Pitfalls To Avoid In Software Development Project

Software development is a complex process, where difficult situations may occur and cause some issues. In this article, we decided to share our experience and tell you what are pitfalls of software development process and how to avoid them.

1. Contradictions in the visions of the customer and developer

It is very important so you and a team of developers have no contradictions or unjustified expectations. The fact is that as a businessman you have the idea of a product and you are the expert in the industry of the project, everything is quite understandable and even obvious for you. However, from the developers’ perspective everything may seem quite different: he may not understand some of the details of your industry. He needs these points to be explained. At the same time, the developer is the expert in the technical issues and can help you to choose a technical solution. In addition, the developer evaluates the tasks from the technical implementation point. For example, sometimes the customer may think that some task is pretty simple, but in fact it is a really labor-intensive and difficult from the implementation standpoint.

2. Misunderstandings with the deadlines

Sometimes there are complications at the stage of specification development and project estimation. This is especially true when the customer makes his first project, he does not always understand the terms and conditions that the development team asks for.

In this case, we advise you to ask more questions. Let them explain something that you do not understand, but do not go too deep into technical details.

3. Working with third-party services

Quite often problems arise when the customer needs to buy servers, licenses and subscribe for products and modules (such as Wowza, Amazon) to complete the project. We always warn our customers about the fee that is charged for these resources, how often they need to make payments, and make sure that they are familiar with the terms of use. Customers often assume that this issue is not that important and want the development company to take responsibility for these services.

But in the near future we will release the project, and it will become the customer’s intellectual property.

Our advice: learn about the work of third-party services that are integrated into your project. Read the terms of use and carefully study what fees this service charges and how often. Figure out how to get a technical support, what are the features of the services you pay for. It will prevent from unpleasant surprises and you will always understand what is happening to your application.

4. Deadline shortening

One of the pitfalls of software development is that the developer may not have enough time to implement some kind of functionality. The fact is that any time estimation can be both realistic and optimistic. Yes, sometimes it happens that the developer thinks he will be able to do something faster. Often the deadline must be prolonged due to the fact that you have to wait to get access to the third-party company’s server.

Be prepared for such situations. When scheduling the launch of the app, make yourself some kind of a time buffer and do not report it to the developers. It’s great to have about two weeks to spare.

5. The transparency issues

Lack of transparency may also become a pitfall in the development process. There are many ways to fix this situation and effectively monitor the product development process.

• Work by sprints
  The most convenient way to monitor the effectiveness of the development process is to work by sprints. Every 2-3 weeks you will receive a part of your project that you can test. So you can monitor progress and result.

• Meetings with the team or with PM/BA
  Another good way to work effectively is weekly meetings with the team to discuss the status of the project, identify problems and solve them. Of course, we do not advise those meetings for too long: these are considered additional man-hours.
  You can organize weekly calls with one Project Manager or Business Analyst.

• Status reports
  A Project Manager or Business Analyst can send you reports on the status of the work.

• Access to Jira
  There is another way to monitor the working process: ask for the access to the corporate project management system. For example, we give our customers access to Jira, with the right to view tasks, progress and the time spent.

• Presale Consultant assistance
  Do not forget that a presale consultant can help you. If someone does not answer you for a long time, you can write to the sales manager who made a deal with you without any hesitation. Such specialists are able to solve any communication problems.

6. The temptation to offer advice

With access to the corporate project management system there is one huge pitfall. A customer is often tempted to give advice to developers on how to organize their work. If you already have a developed and detailed specification, then limit yourself to advising to developers. This can only interfere with the work and even lead to conflicts.

If you have entrusted the development of your product to an experienced software company, then let them decide When and How should the developers perform any task. Access the corporate project management system is used to view the status and progress of work. If the team has a Project Manager, then he or she understands how the developers should work and what approach is the best to use in the development.

Trust the experience of the company.

We cannot avoid all software development pitfalls, but we need to be ready for them and be aware of how to react to them. We are sure that the information we shared with you will help you to develop your quality product quality in an efficient manner.