Website project management-project model and Business Process Analysis

The electronic workflow work method generated by the application of network technology cannot completely change the traditional workflow, nor simply replicate the traditional workflow, the traditional workflow needs to be optimized, improved, and reorganized rationally.

With the continuous development of technology and the increasing functional requirements of users for websites, the design of website projects can no longer be simply implemented using static html files, compared with the free creation of one or two web designers for website design in the past few years, the design and development of website projects are more and more like a software project and more complicated, the Design and Development of website projects have entered an era where processes and division of labor need to be emphasized. A standardized, effective, and robust development mechanism can be established to adapt to the changing needs of users, achieve the expected planning objectives.

The meaning of WPM is webbasedprojectmanagement.ProgramProject design and management for the architecture of the main expression mode. Such architecture includes key subjects such as browsers, networks, and web servers, it is mainly reflected in website design and web application development with a browser as the client (such as information websites, online stores, virtual post offices, and customer relationship management .) And other projects.

In this article, the author compares the website project management (WPM) with the software engineering Unified Process Management (RUP) for reference, and combined with practical work experience, strive to manage the website project (WPM) the roles, division of labor, and procedures of the project are described completely, so that the website project management is gradually standardized.

based on my experience, website project management can be controlled in the following six stages:
1. requirement Analysis and change management
2. project model and Business Process Analysis
3. system Analysis and software modeling
4. interface Design, interaction design and program development
5. system testing and documentation
6. customer training, technical support, and after-sales service
it must be noted that although these stages have a certain degree of continuity, they are not completely separated, for example, demand change management, testing, and document writing all run through the entire project process. Many jobs are performed simultaneously or simultaneously.

Project model and Business Process Analysis

The electronic workflow work method generated by the application of network technology cannot completely change the traditional workflow, nor simply replicate the traditional workflow, the traditional workflow needs to be optimized, improved, and reorganized rationally.
This chapter includes the following:
1. Compile a project model document to make everyone clear
2. Business Process analysts design processes
3. UI engineer Design User Interface prototype
4. user-centered design
5. Prepare a design plan
Vi. Summary

1. Compile a project model document to make everyone clear

Why create a project model document?
generally, users' demands are messy, incomplete, or even incorrect, in addition, more detailed requirements are often discovered during project development, which is an extremely difficult problem for developers. After requirement analysis, you can create a project model document. Before the project starts development, both parties have a common understanding of the results of the project to be completed, early Exposure of potential demand changes will greatly improve the development efficiency and quality.
inexperienced project personnel often wait for system analysis and development after accepting the task, rather than thinking about the project requirements and models with the customer for a little more time, during the development process, I made a lot of assumptions for the customers out of thin air. I spent a lot of effort, but I couldn't help myself. I can imagine that in a marathon without knowing where to end, where are you going ?!

Therefore, after the customer's initial needs are confirmed, the business personnel should describe the project model design.

First, we need to define a vocabulary. Not every customer or project team member can understand the differences among "users", "Roles", and "use cases, not necessarily, they can understand the meanings of "channel", "foreground", and "background". To make the project model document understandable to each viewer, defining a vocabulary is very necessary, especially for users who are designing Informatization for the first time in traditional industries.

The model description is described in the most natural language. This document further describes the requirement analysis report. This gives the customer representatives, project managers, and developers the most intuitive impression on the project to be launched through the description of the project model. They also discuss key issues and reach a unified understanding, for example, functional requirements, performance indicators, operating environment, and investment scale.

2. Business Process analysts design processes

Business Process analysts should be good at simplifying their work. The personnel in this role must have extensive professional knowledge and good communication skills.
the business analysts need to help the customer summarize and analyze the requirements, locate all the business leaders, and determine the business leaders, the activities and processes of each protagonist should be clearly defined, and the logic view and user interface should be finally designed. For example, in an electronic store system, apart from the roles of system administrators, business managers, salesmen, logistics couriers, and customer service personnel, different roles of external cooperation units may exist, for example, suppliers, distributors, advertising customers, and purchase users are even subdivided into common consumer users, VIP consumer users, and group consumer users, the entrance and process for each type of role to participate in system activities are different. Through the logical diagram and, the Business Process Analyst briefly and explicitly describes the system organization.

When designing a business process, consider the following:
* Investigate the user's network environment and configurations so that the architect can develop a reasonable and feasible system architecture;
* Investigating user preferences and skill levels directly affects the depth of project development and the design of user interfaces;

"Although developers and managers can easily think they understand the needs of users, this is often not the case. People tend to focus on how users execute tasks, rather than how users prefer to execute tasks. In most cases, the issue of preference is not just a simple assumption that the user needs have been mastered, although it is worth studying. Preferences are determined by experience, ability, and use environment ."

