How to start developing your own IT-solution or product. Development stages of the technical task
“It’s not about ideas, it’s about making ideas happen.” Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance.
Young entrepreneurs who just start growing their businesses often ask themselves: “How should I start developing an IT-product?” The difference between good and bad product lies precisely in the correct and systematic approach to its development. And any implementation of the product starts with the creation of a technical task (TT), which is necessary for both the customer and the contractor. Before we get to the basic steps of creating a Technical task, let’s take a closer look at this concept.
A technical task is a document that contains customer requirements for a product or service and is provided by the contractor. This document is needed to harmonize work practices, to describe in detail what you want to receive from the product in the end, as well as to evaluate and analyze the work done. The more clearer the client describes the functionality of each of the module’s components, the faster he will get the desired result.
Development stages of the technical task
- Business objectives. Before you start the life cycle of your product, you should first determine the business problem that must fulfill this decision. Ask yourself: why do you create this product, what problems can it solve, how are you going to measure the effectiveness of this product? If you are well versed in business processes, then you probably know what you need: an application or platform, chat bot or a website. Now try to describe it. Do not worry about how it is written. After all, technical task may be rewritten several times as the budgets, plans or deadlines can change. Try to capture the essence of your idea. Then describe the set of technologies that you would like to apply in the implementation of your solution. Here competent engineers and qualified specialists may help you to choose the necessary set of programming languages, modules and libraries.
- Functionality. If you are thinking about creating a technical task, then you already know why the users should choose your application or platform. Describe it in the form of a list and short explanations. At this stage it is important to identify all the features that will be available for your user.
- Design. It is one of the most important details that must be considered when creating a product. After all, a convenient and beautiful design is not only an effective tool for attracting customers, but also a great competitive advantage in the market. Describe what requirements your design should meet, taking into account corporate design, colors, logo and illustrations. UI/UX specialists, in simple words, design engineers will help you in creating a simple and convenient design. They need to know who will use your application, what customers expect from this application and what is the purpose of creating your application. It is also important for the designer to know what kind of emotion should the customer get while using your product.
After receiving all this data, a single structured document is created, on the basis of which the product prototype and the user’s story are implemented. After completing the technical task, product development is divided into several parts including the timing, criteria for each stage and requirements for its implementation. Each of the technical task stages plays an important role in the further development of the IT-product.
Let’s take a closer look at how TT can change at the stage of formulating business objectives.
Let’s take, for example, a travel agency. Its main task may be attracting new consumers or maintaining loyal customers, increasing customers’ loyalty or the bill amount. If the travel agency aims to attract customers, then it can develop a testing module for its potential customers about “what kind of vacation will be the most comfortable for them”. If the task is to increase the bill and the level of loyalty, then it will be much more effective to create a mobile application that can be used by your customers during all their holidays. In the mobile application, you can create a guide, excursion programs, discount programs, recommendations, and everything that will meet their vacation needs.
So, a simple software development depends on the precise implementation of each stage described in the TT. Only a properly designed technical task will allow you to get the desired result and develop high-quality and competitive software for any platform. Therefore, when developing a technical task for your project, follow your own desires and goals. Try to convey the main idea of your product concisely but informatively so that the developers could quickly comprehend it and bring it to life.
