2.14 Project Design Phase Summary

In Phase 2 team member deliverables include

• IT designs project.

• Project Manager or Business Development updates the PRD.

• Project Manager creates the team, Baseline Cost Document, and the project schedule.

• QA, Help Desk, and Documentation create a preliminary plan.

2.14A Project Design Phase Summary

IT Phase 2 ”Project Design

1. Receives resources

2. Designs project

3. Presents design at design review

4. Works with QA and Documentation so they can define their deliverables

5. Presents Design Plan to team

6. Inputs schedule and costs to Project Manager for integrated schedule and Development Cost Baseline

7. Provides Documentation with IT documentation

8. Updates and approves PRD

9. Freezes Design Document

10. Attends phase review

Business Development Phase 2 ”Project Design

1. Updates Market Requirements Document, financial analysis, early presentation, and PRD

2. Inputs schedule to Project Manager for integrated schedule

3. Attends phase review

Project Manager Phase 2 ”Project Design

1. Creates project team

2. Initiates and runs weekly team meeting

3. Creates and distributes team minutes

4. Confirms PRD is accurate and up-to-date before it is frozen

5. Creates an integrated project schedule

6. Creates Development Cost Baseline

7. Presents integrated schedule and ROI to executive staff (Phase 2 review)

QA Phase 2 ”Project Design

1. Joins project team

2. Attends design review

3. Defines what QA tests will be needed

4. Reviews code and prepares a preliminary QA schedule

5. Inputs schedule and costs to Project Manager for integrated schedule Development Cost Baseline

6. Receives IT documentation

7. Inputs and approves PRD

8. Attends phase review

Help Desk Phase 2 ”Project Design

1. Joins project team

2. Attends design review

3. Receives IT documentation

4. Decides what Help Desk structure will be needed for this project

5. Develops preliminary Help Desk Plan

6. Inputs information to Project Manager for the Development Cost Baseline

7. Inputs and approves PRD

8. Attends phase review

Documentation Phase 2 ”Project Design

1. Joins project team

2. Attends design review

3. Defines what documents will be needed

4. Investigates and prepares preliminary documentation schedule

5. Inputs schedule and costs to Project Manager for integrated schedule

6. Receives IT documentation

7. Inputs and approves PRD

8. Attends phase review

Documents Created in Phase 2

Design Document ”Frozen. A detailed IT document created to explain the scope of the project as well as to provide the design specifications that IT will be implementing in the development phase of the project life cycle.

Development Cost Baseline ”Created and Frozen. A spreadsheet used to itemize all costs attributed to the project.

Document Plan ”Created. A detailed plan developed by Documentation outlining what documents will be developed and the scope of each. Documentation will create a detailed outline defining each of the chapters within the document and the items to be addressed in each chapter.

Executive Sign-Off. A sign-off sheet the Project Manager presents to the executives in the phase review. At the end of each phase review presentation, each member of the executive staff reviews the phase sign-offs, reflects on the information presented, and decides if she agrees to allow the project to proceed to the next stage of the project life cycle. On the bottom of this document each executive signs her name and states whether she approves or disapproves of continuing to the next phase.

Integrated Schedule ”Created and Frozen. A detailed schedule that can be developed using a computerbased scheduling application that provides all the deliverables, interdependencies, and start and completion dates of each department, highlighting all of the processes necessary to create this project.

Phase Review Presentations. Figure 2.9 offers a sample presentation that would be filled in by the project team for presentation to the executive staff.

Phase Sign-Off. At the end of each phase, before the review presentation, each member of the project team reviews a document that contains information similar to that found in the Summary of Deliverables by Department section of this chapter. The Project Manager reviews this list in a team meeting. By each team deliverable , he places either the word complete or the date the deliverable will be complete. The team then votes if they agree that all deliverables have been met. Once the team agrees, they can present the project status at the phase review. The annotated Summary of Deliverables by Department is attached to the Phase Sign-Off Document. The Phase Sign-Off Document is a document that identifies the project and the phase. It has a place for each member of the team and each executive to sign off, if they agree the project meets the requirements of that phase and can safely move to the next phase.

Project Requirements Document (PRD) ”Frozen. The basis for project development, the PRD investigates the market, competition, project vision, project objectives, competitive position, and targeted list. The feature functionality and requirements for each department are inputted and agreed upon. This document is the definitive document outlining what the project should look like.

Help Desk Plan ”Created. A document that details how they will Help Desk the project, how they will track bugs , what services they will provide to users, how they will update users with fixes, and what educational services they will provide.

Team Minutes ”Begun. The team minutes are a weekly updated document that provides details on commitments, status, issues, requests , and team decisions.

Test Plan ”Created. The QA department develops a detailed plan outlining what features they will test, how they will test these features, what the escalation procedures are, and what the definitions are for defining bug severity.

Design is the foundation for a project. A solid design will result in a successful, on-time , and on-budget project. For a successful design the designers need to let business development drive product requirements. The Project Manager needs to establish a team by creating clear project goals and by helping the team to work interactively when providing schedules.