You're developing software for a small organization. What's the most important factor to consider?

Software development for a smaller business usually equates to limited means while figuring out your product/market fit. I believe its most important to validate your product in the cheapest way possible. Pixels are cheaper than code. Therefore, it pays to invest early in good UI/UX, iterating closely with your prospects on design. When you invest in a good design system, it can also carry even if your product or backend architecture changes, which is common for startups. Taking it further, you need to adopt a product-centric approach to delivering/selling/supporting software and not compromise on quality once you have achieved a decent product/market fit. This, I think is what most small companies miss the most.

Starting with a “One size fits all,” you often end up with “what works for one, doesn’t work for another!” “I did it this way, so it will work.” Sure… Understanding the problem big or small is the key to unlock value. How do you understand? Be curious - it is a catalyst for understanding. It is the driving force that propels us to seek explanations, to ask questions, and to explore the problem. Without curiosity, understanding remains stagnant & the problem big or small remains unsolved. Understanding is not an instantaneous event but a process of learning & unlearning. It requires time, effort, and a willingness to adapt our beliefs in light of new information. Start with “one size doesn’t fit all” or just waste time, resources & value.

When developing software for a small organization, the most important factor to consider is defining your needs and goals so it's essential to: ? Understand your users: Know who will be using the software and what will make their roles easier. User-centric design is key to successful software adoption ? Consider project constraints: Be aware of time, budget, and technological constraints, and plan accordingly ? Prioritize features: Determine which features are critical and which can be phased in over time By focusing on these factors, you can develop software that is well-suited to the organization's needs and is more likely to be successfully adopted by its users.

In my experience designing and developing software should be driven by defining an iterative/ agile approach starting with focusing on requirements and solutions that are critical for a minimum viable solution (MVP) while still designing it and keeping it open for additional enhancements as the company grows and matures not just focusing on functional but non functional requirements to ensure solution is delivering functional value with scalability and reliability that is required with growth and ever changing business challenges and technology landscapes.

Der wichtigste Faktor sind qualifizierte Mitarbeiter, die wirklich wissen, was sie tun. Den diese legen die Grundlagen, damit die Software-Architektur lange Jahre dynamisch auf neue Anforderungen reagieren kann und weiter entwickelt werden kann

Selecting the appropriate tools and technologies for software development is key to the project's success. Consider factors such as the organization's budget, technical expertise, scalability requirements, and compatibility with existing systems. Whether it's choosing a programming language, development framework, database system, or project management tools, making informed decisions about the tools used can streamline the development process and enhance the software's performance.

Picking the right tools is not about what is popular - it is about making choices that will help you build software that is not only functional but also durable and easy to maintain.

Agile methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban, promote iterative and incremental development, collaboration, and flexibility in responding to change. For small organizations, adopting an agile approach can help in delivering software more efficiently, improving communication among team members, and ensuring that the final product aligns with the organization's evolving needs. Regular feedback loops and short development cycles can also lead to quicker delivery of value to stakeholders.

The agile approach discussed here is certainly a good idea for the softwaredevelopment project. Ideally, it should go along with an agile awareness or even agile approach by the stakeholders and company. An agile organisation is often better suited to cope with change and can grow together with its software solution. But please be aware - get inspiration and ideas from the agile world, but dont just rename titles and copypaste some methods and frameworks. Start on your own desk and slowly grow.

What's important here? Delivering something they can try/test/use on a regular cadence that allows you to take feedback and make adjustments before you are fully complete. Remember: Customers know what they have and what they don't like. Frequently give them something new and learn what they don't like about it. Following this approach, you are more likely to end up with a solution that satisfies their needs instead of being frustrating to use and causing them to go back to the old way.

Testing and debugging are critical phases in software development to ensure the quality and reliability of the software. Implementing thorough testing practices, such as unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing, helps in identifying and resolving issues early in the development process. By prioritizing testing and debugging, you can minimize the risk of bugs, security vulnerabilities, and performance issues in the final product.

Testing and debugging are critical aspects of software development it ensures the reliability and quality of the software. One thing that helps me is documenting and tracking. Having detailed documentation helps to understand the nature of the issue, its severity, and steps to reproduce it.

Testing the software should be integral part of developing already and should go along with refactoring the codebase. Any debugging should also improve the testlandscape as result. Often, testing is reduced to separate "some added later" or "done at later stages" alone. Testing system, installation and processes should then complete the picture, but not replace it. For small companies, some keyplayers should be identified, who can speak "for the users" and be involved as soon as possible (see agile approach). The value of testing vs. downtimes in production should be clearly communicated as well. Finally, it is vital for all stakeholders and users to understand, that bugs are a certainty and testing helps reduce that.

Writing software for a small organization means that your work can have a significant impact on the bottom line. Encourage team awareness of what you are doing, do not be a 'rouge' programmer. It's more important that your work be understood and approved by the stakeholders. In my career I tried to achieve consensus when I came up with 'so-called great ideas'. Let others share in your success, especially in a small organization. You may not have the luxury of other people finding your mistakes before they become critical.

Small organization tend to have a limited resource pool hence forming a team with full-stack skill-sets ( instead of traditional way of having separate teams to develop back-end, front-end etc.) It will benefit in 1. Optimum team size 2. Identification of defects earlier ( Since the engineer will own the entire end-end feature implementation and Unit Testing ) 3. Reducing the Integration Testing effort ( improving development-cycle time ). All in turn will contribute to cost and time reduction.

Other important considerations for developing software for a small organization include: User experience (UX) design: Prioritize creating an intuitive and user-friendly interface that enhances user satisfaction and engagement. Security: Implement robust security measures to protect sensitive data and prevent cyber threats. Scalability: Design the software with scalability in mind to accommodate future growth and increasing user demands. Documentation: Maintain thorough documentation throughout the development process to facilitate future maintenance and updates. Training and support: Provide training and support to users to ensure a smooth transition to the new software and address any issues that may arise.