Software development process

• The project manager assigns a team of developers who will work on your web or app project. The size and composition of the team vary depending on the scope, timetable, and technical requirements of your project.
• Web projects are categorized into two — template-based websites and websites made from scratch. For template-based sites, the development team typically follows the layout of the theme as it is (with minor modifications as suggested by the design team), and then works on integrating business-specific logic into the theme’s existing flow. For web projects from scratch, 1902 Software’s design department creates a unique design mockup from top to bottom.
• For mobile apps, we always create the mockups from scratch. However, if you have your own creative department, we can also develop your app based on their design. You can learn more about our design process here.
• It's also in this phase that programming the system’s main functions and integration with third-party services (installation of modules and plugins, or in the case of mobile apps —API integrations) are done.
• As the development progresses, the project manager regularly checks the output of the development team through short daily standup meetings.
• You also get updated of the project’s progress through weekly status meetings with your project manager or through our online project management system.
• While development is ongoing, we don't give you access to the system as from our experience this often results in errors being reported before development is completed. In addition, it interferes with our work if we have to answer questions about tasks we still are working on.
• We do an initial test of major functionalities as we develop them, to ensure that there are no errors carried out into the next phases of the project.

• Once development is done, the system is turned over to our QA department for testing.
• For web projects, the QA tester goes through all pages or sections of the system (on the staging server) to check its functionalities, UI/UX (for example, if it follows the agreed mockups or the selected template), cross-browser compatibility, and whether the responsive layout is in order on the different devices and screen sizes as agreed.
• For app projects, our QAs test the app on the three latest versions of iOS and Android by default. There are more testing considerations for mobile apps because of various factors such as the variety of phone models and screen sizes, network connectivity, and built-in phone features (notification settings, camera, and GPS).
• We focus on UX and conversions and we always keep an eye on how we can improve the user experience and conversions.
• Automated testing – For systems that are updated frequently, like ecommerce sites, we sometimes recommend setting up an automated testing environment to speed up and lower the cost of testing. By doing this, the update will be tested automatically without the need for manual testing, saving both time and money. As of now, we only do automated testing for websites and webshops.

For web projects:

• You are free to choose your hosting company, though we do provide recommendations on which you could choose. Together, we'll figure out which hosting plan to go with.
• The technical project manager installs your website or webshop on the server that we agree on.
• For website or webshop projects, we do a technical SEO check prior to deployment to make sure that the proper technical SEO settings are in place and your site is ready to be crawled and indexed by search engines once it goes live.
• In addition to technical SEO, we also suggest that you optimize your content and follow best practices when you do so. For example, you might want to do a keyword analysis and then optimize page titles, page descriptions, and texts, or you may want to start doing link building (after you have gone live).
• After all the necessary configurations are performed, we make the site accessible to you on a staging server so that you can update your content, meta data, etc. When you’re finished, we coordinate with you for switching the site to live.
• Our QA team tests the live version of your system to make sure that there are no issues the day it’s switched over from the staging environment to live.

For app projects:

• For mobile applications, the finished app is submitted to AppStore, Google Play, open source host, or the like. When the app gets approved by Apple or Google, it goes live and is made publicly available when you want.
• Our QA team tests the mobile app from App Store or Google Play beginning with the installation, again making sure that everything works fine.

At this point, we consider the project as complete. We turn over to you all source codes, files, and graphic materials that were used to develop your system.

For all projects, you will receive a handover document (containing guidelines on how to maintain your website or webshop once live) or any relevant documents as needed and discussed with you throughout the project.

Your project manager and the same team that developed the system are ready to help you with problems you encounter, or to make changes and new features as the need arises.

Learn more about our ad hoc support setup.