* Predict and develop system performance indicators to provide a basis for testers to prepare test plans.

Many projects focus more on the implementation of functions. The test phase seems to meet the customer's needs. However, once put into use, it will find that performance is facing a bottleneck. Due to the limited understanding of professional knowledge, the customer often ignores this requirement. Therefore, to avoid future disputes, it is very important to predict and develop performance indicators in advance.

3. UI engineers create user interface prototypes

Before the actual system development investment, it is very important to create a user interface model. The prototype development cost is far lower than the actual development cost. In the initial stage of the project, create a complete user interface to reveal and test all the functions and availability of the system, and enable customer representatives to participate in discussions and modifications, greatly improving the chances of project success.

After creating a correct and feasible prototype, system analysis, design and Code Must follow the prototype to ensure that the built system is correct. Testers and customers can participate in the inspection in real time during the development process, this effectively guarantees the quality of the project.

According to the Process Analysis logic diagram provided by the Business Process Analyst, the interface design engineer starts to design and create a user interface prototype. At this stage, the interface designer has not yet entered the stage of fine design, therefore, the most important thing is to fully present the business process and confirm and define the design style and design specifications with the customer.

After fully understanding the customer's needs and all business processes, the interface engineers can use a reasonable layout to design the user interface. For example, the homepage style of a website, the elements to be displayed on the homepage, the classification and display methods of navigation, and the entry of various business roles.

Note that the user interface is not only the interface browsed by website visitors, but also contains different user interfaces, such as special users, administrators, and business partners, there are even prompt interfaces, warning interfaces, error interfaces, etc. Designing a complete user interface prototype not only makes it easier for customers and testers to clarify their needs, it also plays an important role in project quality.

4. user-centered design

No matter how accurate the level of the project design and development personnel is, after all, it is not the end user of the system. It is the key to satisfy the customer's needs to the maximum extent. system design personnel often stick a user-centric slogan on their heads, in fact, there are a lot of assumptions at work, or out of laziness or out of restrictions, which may lead to unexpected obstacles for different users who will use the system in the future.

To truly focus on users, we must first give up the experience and imagination accumulated in our minds, go to the customer's work place, observe and record how the customer works, and then talk to the customer about their work.

There is a course called "Blind phalanx" in team expansion training. Can you imagine how a group of invisible people pull a long rope into a square scene? Do unattended people know how to listen and obey? We cannot assume whether a user is a healthy person or a blind person, nor how the user should do it or not. We only need to observe and communicate carefully, in order to develop a plan that truly meets user needs.

Some experts suggested that developers should determine the composition of users and allow users to get involved as early as possible. They also proposed several methods to familiarize themselves with users, their tasks and requirements:
* Talking to users
* Visiting users at the office
* Observe the user's work
* Video the user's work
* Understand the work organization
* Self-try
* Allows users to speak while working
* Involve users in Design
* Include expert users in the design team
* Execution Task Analysis
* Use surveys and questionnaires
* Set testable targets

When possible, we strive to be accurate, objective, and meticulous in demand and process design. This not only ensures the quality and maturity of system development, but also gives you a high degree of satisfaction and trust from customers, opening the door for more business cooperation in the future.

5. Prepare a design plan

At this stage, you can understand the customer's requirements and have a clear understanding of the system development for the implementation of the plan, and have reached a consensus with the customer, so when you enter the next stage of work, it is necessary to prepare a design plan.

The design plan is a comprehensive description of the entire system. It serves as the basis for system analysis and testing personnel, and is also the Standard for customer acceptance. As one of the contents of the business contract, the design plan should be carefully and carefully written.

Depending on the project, the content of the design plan may be different. I will provide a sample for your reference, this sample basically covers the core elements that need to be validated and described in the plan.

Vi. Summary

During this phase, the core task is to analyze the requirements of the previous phase, design the project model and analyze the business process, and create a user interface prototype for user confirmation, the design plan approved by both parties will be finalized as the basis for system design and software modeling in the next stage.

How to complete the business process analysis stage with high quality is summarized as follows:
* Truly user-centered design, observed and recorded in the customer's actual work environment;
* Carefully search for various business leaders and describe various operation steps of different protagonists;
* Simplify requirements, summarize customer needs, and grasp core issues;
* Refine requirements, simulate user roles for core issues, and further confirm processes and specifications;