Risk management in software engineering: our top tips

Developing custom software is an expensive endeavor. We talked about how it can range anywhere from €10,000 - €250,000, realistically speaking in our insight: What does Software development really cost?

So when you decide to start developing, you're going to want to ensure that your decision is confident and minimize the risk of the project.

Below we're going to dive into our top tips on how you can minimize risk when your company is undergoing a digital transformation or developing software. That way, you can finally get a good night's rest knowing you've done everything you can to make this investment successful.

Everyone is releasing an app right now; your competitors are already ahead, so you need to get on the bandwagon — quickly. We know that, no matter what industry you're in, you're probably under pressure to undergo a digital transformation, keep up with market needs, and ultimately provide more value for your customers.

But we can't stress this enough: don't naively rush into the process and just start developing an app or platform because everybody else around you is doing it too. You don't know what's going on behind the scenes, you don't know how it's impacting their business or bottom line, and if you do — fantastic, we can use it as a best practice.

Undergoing a digital transformation or developing software is going to not only be a significant investment but also change the way you operate. We've seen plenty of companies come to us after an IT project failed because what they developed completely missed the market.

Every single one of our clients goes through a discovery phase first. It gives us an opportunity to set a strong foundation before diving straight into coding.

Once you've figured out the main requirements and needs of the people who will end up using the software, a way of minimizing risk and ensuring you don't develop in the wrong direction is creating design ideas and examples.

Ultimately, these will give you an idea of what the finished product can look like; we can even set up "dummies" you and your employees can click on — but in the background, not a single line of code has been written.

It's a really cost-effective and quick way to test your ideas and minimize the risk.

User testing is also something we do very frequently before we ever start writing a line of code.

We tend to carry out our user tests with userbrain.com — you can send off a test and get results within hours. Because we mainly build software for internal business applications, we carry out user tests with employees. Research has shown that if you test with around five people, they will find most of the issues you need to fix.

By carrying out user testing, we can refine the design ideas even further. Ensuring that we're working in the right direction — again before a single line of code is written.

Want to find out more about user experience and the research you should carry out before you dive into development? Check out our latest insight onwhy is UX research and design important.

Just like a well-oiled car, your software will stand the test of time if you always keep it up to date and well maintained. Which is why software maintenance is something you should consider a part of your investment from the very beginning — it will not only ensure you stay relevant on the market but lower the risk of it breaking in the long run too.

Alrighty, that wraps up our top tips on how to lower risk management for software products — interested in finding out more about how a discovery phase with TRIGO can lower your risk? Book a call with our CEO Christian.