Project Life Cycle

In our methodology we believe that each project should follow the same life cycle to ensure its success. At enbolivia.com we have dedicated teams for each stage of the life cycle.

Proposal

Once we have received a request and the outline for a project from a client, the Sales Team will write a detailed proposal explaining the options and possebilities for the project, the cost involved and the technologies and methods that could be used to complete it. Depending on the assignment, our proposal will contain many options for each requirement to provide the client with greater choice.

If the proposal is accepted we draw up a contract. Once we receive the signed contract, the project will be handed over to the Analysis Team who will break the project down into its core components.

Analysis & Documentation

The analysis and documentation stage is the most important part of the project as it ensures that every detail is clear and planned out before any work begins. This ensures that the project runs smoothly and minimizes errors, thereby speeding up delivery. Depending on the type of project (i.e. design or development) the analysis phase will differ and the questions asked may vary. For this reason, Analysis & Development has been broken down further into Design and Development.

Analysis for Design

The analysis for design will cover the clients goals, the desired looks and styles and other options such as color schemes. It is important that we have a clear understanding of your expectations as design can be a very subjective topic. Discussions and the exchange of ideas with the client are very important at this stage and we have many ways to aid this process, including sample websites, documents with key questions and helpful links.

For larger projects, sketches will be made. They describe where items such as navigations and content will be placed as well as the direction that the eye should follow when looking at a page (for example, leading the eye to key areas). Using sketches allows the analyst and the client to decide on the structure and flow of the website before any graphic design starts. By doing so, many different concepts and ideas can be trialed quickly and effectively.

Analysis for Development

We will create two documents for development analysis: a High Level Design Document (HLD) and a Low Level Design Document (LLD). These two documents are the reference manuals which will be used by the programmers when starting to cunstruct a website or program. The manual ensures that the code written matches the requirements of the client precisely.
HLD: This document outlines the major modules and features contained in a system with a brief explanation for each section written in layman’s terms. This is often referred to as a detailed brief or specification and is sent to the client for their approval. Once approval is received on the basic concept of the HLD it is broken down further into what is known as the LLD.
LLD: This document takes the HLD and breaks it down into much greater detail. It will describe database structure, data flow, inputs and more. By describing ‘the build’ to the smallest detail, we try to ensure that it is created exactly to the original requirements of the client. As mentioned before, the LLD is the build manual of the project and will be referred to through the entirety of the build.

Design

After gathering all the design requirements and details during the Analysis & Documentation phase we will move onto the design stage. The design stage often happens at the same time as the build as these two parts can be worked on independently. On a larger project, the build may have to wait for the design to be completed as the two will be much more closely linked.
We will create a number of concepts (whether it is logo design, website design or graphic design) which will be sent to you for comments and review. This feedback will be taken on board and the process will be repeated until you are satisfied with the designs. The number of revisions to a concept will depend on the scale of the project and the available budget.
Before the project can proceed to the next step of the work life cycle, the design work must be signed off by the client.

Development

This stage is often the quietest part of the project in terms of communication with the client. Due to the fact that the majority of the time spent by the Programming Team is building the ‘engine’ that powers the website there is not much that can be shown to the client until it is close to being completed for testing. Ongoing tests and checks by the Testing Team are made throughout the build to ensure that any mistakes are caught and don’t get compounded.

During the development documentation phase, the design work will commence. This ensures that the design can be connected to the build at the earliest possible moment shortening delivery time for the project.

Once the build has been completed and the website connected, it will be send to the Testing Department who will perform “alpha testing”.

Testing

Without testing, a project could contain bugs that cause the system to malfunction, break or be open to malicious attacks. The testing team has two types of tests they perform to ensure this won’t happen: usability and functionality.

Our usability testers focuss on the user experience. These highly skilled individuals test the website on every aspect of interaction. Their main focuss lies on the navigation flow and structure and aim to ensure that the site is intuitive, leads the visitors to the key areas of the website and is easy to use.
The task of our functionality testers consists of checking all the code, to make sure that it is written correctly and that only the correct actions are allowed within the system.
We often encourage our clients to get involved in the ‘Beta Testing’ (second round) stage to ensure that they are happy with the system and that it is functioning correctly.

Delivery

Once testing is completed we will deliver the project to you. Delivery involves publishing the website. We can publish a website on our own servers or alternatively your own.

Maintenance

The success of your project is also a success for enbolivia.com and for this reason we offer three months of free support for any bug fixes or issues that may arise due to complications caused by code written by us. If there are any issues with the website they will be resolved quickly and professionally.

We also offer maintenance contracts for a low monthly fee (on a per project basis) to ensure the upkeep of your website. It will include: