New Software Projects
What is the most important ingredient in a new software project?
It’s tempting to say “technical know-how”. That’s an understandable answer – often software projects involve people who understand the problem to be solved (the client) and people who understand creating software (Durable Programming, in this case.) It’s easy to put the emphasis on the second part, the client: but both are equally important.
Yes, the real secret lies isn’t one or the other – the most important ingredient in a new software project is communication. If the software developer understands technology, but does not understand the problem, how will their software help the client? After all, a technically excellent but practically useless piece software is just that – useless!
Therefore, the important thing is not just technical skill – nor is the important thing just having a good idea. It is important to have a good idea, have a good technical staff, and, critically, have them communicate with each other effectively.
Often, technical problems can be solved by good communications – if a particular problem is tricky, then perhaps the business experts and the technical people can work out an alternate solution that is technically easier. Likewise, if the business-people have a particularly vexing problem which they do not understand how to solve with software, open and easy communication with the technical people may yield an easy technical solution to a vexing problem.
Getting Started with your new software project.
We believe in simplicity when it comes to new projects. One of our prime goals is to make sure that you, as a client, clearly communicate to us and that we clearly understand what your requirements are. That being said, we recognize that our clients are busy. Our clients often wear many hats, as is common in a fast-paced business environment. As a result, we try to have a flexible process.
The very first step is to meet via zoom or phone call, or, occasionally, in person. and any written documentation the client has to their needs. We then produce a proposal or other documentation which can be used by the client to make sure that what we envision is, in fact what they want.
Some clients like to be thoroughly involved in the process; if so, we can send screenshots and mockups as we go. If not, we can proceed from even a quick conversation – we try and work with the client the way that makes best use of their money and time. The more information we have, the more confident we can be that what we produce is going to match your vision. – but if the client’s time is limited, we operate on a “come back when this is done” basis.
Once we have a good understanding of the project, further decisions become much easier, like which programming language to use, how to design and architect the code, what libraries to use for the application, how to manage database, which hosting company for development, testing, and production.
