5 Tips To Boost Your Development Life Cycle

The foundation of a successful piece of software comes down to a well-organized and productive Software Development Life Cycle. Taking the right approach to a development life cycle can minimize your costs and produce a high-quality product for your audience. 

There are several common mistakes that teams often make when entering a development life cycle. Knowing what these pitfalls are and how to maneuver around them is crucial for ensuring that your company can continuously create great products.

A software development life cycle is essentially a plan that includes a range of smaller tasks that result in one big achievement of completion. The nature of a software development life cycle involves constant change which can make it difficult to navigate. As a software development company, we will includes 5 tips for you that you can use to improve your development life cycle process.

Know Your Audience

The number one factor to consider is how well you know your audience. This is a vital piece of information to know in and out before you start developing. Be sure to know the two main types of audiences that you’ll be catering to as they include users (the people who use the product) and customers (people who purchase the product). 

Be sure that your team distinctly knows the difference between these audiences. This will help them keep a clear picture in their mind about the audiences that they’re creating the products for. 

It’s also common practice for companies to take feedback from customers on previous products. Your teams can then use this feedback to fix any weak areas and aim to provide an improved product. 

Speed

Whilst proper planning and testing are important, you don’t want to make the common mistake of becoming stagnant. This is because the market is changing at a fast pace and you don’t want to get left behind working on a product that will be outdated by the time it’s released. 

Therefore, it may not be a viable option to aim for perfection. Instead, it’s best to ensure that teams have a clear understanding of the audience, a workflow in place, and clear definitions of when tasks are completed. The workflow is an area that can be adjusted as you go which can help you to get the ball rolling faster. 

Making sure to keep tabs on what the customer needs is imperative to creating a successful product. If you get too caught up in the details of previous products, you’ll likely miss out on what your customers currently need. So, it’s a good idea to take notes of previous products, but don’t let teams spend too long in the preparation phase. The last thing you want to do is spend time and money on a product that your customers no longer need. 

Cloud computing can be a superb tool that allows teams to work more efficiently and faster. Teams can share files and collaborate through one system which enhances productivity during software development life cycles. If you’re concerned about security, this cloud security guide could help you feel more assured. 

Workflow

Once your team has a solid understanding of the audience and expectations of the upcoming product, you’ll want to design a workflow. Some companies don’t realize the importance of a workflow and they find themselves in a mess later down the line. 

Companies can utilize a workflow to ensure that team members know exactly what they’re working towards and are provided with a systematic approach to developing the product. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and can collaborate more easily. It can also help provide software teams with motivation and guidance on the project. 

There are usually many stages involved with each task and breaking them down and creating a structure is the best way to help teams reach the targets. During a development life cycle, you can break down the stages into the following:

• Create a plan
• Work through the plan systematically 
• Review the product
• Deploy the product 

The clearer your structure is, the better. There are plenty of ways that you can customize a workflow to make it fit with your company’s specific products. It’s also worth considering adding mandatory steps within the process. This ensures that nothing is left to chance and that all aspects of your product have been thoroughly reviewed and tested before being deployed. 

Furthermore, you can give yourself some flexibility when it comes to monitoring how well the workflow is working. If you find that certain things aren’t working as well, you can make changes to the process where you see fit. 

So, be sure to monitor whether certain parts of the project are developing slower than others and see if any changes can be made to make the workflow more effective. 

Establishing DoD

DoD (Definition of Done) is another important aspect to consider. This helps to provide teams with a clear indication that the task has been completed. Your DoD may alter depending on the project, however, it should include clear definitions of the quality, testing, and review procedures. 

Source: Scrum.org

Making sure that everyone is on the same page about when a task is complete is crucial for creating a streamlined workflow. Team members aren’t left with any questions about whether a certain task is done because they can simply compare it to the DoD that you’ve set out. This also prevents confusion between team members and allows them to collaborate on different parts of the product in unison. 

Review

During the process of working on a development life cycle, it can be easy to forget what the bigger picture is. Therefore, you may want to consider ways that you can remind your teams about what the end goal is.

If teams get too focused on the small details of the project, they may lose sight of why they’re working so hard which can lead to lower morale. Making sure that teams have a clear understanding of the end result can be motivating and provide them with clarity during times when the project is getting tough. 

Not to mention, it also means that developers are less likely to get distracted and caught up with parts of the project that don’t hold as much value. 

Reviewing the project at certain intervals and giving teams updates on the progress being made can help them see the light at the end of the tunnel. Moreover, reviewing your customer needs and wants should be done regularly during the development life cycle to ensure that your teams are working on relevant tasks. Your compliance with regulations within your industry can also be reviewed to ensure that your software adheres to the current rules.

Conclusion

Creating a great product is an accumulation of a well-structured software development life cycle. Be sure to implement the 5 tips mentioned in this post to boost your development life cycle. We hope that the details provided have helped give you some reassurance about how to approach your development life cycles.

At Savvycom, we are committed to helping businesses navigate the complexities of process management through tailored software solutions. Our expertise as a software development company allows us to create innovative tools that address your specific needs and drive cost-efficiency. Whether you require custom software development, system integration, or ongoing support, Savvycom is here to partner with you in achieving your business objectives.