Webquest: Planning a Software Project
WebQuest for students of management of Information System Projects
Created by
Jose Or Montesa Andrés
jomontes[@]omp[point]upv[point]es
Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits
Introduction
You are working in a software development company. At this moment the company is in an expansion period. You have been working two years as a programmer. Due to your ability to work, motivation, knowledge and easy of relation with coworkers, you receive the proposal of creating a team of management for new projects: to plan and to coordinate the new projects that are assigned to new programmers at the new office at "El Saler".
the Task
The members of your team will be responsible, not for the programming of the new developments, as usually was, but to decide which people is neded at each project, to assign tasks to them, to consider the costs, elapsed time, and to controlling the developments, so that the projects adjust to plans.
In order to do that you will begin assigning responsibilities in the management team, according to the roles we will see. You will use tools like ms-project, visio, spreadsheet. You will use techniques for estimatimating, organacing teams, economic evaluation and analysis too.
At the moment you will have to prepare your first project plan. The project plan will be documented and you will prepare a presentation with PowerPoint in order to expose it. The members of the team could be asked for any aspect of the project plan.
The Process
The first think that you must do is to organize the management team (you). Each member will have roles as described later. After this assignement each one will be centered in their tasks, although all you will have to participate in all the tasks to undertand all the process and be informed.
Organization of the Management team.
Each one of you will have to cover one, two or three of the following roles:
Head of Project:
Person in charge of planning and controlling the project.
He will have to negotiate deliverables with clients and users,
He will identify the a list of tasks to do, and to assign efforts to each developer, in collaboration with the rest of developers.
He will have to know his workers, to assign the most appropriate tasks to them to each one of them.
He cannot blame his subordinates of the errors, since he supervises all the work and he is responsible, in addition to their synchronization.
Analyst of applications
He elicit from the clients the needs of such with respect to the information systems to produce.
He is responsible of a consistent specification with the client needs.
Expert in metric and measurement of software:
He knows how to extract the necesary specification parameters and use them in a metric to obtain a size estimation.
Expert in planning tools
He attends the management team in the use of planning of projects software, such as ms-project.
Expert in economic studies
He knows the way to calculate the cashflow of a project, and their financial vision, to determine the cost of the project.
Responsible Client for the project.
This person is not member of the project's team, he is an external element.
He is responsible for a correct development. He works for to the company that pays and receives the software.
If the system fails, from the point of view of the client company, He is the person in charge.
He will be the interlocutor with the client company, he will be the client in the requirement elicitation.
Software Developer.
Person who will do tasks of analysis, design, codification, tests, etc. and that will be consulted by the management team in same moments.
A person can have several roles simultaneously.
Next you must be centred in the following activities:
You will obtain the specification of an information system.
If somebody has a pending project, it can be used as an study base.
In case of not idea about a project to use, visit www.emprendedores.es, locate the September of 2005 magazine and in this "pdf" document "120 opportunities of business", select one of the proposals. Supose that your client crates a company and requests an information system to manage his clients, the works to be done or the sales.
Since this subjet is not centered on the specification, the specification of the system to study will have to be simple but sufficient to be able to measure its size.
You will measure software to be developed.
One of the points in this subjet is about metric. In order to be specific we will see one of them at a certain detail, the IFPUG function point.
You will consider the effort to apply.
One is to collect data of other made projects and to make a projection with the results of the obtained productivity, applying it to our project.
You will create a list of entregables
documents to interchange with the client throughout the development of the project.
You will select a service life for the project
It is necessary to analyze as it is the more appropriate service life, according to the circumstances,
and to assign to each phase a considered effort (part of the calculated total effort previously)
You will create a WBS (Structured decomposition of the Work), Identifying the tasks of the project
You will create a work party for the project.
Justifying the necessity of each member of the same one
Giving to a structure of hierarchy and communications.
You will make the temporary programming of the project.
You will order the tasks giving them precedences
You will use a tool type ms-project to organize the tasks in the time.
You will assign the tasks to the members of the equipment.
