The software development process might not be something your business is involved in currently, but at some point in time you may find yourself thinking that you could benefit from expanding your business through tech and we have some tips for exactly that type of situation.
We at THRV, like most good software development agencies, have used a common set of principles to establish our own intricate development process. We used these principles because they work. They’re based on consistently pushing towards a productive, efficient, and direct system to reach the customer’s ideal product.
The Software Development process is complex and unique, so to give businesses a bit of an insight on how to approach it, we’ve gathered everything that’s proved useful to know, so you can guarantee your Project’s success.
Study Your Customers
We think when a company dives into a development project, a vital resource is their customers. Your customers will provide you with information that will prove instrumental to your project’s success.
Study your customer’s goals, wants, needs and preferences to gain the ability to provide them with the User Experience that they’ll love. Constantly keep your customers in mind when making decisions about your project, and you’ll be able to tailor that experience.
Challenge Assumptions
What you think you know about your business, regardless of the industry, isn’t correct 100% of the time. It’s essential to challenge your assumptions prior to taking further steps.
We get it, this is your business, you know more about it than anyone else, we just want you to get the most out of your project. You assume you know which features will give you that competitive advantage or will provide your customers with the greatest value, we just want you to put those assumptions to the test.
Do your market research, what have other businesses in your market space done with their projects that people are raving about? As stated prior, study your customers or your target market to find out what they think. Conduct surveys and questionnaires to get as many opinions as possible. Your greatest tool is asking questions!
Researching helps you ensure that you’re investing your development in the right areas. Even if your assumptions were right, at least now you know you have the research data to back them up.
Minimum Viable Product: The Holy Grail
Minimum Viable Products, MVPs for short, are the key to being as efficient as possible with new projects. MVPs contain only the features that are truly essential to your product, so that you can launch as fast as possible.
We know that it’s incredibly tempting to ‘Go Big’ right out of the gate, but to save you time and money, starting with an MVP and building on it is vital. We know that launching a product that you don’t believe is perfect can seem worrisome, but fear not. You will never know what ‘perfect’ will be unless you get something out there and then get feedback from it’s users.
Let the users tell you what they like and dislike about the MVP and then use that information to invest correctly into future updates to the Product. If you invest time and money into a feature your user’s dislike or really don’t use it will be a waste. The Smart way to pan out your project is to focus on the MVP and build on it through feedback.
Check out our blog post on Agile, Design Thinking, and Lean Startup Methodologies: What they are and how to use them, to learn more about MVPs and efficient development.
Minimize Multitasking, Maximize Productivity
Research shows that multitasking and dividing attention between several tasks reduces productivity and can cause unnecessary stress. Switching between different tasks takes time regardless of how small that transition may be.
Don’t overload development with a bunch of different things, focus on one thing at a time and you’ll know that the task is being completed without distraction. Your process becomes inefficient if your resources are spread too thinly across tasks. You also delay your output, increasing the time it takes to finish the work.
Kickstart your Project into Success
With these tips, you can dive into your new project with the right mindset. Create a product based on your customers, include features backed by research instead of assumptions, reduce waste by starting small and building smart and maximize your productivity by putting an end to multitasking, and you’ll ensure your product’s success.
