📒Phase 1: Planning
The planning phase is the critical first step where requirements are gathered from key stakeholders, the project scope and goals are defined, timelines are estimated, risks are assessed, and a comprehensive project plan is created.
Careful planning sets the stage for development by gathering details on what needs to be built, outlining how to build it, and anticipating challenges ahead of time.
Roles and Responsibilities
Product Owner
- Gathers high-level business requirements from stakeholders - Defines product vision, scope, and priorities - Creates user stories and acceptance criteria
Business Analyst
- Conducts stakeholder interviews - Analyzes and documents requirements - Performs cost-benefit analysis
Development Team
- Provides effort estimates for user stories - Assesses technical feasibility - Identifies risks and limitations
QA/Test Analyst
- Defines test scenarios, test data needs - Plans testing environments and tools
Project Manager
- Creates project plan and schedule - Assigns resources and responsibilities - Manages stakeholder expectations
The key goals of the planning phase are to understand business needs, define the product vision, assess feasibility, identify risks, and create a project plan. Multiple roles provide input to ensure the product is set up for success.
The output is a detailed plan that the team can follow through the subsequent design, development, testing, and deployment phases.
Common Challenges
Unclear requirements 🚧
Stakeholders may have ambiguous or incomplete ideas of what they want. Requirements are often missed or misunderstood.
Scope creep 🚀
The scope tends to expand over time as more features get added during discussions. This can lead to unrealistic expectations.
Inaccurate effort estimates ⏱️
Developers may struggle to provide accurate estimates of the size and effort needed to complete stories.
Communication gaps ☎️
Miscommunication can happen when gathering inputs from multiple stakeholders. Important details get lost.
Shifting priorities ♻️
Priorities frequently change during the early planning stages. This makes it hard to lock down clear goals.
Stakeholder conflicts 😡
Competing interests between different stakeholders lead to conflicts and delays in decision-making.
Unrealistic timelines ⏰
Timelines often get defined optimistically without accounting for risks and unknowns.
Lack of customer feedback 🙎
End-user/customer involvement is often lacking during planning, leading to solutions that miss the mark.
Technical unknowns ❓
It's hard to plan for technical challenges before some analysis/design has been done.
Inadequate risk planning 💣
Teams fail to adequately identify and plan for project risks during the planning phase.
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