Development Approaches - Essay Example

Running heading: Development approaches Development approaches Name Course Tutor Task Date With the manifold benefits offered by the internet, most companies market, sell and attract more customers through the internet. Solving company problems including changes, product launch and marketing could all be done online if well organized, planned and executed. E commerce has received popularity with most companies as it is cheaper and faster compared to the manual and physical ways of managing organizations and as such, the development approaches gradually improve from the traditional to modern approaches. The modern approaches are more efficient and preferred than the traditional methodologies as they are upgraded versions of the traditional methodologies. However both approaches are beneficial in one way or another (Murthy & Nansi, 2003). The rapid user centered approaches have principles and goals that are in line with the agile methodology principles, and such, we will compare their benefits to the traditional methodologies. Rapid user centered design approaches are beneficial as they focus on the users as compared to traditional methods that focus on computer science or future developments. Preference to a particular approach depends on the needs of the company, time and resources available for projects. Most companies’ time software developments with their marketing strategies and product launch time. When a new product is conceived, it would take some times for that product to be placed in the markets and be available to potential buyers. This “time” between conception and availability is what is referred to as a “time-to-market”. Timing markets have the advantages of companies gaining the competitive advantages of markets sooner than other companies and offers longer life cycles for markets as well as enabling companies to offer premium prices at the onset of life cycles. For an effective time-to-market, software developers must have proper understanding of the customer’s needs. Other requirements for quick time-to-market include a feasible project plan, organization of the development process and the involvement of customers and staff. This paper illustrates the benefits of user centered development approaches in comparison to other development approaches in relation to a companies’ time-to market. This will help us come up with the advantages and the disadvantages of both development approaches and ascertain the best approach for cutting “a time-to-market”. User centered design is a project development approach that puts emphasis on the site user. The basic demands of the user are put into considerations during development. Development approaches include (Extreme Programming) XP, Rational Unified Process (RUP), (Structured Systems Analysis and Design) SSADM, Rapid Application Development (RAD), DSDM (Dynamic Systems development method) and Soft systems. The modern methods are collectively referred to as agile development approaches. The agile methodologies are divided into modern and traditional approaches, e.g., the Traditional ones are SSADM and the Soft System while the modern ones are Extreme programming, RAD and RUP. The two groups represent a continuum of development approaches that lie either on the extremes of predictive or adaptive methods. The user centered approaches or the agile methodologies are based on customer requirements as they are iterative and incremental. Iterative means that the process is organized into shorter manageable time frame while incremental means that the project is broken down into small pieces that are focused upon one time or distributed to team groups. In comparison to traditional methodologies like the SSADM, the user centered methodologies do not determine system requirements at the beginning of the project. Traditional methodologies are not adaptable to changes because their requirements are stated at the beginning of the project and require strict follow up of the requirements. Changes therefore become expensive and difficult to carry out. User centered methodologies do not state the requirements as customer regularly inputs their requirements as the development progresses. This makes them flexible and more accurate to the customer. The principles and uniqueness of the UCD (User centered Design) development approaches are their focus on customer satisfaction through communication and the ability to produce effective results rapidly. The approaches are also adaptable to change of circumstances, are simple to use and understand, and focus on team work. With these, they have several benefits to companies, customers, users and developers .Developers are able to multi task as tasks are broken down to manageable sizes and dealt with by a dedicated team. This facilitates the development process making it take a shorter time compared to the traditional methodology which takes longer. During development stage, the team presents their progress to stakeholders who assess their progress and document it. This allows changes to be made at reasonable stages and provides an assurance that the final project/ software will be the desired one. It also reduces chances of rejection or inefficiency of the completed project. Unlike traditional development approaches which do not focus in communication between developers and users, user centered methodologies encourage communication (especially face to face where possible) in order to facilitate collaborations, team work and rapid results. This enables team members to report any problems they faced and prioritize work segments. In every team a customer representative is placed to oversee and contribute to the development of the project. Team members also include people from different levels of the organization. This allows contribution from everyone (Customers, users, developers and functional managers) hence its effectiveness (Lazar, 2001). Unlike other methods, the rapid user centered development approaches are adaptive rather than predictive. This means that they adapt easily to changes of short term and would be incapable of predicting long term changes. This is disadvantageous to companies as long term decisions concerning the project are difficult to make. Predictive approaches which are able to define the future in details are advantageous. However, their disadvantage is that it would be difficult to adapt to changes while using predictive methods. The traditional methods like SSADM are advantageous for overseeing the long term future of at least six months while the user centered designs focus on problems occurring in weeks’ time. Each of these methodologies offers advantages and principles to guide project completion in accordance with the user requirements. RUP for example strives to minimize faults while increasing production. Its ideas are that teams should manage user requirements, employ diagrams use during development, tests developments for quality, work in incremental and manage short term changes. The teams should include experts in the fields required. Extreme programming on the other hand improves the quality of the software and increases its responsiveness to the dynamic needs of the customer. XP provides values and principles during development to oversee the whole process. These values and principles concur with the Agile principles especially in relation to change and customer requirements. The important activities in software development while using XP are coding of instructions for computers, performing relevant tests on the functions of the software, listening to the needs of the customer and designing a simple and easy to use software. RAD helps in the rapid developments of prototypes which facilitate the overall development process by reducing planning stage. With the use of codes, paper work is reduced hence increasing efficiency by error reduction. The biggest disadvantage of XP is that it is difficult and requires extreme dedication of developers and customers. Companies can not put a fixed price on developers as changes are expected to occur regularly. With the sequential processes in agile methods, stakeholders and developers can easily ascertain errors and edit them as required. Generally, the user centered design focuses on four main activities namely; requirements gathering, requirements specifications, design and evaluation. The techniques used in user centered design include focus groups, questionnaires and interviews. The traditional methods like the SSADM put emphasis on documentation which has both advantages and disadvantages. The benefit of documentation is that it maintains focus on the development process and keeps developers on track. This consumes a lot of time and money compared to the agile methods. There is less emphasis on communication with users and user involvement is minimal. The soft system (SSM) however has advantages of including all aspects of the company like the social aspect, communication, managerial and hierarchical aspect. SSM, developed by Checkland in the 1960’s, is more of a research methodology for companies, from which the SSADM was developed. In conclusion, I would mention that both approaches are important and could be considered under different circumstances. However, the agile methods are more favorable as they involve users throughout the development stage. Because of their iterative and incremental nature, they produce better result. For E Commerce to be successful companies need to cut their time-to-market. Timing is an important factor as it could mean profit maximization or vice versa. Companies would be at advantages to choose the agile methodologies because of their advantages. The agile methods are tailored towards achieving company goals in line with the requirements of a rapid time-to-market. The traditional approaches would take more time that would inconvenience marketing strategies of products. There is lack of flexibility which allows frequent changes that occur in market. Contemporary RAD methodologies are easier to learn and require lesser time as they are available online. Users can easily learn how to use them thereby reducing the cost of training as well as time of training. Traditional methods like the Soft System require facilitators and experts training and more time for users to learn how to use them. References Lazar, J., 2001. User centered Web development. London: Jones & Barlett Learning Murthy, K. V. & Nansi, S., 2003. Architectural issues on web enabled electronic business. New York: Idea Group Inc. Read More