Brief. How to prepare for a pre-implementation analysis?
The process of identifying the scope and budget of the project and the Pre-Implementation Analysis
Brief. How to prepare for a pre-implementation analysis
Before you start working with a software house on creating an online store, migrating it or building a B2B system, you need to define your requirements. This is done by the brief you will present to the contractor. It will be the basis of pre-implementation analysisduring which the final shape of the project will be determined.
What should a good brief consist of?
Company Description
Include basic information about your company at the beginning of your brief so the contractor has a general understanding of your business. Answer the questions:
What is your business model? What is the company's most important source of revenue? Describe your core products and services.
What is the nature of your brand and its core values?
What are your long-term business goals?
What is your target audience?
Define persona in a nutshell. A persona is a projected character of the recipient of your products/services. Each of them is described with such characteristics as age, place of residence, professional status or interests, aspirations, business goals, lifestyle information. With personas, you will imagine your customers as real people, which will make it easier for you to empathize with their needs and design your product from that angle.
What are the goals of the project?
Write about why you applied to a software house. You may want to:
- Design a new online store
What motivates you to do this? Is your current sales model not enough or do you want to gain an additional channel to reach customers?
- Perform a store migration
Why aren't you satisfied with your current online store? Maybe you need to expand your business because your customer base has grown and your current solution is not properly scalable, or the functionality of your current store is insufficient or the site difficult to use? Provide a link to your store so the contractor can analyze your current solutions.
- Create a dedicated B2B system
Briefly write what function the system should perform and why you decided to build it.
Also point out competitor solutions that are of interest to you (e.g., provide the names of B2B systems). If any of the functionalities of competing products are particularly attractive to you, point them out. You can also point out the shortcomings of other companies' solutions - creating a product, devoid of these flaws, gives you a chance to get ahead of the competition.
Detailed information about the project
Go over the most important elements of the project specification. The more detailed it is, the easier working with the software house will become. At the same time, remember that all the details will be finalized during the creation of the pre-implementation analysis. You do not need to provide very precise requirements, because the contractor himself can offer you optimal solutions as an expert in his field.
Create a list of functionalities that are most important to you. Describe as precisely as possible how they should work and why they should be implemented. Equally important is an outline of the information architecture, that is, the structure of the content to be placed on the site or system.
A convenient way to present functionality and at the same time the basic architecture of the information is to create a simple mockup and attach it to the brief. Use programs like Balsamiq, Mockups or MockPlus for this purpose. They are easy to use and work on a drag-and-drop basis.
On the mockup, schematically outline what sub-pages/screens should be included in the project and what functionalities are important to you. Attach a description of the outlined functionalities to each screen of the project. If you are not able to do this, there is no harm. The mockup can be realized by us as one of the products of the pre-implementation analysis.
Of course, the task of the software house will be to create accurate UX and UI (user experience and interface) mockups so you don't have to try to create an advanced design. You will participate in the process of building these mockups, testing them, which will help refine the plan for the future product.
Remember, too, that the users of the system will also be its administrators. List what features the CMS should have, how it should be configured to make their job easier.
It is also important what kind of integrations you are interested in. For example, an online store may allow you to use online payments, courier services, accounting systems or allow you to manage sales on Allegro. Also include a simplified diagram of the systems operating in the company and the links between them.
If you can determine this, write what technology you are interested in. If you have knowledge of the types of B2B or e-commerce systems, propose to implement the project using a selection of them. When you create a pre-implementation analysis, the software house, based on its experience and knowledge, will give you its own opinion on what solution will be optimal for the project. In this way, together you will decide on a solution for the project.
Project budget
How much money you want to allocate to the project will determine the choice of solution and the ability to implement certain functionalities. The software house will suggest the technology suitable for your budget and match the scope of work to it.
The contractor can also present you with various options for implementing the project, so that you can decide whether to change your decision on the amount of the budget. You will find out how much it will roughly cost to implement your chosen solutions. It is worthwhile, by the way, to determine your budget indicatively, since you will most likely not be aware of the exact cost of the programming work.
Project expenses can also be divided into phases. A common solution is to launch an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) first. This is a version of the product that already has the most important functionality for the user, but not all of the functionality planned for implementation is included yet.
An MVP gives you a chance to launch your product early and start selling. In addition, it serves to test the created solutions and collect feedback from users. During the preparation of the pre-implementation analysis, the software house will help you determine what features the MVP should have in order to release it to the market.
Schedule
Determine the timeframe in which you would like the project to be completed. If your priority is to launch the product quickly, an MVP may be the solution. It will allow you to start earning while the developed version of the product is still in development.
The software house will provide its calculations for the schedule, as you may not be aware of the duration of the programming work. However, it will match the solution to the schedule if necessary.
The prepared Pre-Implementation Analysis is the property of the Client and can be used to perform market reconnaissance and collect bids.
Brief matters
The more time and attention you devote to creating a brief, the easier it will be to work with the software house to develop the final plan for your project. The brief should be as detailed as possible and include a complete list of your requirements.
Remember to involve the entire team of your company in creating the brief. Gather information from the marketing and sales departments or invite their representatives to work on the shape of the document. If you already have an online store and are planning to migrate it, find out what the needs of the administrators of the existing solution are - what they miss in it, what functionalities would make their work easier.
Of course, your brief is only the basis for further work on determining the shape of the project. The software house will conduct a workshop with you to create a detailed pre-implementation analysis. It will include a full list of project functionalities, the type of technology to be used and the final budget and work schedule.
Development of software projects is most often carried out using agile methodology. It is based on the division of work into iterations. After each iteration, you will be able to see the result of the work and provide feedback.
Therefore, don't be afraid that your brief must be the final determinant of the project's shape. You will be able to flexibly adapt it to your needs, as well as changing market requirements (with, of course, modifications to the budget and schedule, if necessary).