You will make an economic study of the costs of the project.
You will propose a sale price.
To
make a reasonable planning for the
development project.
Evaluation
The evaluation was made so much at group level, like individually.
| Nascent
1 |
Apprentice
2 |
Correct
3 |
Unit
4 |
Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clear specification and completes
|
A system sets out, but they are not left the necessities, nor as clear they are going away to satisfy |
The system this delimited clearly, clarifying to its intention and the necessities of the client |
Delimited system, with clear intention. The specification is consistent and are left to its interfaces with other systems and the surroundings clear. |
In addition they are had including graphical models of processes, data and interphases with the surroundings. |
5% |
|
Measurement
|
They lack elements to count, the calculations badly are
made. |
There are errors in the count, the calculations are well. |
All the elements to count have considered. |
Documented to detail level the listings, formats of screens and indicated its elements. |
15% |
|
Estimation of the effort
|
The point has been ignored, or badly are calculated, with bulk errors. |
It has been made I calculate of mechanical form but they lack things to document. |
The calculations are well, starting off of the provided historical data. |
It appears a list of own historical data (reasonable), add valuation commentaries on the obtained result. |
3% |
|
list of entregables
|
Four have been transcribed or five entregables of list
them
provided. |
The list of entregables single talks about the product. |
There is reasonable and consistent a list of
entregables.
Some on the product and others on the process. |
The list of entregables adds to a brief justification of each one of them and its intention. |
7% |
|
WBS |
The list of tasks is inconsistente and lack important tasks. |
The list of tasks talks about to which they have by objective the product. |
The structure of the project this clear one, appears tasks of product and process and is consistent with the entregables. |
The list of tasks this justifying at task level. |
10% |
| Work
party for the project |
One does not justify the
type of
selected equipment nor its components. |
The reason of the members
of the equipment, but of insufficient form is indicated, in addition
they
lack specialists |
The reasoned equipment
this, justifies each person, responsibilities and authority are
indicated. |
Each member of the
equipment this justifying, with professional profile. The structure
this reasoned clearly |
5% |
| Temporary programming | The tasks are secuenciadas,
without justifying the sequence, in addition the accomplishment with
project
is incorrect. |
The use of project is
correct, but
it lacks the calendar of local or similar celebrations. |
The tasks well secuenciadas
and
are related to the entregables in clear landmarks. |
The tasks are secuenciadas
so that
it appears the Maxima possible simultaneidad |
10% |
| Allocation of tasks | There are tasks to which it
lacks
to assign resources. |
All the tasks have assigned
people
and other resources, but they are not correct |
The tasks are assigned to
people
by their professional profile. One considers the types of tasks. |
The tasks are assigned to
people
and each allocation is justified. |
10% |
| Economic
Analysis |
They lack components of the
economic analysis |
The flows of box with the
graphs
have calculated. |
A proposal of consistent
supply
has been made. |
In addition possible delays
in the project have been analyzed. |
10% |
| Integrity
of the project plan |
The final data of a
component do
not correspond with the used ones in another one. |
The data used and produced
in each component are clear. |
The document appears of correct form. All the components are consistent. | They have been used
graphical, etc.
so that the document is agradable.+ more |
10% |
| Presentation | It lacks a clear style of
presentation, it is not ***reflxed mng or, or the presentation does not
convince. |
The students do not know to
answer
the parts that have developed other members of the group. |
All the components know to respond to the questions. The presentation could improve. | The presentation convinces
those
who sees it. |
15% |
Conclusion
Now already you have prepared a planning for a computer science project, of form similar to as a constructor would prepare a planning to construct a building.
At the present time, given the youth of the development of software in our country, is possible that they do not demand detailed plans of development in some companies, but if that wants commitments on when the development is finished and as will be its economic cost.
Another form is happened to better fit to a budget or the dates to you of delivery, With these other methods.
It would be easy to justify delays, Whereupon it bases?
Credits and References
This webquest has been created starting off of the group of the " The WebQuest Page"
It completes update the 20 of September of 2005