Improving processes
Park Group wanted to ensure that their test team had precise system-level specifications to work from, and that both the web development team and the team working on the back end system shared the same analysis and design artefacts, improving their knowledge of each other’s area.
The need for a seamless and joint approach between the two teams becomes more and more pressing as Park Group opens up business processes to clients, partners and customers via self-service channels.
The challenge
Park Group wanted to achieve this goal while at the same time delivering new functionality to support a new business proposition. This had to be done fast, as the first release had to be in production within a three month deadline.
Park Group were keen to adopt an incremental and iterative development approach, based on use case driven planning and UML business-oriented data models and service specifications. This approach had proved itself in the development of the flexecash® prepaid card platform, which Park Group had carried out in collaboration with RDF Group.
The solution
RDF were asked to help Park Group in this improvement. RDF facilitated all workshops, provided on-the-job coaching on relevant techniques and best practices, and produced key artefacts to jump-start the new project. RDF also helped Park Group produce templates for future projects.
All coaching and workshops were centred around the requirements for the new system. This made it possible for the team to learn new ways of working while at the same time building a strong set of requirements and system models based on a real business project. The functional designers and system developers made a successful transition to use case and object modelling techniques, while the test team were involved from the outset and became owners of the requirements and directly involved in discussing and reviewing major specification artefacts.
The outcome
This intensive workshop-led approach made it possible for Park Group to achieve their two seemingly contrasting goals: improve their process, training designers and developers in new techniques, and produce a new system in an aggressive timescale.
