Up to now, the project team
and the client have focused
on high-level questions
regarding the project. These
start with simple questions
like "why is this solution
important?," "what is the
business value?" and "what
are we going to deliver?" In
the Design Phase, these
questions are taken to a
lower level of detail, and
you start to ask the "how"
questions. The big one is "how
will we build this solution?"
The project team should have
a nice set of requirements
to work from, a set of
direction-setting strategies
and a Conceptual Systems
Design. There might be some
on the project team that
would say that this is
enough to start the
Construct Phase. However, it
is not. The design process
comes next. Even if the
project was small and the
requirements were simple,
there is still a mental
design process that occurs
in between understanding the
requirements and starting to
construct. Design becomes
more and more important as
the project becomes larger
and more complex, and
impacts more and more people.
Once you complete the
requirements, you will
typically see a myriad of
alternatives for
construction. These
alternatives include the
tools and technology you
will you utilize, the
scalability of the solution,
and the structure of the
components you will build.
In essence, the Design Phase
is where you look at the
many potential solutions and
narrow down the choices to
determine the most effective
and efficient way to
construct the solution. The
Design Phase answers the
questions about "how" you
will build the best solution
for your organization and
your environment.
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At the end of the
Design Phase, you
will have a logical
solution defined.
The solution is "logical"
because it exists on
paper or in a design
tool. This logical
solution is then
passed to the
Construct Phase,
where the logical
solution is turned
into a physical
solution. However,
the people that
specialize in
constructing the
solution will not
have to worry about
the myriad
possibilities. That
guidance will be
provided to them
through the work in
the Design Phase.
The people working
to construct the
solution can use
their talents to
build the solution
based on the
deliverables
produced during the
Design Phase. |
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Some background information
may be helpful before moving
directly into the Design
Phase.
-
First, for more
information on what you
are trying to accomplish
in the Design Phase, see
420.1 Levels of Design.
-
In the Analysis Phase,
you established a
process to track
requirements through the
lifecycle. If you want
this process to be
effective, you must
continue the tracking
process in the Design
Phase. Refer to
420.2 Tracing
Requirements for
more information.
421.0 Ensure Architectural
Foundation
422.0 Validate Standards and
Guidelines
424.0 Design the Solution
425.0 Build
the Technical Systems Design
426.0 Review the Design
427.0 Create
Direction-Setting Plans from
High-Level Strategies
428.0 Re-plan
for the Remainder of the
Project
429.0 Obtain Approval to
Proceed
Supporting Templates
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Testing Plan
-
Training Plan
