Rational Unified Process (RUP)

Intellavia’s approach to the execution of the project will be based on the IconProcess of web application software development, which is based on the Rational Unified Process (RUP) of software development. This Unified Process methodology has been successfully executed on the majority of Intellavia's software development projects and is a well-established standard in the software industry.

Using this approach, project tasks will be defined following the IconProcess disciplines and executed across the 4 phases of the Unified Process using an iterative spiral approach methodology as follows.

Project Phases and Tasks

Phase 1: Inception
Phase 1 involves the establishment of project strategy, requirements, and initial design of the user interface and flow.

Task 1.1 Business Strategy
Perform requirements analysis and project planning activities. Gather requirements, identify use-case scenarios, develop entity relationship models, finalize project schedule and plan.

This task shall consist of a kick-off initiation meeting, followed by periodic meetings to collect content mandatories and functionality requirements. The kick-off meeting will review proposed project plan and schedule of activities in addition to drafting initial requirements documentation.

Task 1.2 User Experience
Develop initial design of graphical user interface and navigation. This task shall include development of the conceptual layout of the web application along with proposed navigation of functionality. Use case scenarios identified during requirements analysis will be expanded upon and finalized.

Task 1.3 System Analysis and Design
Perform preliminary analysis of software infrastructure required and gather information on necessary APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), communication protocols, messaging schemas, and database schemas that may integrate with the web application.

This task will establish system architecture and server infrastructure requirements. Additionally, it will establish design criteria necessary for integration into the Content Management System if applicable.

Phase 2: Elaboration
Phase 2 involves the “elaboration” and designing of the conceptual plan built and identified during the Inception phase.

Task 2.1 Business Strategy
Requirements captured during the Inception phase of the project will be expanded upon as necessary during this elaboration and design phase of the project.

The team will analyze business processes, task flows, and other user input to establish global and local navigation strategies to support standard site usage and requirements. Artifacts of this process may include site maps, flow maps, use case models or additional artifacts as appropriate.

Task 2.2 User Experience
The navigation flow and graphical user interface design will be finalized. An HTML mock-up of the website will be created that satisfies use-cases scenarios identified and developed during the Inception phase.

Task 2.3 System Analysis and Design
The application infrastructure, including server and hosting requirements, will be finalized. Any necessary entity relationship models will be finalized as will the design of the communication mechanisms to outside systems and databases being integrated.

This task will design the mechanisms for the development of a dynamic navigation menu that allows administrative staff users to manipulate and update the navigation menu of the website.

Task 2.4 Implementation
Content and category definition will be derived from the needs analysis, requirements definition, and input from staff and key stakeholders. Understanding the users’ needs will allow the project team to determine what information should be available and in what form.

Initial implementation of source and script code to support dynamic functions of the website (i.e. dynamic navigation menu) will be created as a result of system analysis and design activities.

Task 2.5 Test
Development of the draft outline of the test plan will be performed. Use-cases and requirements will be included in the draft test plan along with initial expected results.

Phase 3: Construction
Phase 3 involves the main construction of the website primarily involving development of all user interface graphics, HTML code, source and script code, and finalizing the test plan and procedures.

Task 3.1 Business Strategy
Requirements and use-cases will be finalized and have a verified mapping to design and implementation components.

Task 3.2 User Experience
The user interface will be updated as necessary to meet constraints that may be identified during software implementation. In addition all supporting user-interface graphics will be completed.

If required, user interfaces will be developed following Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act guidelines for information technology accessibility.

Task 3.3 System Analysis and Design
System infrastructure will be updated and modified as necessary to meet criteria identified during implementation activities.

Task 3.4 Implementation
Development of all HTML pages and supporting source code and script code will be completed and unit-tested.

Based on the findings and decisions from the above tasks, the project team will create artifacts to clearly communicate the detailed site concept to the development team. Activities may include creation of wire-frames, rapid prototyping, mock-ups, and specification documentation. Usability evaluations using rough prototypes or wire-frames will help inform user interaction choices in the early stages and guide the development process. Well thought out visualization and presentation of information is directly related to the usefulness of the information.

Task 3.5 Test
The Test Plan will be updated with completed test procedures and processes. A verification of test procedures mapping to requirements will be performed and test procedures will be executed following completion of unit-testing.

Interfaces to any external systems and databases will be tested through integration component unit testing. The implemented website pages and functionality will be verified for integration into the Content Management System if applicable.

If required, the user interface will be tested and verified for Section 508 accessibility compliance.

Task 3.6 Deployment
Working with your team, a deployment plan to integrate access and links to the website with existing website infrastructure will be developed. A pre-deployment Beta version of the website will be deployed on the test server environment for evaluation and test purposes. This Beta version of the website will be available to personnel for assessment and appraisal and support User Acceptance Testing and other testing activities.

Phase 4: Transition
The final phase of the project will consist of the transition of the web application from its development and testing platform to production server environment and hosting.

Task 4.1 Implementation
Implementation changes, including modifications to the user interface, look and feel, graphics and media, and supporting source code and script code, will be made in support of testing activities and user acceptance testing.

Task 4.2 Test
Final execution of test procedures on the test system in the testing infrastructure will be performed.

Task 4.3 Deployment
Execution of the deployment plan to support deployment of the live website to the production server and hosting environment.