What is software scoping and what does the process involve?
Software scoping is the process of understanding what your business needs and how bespoke software can be designed to meet these needs.
The scoping process ensures your new software will meet your business and process needs. For a development project to be successful, what’s called a SOR document - Specification of Requirements - is essential. This scoping document outlines how the system will work.
As the starting point for a project, the scoping needs to be thorough, or the project could encounter issues further down the line, such as an increase in cost or project delays.
Here at Appt, we have a few basic points that ensure our scoping process identifies the needs of your business.
Basic steps for software scoping
It is worth noting that every project is different, however the following steps are essential to scoping in general.
What you need: project requirements
We need to understand, in detail, why you’re looking to develop bespoke software. Most businesses are looking to solve a specific problem or issue, often related to efficiency. Once we understand what you need, we can help you work out exactly how your software is going to address these issues.
The Snowdrop Project, a Sheffield based charity, came to us for a software solution in 2020. They needed a better way to manage their clients. This was a specific issue which could be solved through a bespoke CRM system.
Through the scoping process, we were able to understand exactly what they needed from their new software, and we were able to suggest functionality they’d not considered.
We solved their client management issue with a bespoke CRM that gives Snowdrop access to all their client data, a clear brand image and a booking system to increase their working efficiency.
What the system needs to do: functionality
We’ll then work with you to break down specifically what you want the software to do – we call it functionality. Even a seemingly small bit of functionality needs to be thought through in detail, and many often require more than one task to be performed by the system.
Our clients Swi-Pad wanted to develop ‘Tinder for student properties’ – an app combining student housing listings and a “Tinder-like” user interface (UI). In order to develop a UI similar to Tinder and their popular ‘swipe right’, several tasks needed to be performed in the background by the software. The swipe functionality alone needs 8 separate tasks to be performed by the software.
It’s important for us to have a thorough understanding of the functionality you need, so we can give you accurate time estimates and costings.
Learn more about the Swi-Pad app
When you need it by: project timeline
Now that we know exactly what you need the software to do, we can put together a timeline which also reflects any internal deadlines you’re working towards.
The timeline will ensure that the software is delivered in a timely manner and provide you with the ability to put plans in place for implementation and promotion.
Cost
Finally, after establishing the scope of the project and agreeing on a timeframe, we can evaluate the overall cost.
The cost depends on two factors in particular. Firstly, the complexity of the software and secondly, the time it will take to produce the software and how quickly you need it done.
If you have a budget, we can help you design a solution with functionalities that reflect your budget.
The practical details
It’s also useful at this point to start thinking about allocating responsibilities on your end. The scoping document will highlight what’s needed from you. Both parties need to understand their responsibilities at each stage of the process to ensure a smooth development process.