In the Planning phase, project leaders evaluate the terms of the project which includes calculating labor and material costs, creating a timetable with target goals, and creating the project’s teams and leadership structure. Planning also includes reviewing feedback from stakeholders. Planning clearly defines the scope and purpose of the application. It plots the course and provisions for the team to effectively create the software thereby setting boundaries to help keep the project from expanding or shifting from its original purpose.

The Design phase models the way a software application will work. Some aspects of the design include:

Architecture – Specifies programming language, industry practices, overall design, and use of any templates or boilerplate

User Interface – Defines the ways customers interact with the software, and how the software responds to input 

Platforms – Defines the platforms on which the software will run, such as Apple, Android, Windows version, Linux, or even gaming consoles

Programming – Not just the programming language, but including methods of solving problems and performing tasks in the application

Communications – Defines the methods that the application can communicate with other assets, such as a central server or other instances of the application

Security – Defines the measures taken to secure the application, and may include SSL traffic encryption, password protection, and secure storage of user credentials

Defining requirements is considered as a part of planning to determine what the application is supposed to do and its requirements. For example, a social media application would require the ability to connect with a friend. An inventory program might require a search feature. Similary, Requirements also include defining the resources needed to build the project. For example, a team might develop software to control a custom manufacturing machine. The machine is a requirement in the process.

This phase includes the actual writing of the program with the use of an Access Control or Source Code Management application.
The coding process includes many other tasks where developers need to brush up on skills or work as a team. Finding and fixing errors and glitches is critical. Tasks often hold up the development process, such as waiting for test results or compiling code so an application can run. Documentation can be a quick guided tour of the application’s basic features that display on the first launch. It can be video tutorials for complex tasks. Written documentation like user guides, troubleshooting guides, and FAQ’s help users to solve problems or technical questions.

It’s critical to test an application before making it available to users. Testing ensures that each function works correctly. Different parts of the application should also be tested to work seamlessly together—performance test, to reduce any hangs or lags in processing. The testing phase helps reduce the number of bugs and glitches that users encounter which leads to a higher user satisfaction and a better usage rate.

In the deployment phase, the application is made available to users. Deployment can also be complex. For example, Upgrading a company-wide database to a newly-developed application. Because there are several other systems used by the database, integrating the upgrade can take more time and effort.

At this point, the development cycle is almost finished. The application is completed and ready to be used in the field. In this phase, users discover bugs that weren’t found during the testing phase. These errors need to be resolved, which can spawn new development cycles.