this phase you need to gather as much of relevant info from all stakeholders, customers, competition, experts etc, as possible. Why? To build a project plan based on the gathered info which, in a nutshell, means all the possible strengths and weaknesses. 
2. Software requirements defined. Next step is writing it all down, i.e., economical, technical, juridical and operational side of the project. You must also work out the functionality of the product at this stage (which features will be added, how to make customers life easier etc).
3. Design and prototyping. After the analysing and documenting is done, the project moves on to the design phase. Software developers will create (based on the gathered and agreed info) a selection of prototypes. After all relevant people have had “a go” at the prototypes (feel it, use it as if they’re the end users) and experience is listed, the prototypes will be sent on to development. The aim is maximum result! Crucially important is the feedback from the end users because it’s them who the the webpage, or any other exciting software development project, is for.
4. Development phase is where the actual product is created. Based on all the info gathered earlier. 
5. Testing and using. After the intense development works are done and before the product is handed over to the customer to go live, the product is tested to find out all the possible shortcomings. This is done in a specific testing environment and the aim of it is to see if the product works the way it should. In case a fault is found developers are notified and after fixing the issue, the product goes back to testing. And, that’s how the cookie crumbles until the product is perfect.   
6. Maintenance. In a highly competitive software development world the one who survives is the one who offers something extra to its customers. In software development, it could be maintenance. After the product is finished and handed over to the customer, maintenance rotation is agreed upon on. The goal for everyone involved is that the end product would work perfectly.  

If you want a software solution that stands out and works perfectly, get in contact!