A Project brief is the first and the most important step when it comes to the successful execution of any project.
Provided this is done right, your project process and execution will flow smoothly, following a pre-defined and well-organised structure which predicts and helps solve any project execution related difficulty that may crop up. Given below are the five phases in writing a project brief that meets the needs of all involved:
Phase 1: Fundamental project information
One of the most essential steps in writing the project brief is to instantly place the developer in the right context and also offer important logistics data, as given below:
• Find the preferred start date and release dates
• Find the platforms or systems which are required to be supported. For example for mobile software it is
iOS, Android or even WP
• Locate the exact number of internal resources such as testers, designers and backend developers who are available within the enterprise. In the case of end-to-end solutions, list the resources there too
• Decide on the kind of price-quotes – whether it is on a Fixed Price package or it is measured based on the time and materials (or resources) utilized. The former is when the project has been metered out in exact portions and is also compact without much changes expected in scope. The latter is when the project is executed using an Agile approach and a lot of changes in scope are expected throughout the life of the project execution. Bi applications stand to gain the most from this.
Phase 2: Project Objective and Strategic Business Goals
One will have to state in clear terms, the value that is offered to users by the app. Such value should ideally be in terms of quantifiable components within the app screen or your general system. To do this you have to:
Find the niche that your product can exist in the market
Determine the user need/problem that is met/solved by your product
Measure the impact that it would have on its users if it was withdrawn from the market overnight. An also identify the users most impacted by your product’s absence.
Identify the competitor or business alliance in the market who could displace or replace the product from the market in the most simple way.
Think in tangible values to bring your project to fruition. And make your developer aware of the building blocks of your enterprise model and the rationale driving product presence in the market. This is particularly useful for business intelligence applications.
Phase 3: Identify and create Target groups and Personas
It is not enough to develop products for a faceless generic user. Make sure to have a set of detailed customer profiles that will make up various user groups.
Such detailed customer profiles are called personas. An example Persona is: John Doe is a middle aged man living in the USA with problems in keeping track of his kid’s movements to and from school. So the solution here would be to develop a GPS app that can be housed in a wristband or installed on a phone to keep tabs on his kids wherever they are, ensuring their safety.
Phase 4: Functional Project scope or user stories
The next step in this process is to elaborate the functional features that you can offer to your users in your particular product. The most efficient way to do this is in terms of generating user stories. A User story is used to explain a piece of functionality which has to be delivered in the form of a pre-defined sentence structure.
Phase 5: Prioritizing Product Functionalities
The most important part of a project brief is to specify the must-have and the nice-to-have features in the product you are offering. To ensure the project runs smoother you will then have to work on a descending order of product functionalities to deliver the most value to your customers within the target time.
Business dashboards benefit greatly from this.
Conclusion
Logic dictates that the most effective project briefs are the ones which are the most informative. While following the aforementioned logic, following the steps mentioned above will ensure that you will end up with a practical and realistic quote for your project. And this will obviously lead to you to choose the most appropriate developer. This process in the end will help you to test and strengthen your project idea in a totally non-prejudicial manner.
