Design First, Develop Later #

The design phase lays down the necessary groundwork, ensuring that the development process is smooth, efficient, and aligned with the project goals. It helps in preventing misunderstandings, reducing risks, and ensuring that the final product meets the desired quality standards and user expectations. From our expirience the design should precede backend work for several critical reasons:

Blueprint #

The design phase serves as a blueprint for the entire project or the specific feature. It outlines the system architecture, database schema, and user interface, ensuring everyone has a clear understanding of what needs to be built.

Detailed Specifications #

The design phase involves detailing the functional and non-functional requirements, which clarifies what the backend needs to support.

Requirements Clarification #

Without a design, developers might misinterpret requirements, leading to a product that doesn’t meet user needs or expectations.

Dependency Mapping #

The design stage identifies all dependencies and interactions between different components, which is crucial for backend development.

Parallel Development #

The finished design allows for better planning of parallel development tasks. Frontend and backend teams can work simultaneously on different modules with a clear understanding of interfaces and interactions.

Common Understanding #

The design provides a common language and understanding for all stakeholders, including developers, designers, and project managers, ensuring everyone stays aligned.

Early Testing #

Design can be reviewed and validated early, catching potential issues before they make it into the codebase.

Test Planning #

The completed mockups facilitate the creation of test plans and test cases, ensuring that testing is thorough and covers all aspects of the system.

!!! Reduced Rework #

The design prevents the need for costly and time-consuming rework that would be required if issues are discovered late in the development process.

Predictable Timelines #

It helps in creating more accurate project timelines by identifying the scope of work upfront.