Software Design and Development
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Project life cycle
This material identifies the stages in the life cycle of a project and the typical activities carried out in each.
Syllabus outcomes
H5.1 A student applies project management techniques to maximise the productivity of the software development.
H6.3 A student uses and describes a collaborative approach during the software development cycle.
Awareness and understanding of typical activities carried out during the project life cycle will enhance the students’ productivity during the completion of their software development projects.
All projects are different and different project managers will tackle a project differently. One attribute that projects have in common are their finite nature. All projects have a beginning and an end. Between these two points in time, lies the project’s life cycle.
Stages in the project life cycle
Project management experts do not always agree on what stages and how many stages there are. Upon examining a number of project management references, it is apparent that a project generally includes the following stages:
- Defining the project
- Planning the project
- Implementing and controlling the project
- Closing the project
Although the length of time and the extent in which aspects of these stages varies from project to project, there are distinct activities that project team members carry out in each of these stages. More detailed discussion of the activities that occur in these stages can be found in the web sites listed below.
Activity 1
Return to this page and complete the table below by identifying which stage each of the project management activities typically belong to.
| Project management activities | Stages in a project life cycle | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defining | Planning | Controlling | Closing | |
| Allocate resources to each task |
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| Celebrate! | ||||
| Check the quality of task outcomes and rework if necessary | ||||
| Compare actual with planned figures | ||||
| Conduct regular performance and quality review | ||||
| Decide if a feasibility study or research is required | ||||
| Define major tasks required | ||||
| Determine the needs that must be satisfied | ||||
| Determine whether remedial actions are necessary | ||||
| Develop a communications and reporting plan | ||||
| Develop a work breakdown structure | ||||
| Develop evaluation and testing procedures | ||||
| Disband the project team |
||||
| Determine how the project will be organised | ||||
| Establish target start and finish dates | ||||
| Establish the project deliverables | ||||
| Estimate resources (time, budget and people) needed | ||||
| Estimate time needed to complete each task | ||||
| Evaluate the processes used in the project | ||||
| Evaluate what positive or negative influence the project had on your organisation | ||||
| Get necessary approvals or authorisations | ||||
| Hand in project deliverables | ||||
| Identify problem areas that may or have already caused delays | ||||
| Identify what each team member learnt from the project | ||||
| Keep the project on track | ||||
| Maintain regular communication between project manager and team members | ||||
| Monitor time spent in each task | ||||
| Request end users to evaluate the deliverables | ||||
| Sequence the tasks in the logical order | ||||
| Set project scope, boundaries and measurable objectives | ||||
| Take appropriate remedial actions | ||||
Check the suggested answers.
Activity 2
From your reading, list any other activities that are commonly carried in the following stages.
- Defining the project
- Planning the project
- Controlling the project
- Closing the project
Software development projects
These generic project cycle stages should not be confused with the software development cycle mentioned in the syllabus. The five stages in the software development cycle: defining and understanding the problem, planning and designing a solution, implementing the solution, testing and evaluating the solution, and maintaining the solution, reflect an approach to developing a working software solution.
A typical software development project by our definition of a “project” will end at the closing stage, that is, a software solution is delivered and accepted after going through sufficient problem definition, planning, designing, implementation and testing. However, the software development life cycle rarely stops after delivery and acceptance, the software solution is continually evaluated and monitored. Changing requirements and the availability of better solutions often mean that the software solution must be maintained and modified. Often required modifications to the solution are not made by the original developers (Syllabus document, p 47). The maintenance of this solution, which may involve simple or complex activities, may become another project with its own life cycle.
Bibliography
TenStep project management process: http://www.tenstep.com 
Spottydog's project management web site: http://www.spottydog.u-net.com
Michael Greer’s Project management
resources: http://www.michaelgreer.com
This work was prepared by Elsa Lat
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