HyperD Project Management: Making It Work

In the dynamic world of software development, project managers play a crucial role in ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards. At HyperD, we recognize the significance of effective project management and have cultivated a team of experienced PMs who are experts in navigating the complexities of software development projects.

A Step-by-Step Journey Through HyperD's Project Management Process

HyperD's project managers (PMs) are the driving force behind our successful project completion rate. We take a hands-on approach to project management, encompassing everything from initial client interactions to final product delivery. Our PMs are skilled communicators, problem solvers, and technical experts who seamlessly bridge the gap between client needs and developer capabilities.

1. Preliminary Meeting: Setting the Stage

Our journey begins with a comprehensive Kickoff Meeting, where we gather insights from clients who have submitted project inquiry briefs. These face-to-face interactions are crucial for understanding the client's planning intentions, core functionalities, and overall goals for the project. Effective communication at this stage ensures that the final product aligns seamlessly with the client's expectations.

While some plans are well-defined at the time of the request, the development process often uncovers unforeseen issues that require decisions not initially considered. Adhering strictly to the original plan might result in delays, making it challenging to meet the schedule. In such cases, it becomes essential to collaborate with the client and project manager (PM) to make decisions that prioritize the intended purpose of the feature, rather than strictly adhering to the initial plan.

During the first meeting, we review the plan, assess the core functionality (Minimum Viable Product - MVP), understand the planning intentions for each function, discuss release schedules and references, and collaboratively establish a rough budget.

Case Study: Blind Date app

This request project is a Blind date application. The most distinctive point from other reference apps was that users could create a location-based temporary chat room. If you turn on the app, only users within 2km can participate in an anonymous chat room.

Main Screen Friend Recommendation Tab

The client wanted to implement location-based profile recommendations and chat functions, which are functions of basic blind date apps, focusing on the core functions. In addition, the internal design team put a lot of effort into the colorful UI and interaction design, which was mainly aimed at inducing as many users as possible to chat and like inside. We needed developers with strengths in the UI.

Looking at the flow of the market, the demand for target users has increased in line with the end of the year, and accordingly, we have set a goal of initial boosting at the end of the year through marketing. Since the start was less than four months before Christmas, we had to set a tight development period of two to three months even though it was a large spectrum of apps. The size of the team is composed of three front and two back-end development personnel and as many internal development teams as possible to participate in this project.

2. Team building and
Development Proposal Preparation

With a clear understanding of the project requirements, we carefully curate a team of skilled developers tailored to the specific needs of the project. We then prepare a comprehensive Development Team Proposal, outlining the project scope, timeline, budget, and resource allocation.

2-1. Developer Recruitment Team

With developers who have experience creating the app's features, we can minimize trial and error and create results at the customer's eye level. And we can propose to prepare for unexpected future problems at the time of planning. So HyperD puts a lot of effort into this process.

Task execution

Users are familiar with the colorful UI of competing apps, so we needed a developer who could make UI completeness, especially 3D animations and interactions smoothly. To select three front-end developers to participate in the blind date app project, we assigned the task of implementing card swiping UI for this app.

When checking the progress of tasks, we target developers who follow the design and description, closely examining font size, spacing, and resolutions. PM and the recruitment team reviewed tasks, and selected 5 developers from over 50 tasks.

CV - Evaluation of Past Projects

To select the final three candidates from among them, we reviewed the resumes of each developer. We have chosen developers who have experience working on core features such as algorithm recommendation, real-time chatting, location sharing, and map functionality in previous projects, which are essential functions for a dating app.

Learn more about HyperD's team-building principles in the
👉 HyperD Developer Verification Process article.

2-2. Planning Review

While the team is coming together, the PM prepares one more thing. It is the task of reviewing the overall plan multiple times and creating a User Flow for developers.

This involves organizing which page each user should navigate to when clicking each button on the screen. Through this process, any unplanned aspects of the project can be discovered, and by discussing them with the planner before development begins, the team can be well-prepared.

Creating a flow chart

Divide page designs by key functionalities.

For example, the signup page can be divided into phone number verification, adding a profile picture, policy agreement, location/notification consent, and additional personal information functions.
 

On the UI design page, use arrows to indicate which screen the user should transition to based on their actions.

before

after making a UI flow

And if there are policies according to different scenarios, they will be summarized under each respective flow

The crucial aspect of this dating app lies in the differentiated features provided based on user grades. Similar to dating apps like Tinder, the main business model involves offering information that users may find intriguing through premium memberships or paid items within the app. This project also incorporates several mechanisms along these lines.

However, due to this, the information visible on the same screen varies depending on the user's grade. Premium members can see tags indicating whether the other person liked them or is interested in a match when recommended members appear on the main page. Free members, on the other hand, are unaware of such details. Additionally, the profile pictures of users who liked them may only be visible to premium members.

To ensure that such diverse scenarios are not overlooked during development, it is crucial to meticulously organize the workflow before starting the work. While it may be time-consuming, it is a method that can prevent irreversible issues down the line.

3. Sprint Planning: Orchestrating Progress

We employ an agile development methodology, utilizing sprints to break down the project into manageable phases. Each sprint is meticulously planned, ensuring that developers work efficiently towards achieving specific milestones. Regular sprint reviews and retrospectives keep the project on track and foster continuous improvement.

Creating Timeline

• Participants: PM, Customer Development Team (Planner, CTO) check

Now, the PM knows the list of functions needed for each part. They are also aware of the development skills and strengths of the team members. Based on this information, the PM divides responsibilities for each function and breaks down the schedule into sprint units. They discuss whether the sprints with the customer's developers and planners are not overly short, avoiding overlaps, and if the post-quality test (QA) modification period is appropriately scheduled.

Roadmap of each feature

Due to the importance of timely release for this project, three frontend developers had to work simultaneously. However, interconnected features like friend recommendations, sending likes and chatting on the main page affect each other in different tabs. If the tasks are not properly divided, working together may not be more efficient than working alone. We prioritized placing components that are interconnected across all pages, such as sign-up, login, friend recommendations, and sending likes, in the early stages. After completing the development of these interconnected parts, we carefully scheduled the tasks to transition to independently developable components.

Importance of QA

Additionally, we have incorporated QA (Quality Assurance) once every time a small sprint is completed, and one session is dedicated to checking the progress each week. QA involves testing to ensure that the developed features are functioning as intended. Conducting QA in short intervals is akin to creating multiple reliable checkpoints in complex projects like this one. From a developer's perspective, addressing issues immediately after developing a feature allows for quick and accurate adjustments, as the details are fresh in their memory.

Sharing issues/checklists

Once the significant milestones are set, we list detailed features that must be developed for each milestone and assign responsibilities accordingly. The example provided pertains to the required features for the main screen and friend recommendation page of the current project.

issue and sub-issues of main page

For the main screen of this project, the friend recommendation view, when the user clicks instead of swiping to navigate through profiles, the cards transition, revealing progressively detailed profile information. Since the information entered by recommended users varies, it is crucial to dynamically load images and information that match each card. Additionally, the available actions may differ based on the current relationship status with the other user. For users who have already expressed interest in me, the like and introduce buttons disappear, leaving only the option to start a chat.

To express these various scenarios without confusion, we have created separate flows for each profile type and organized the functions accordingly.

Policy and Criteria Compilation

When clicking on individual feature issues, a page will appear that consolidates all information for easy viewing. The policy details, such as how often information values will be updated and what information needs to be retrieved, can be found within the issue. It's crucial to have a unified document for collaborative work so that when inevitable modifications arise during development, everyone can sync up with the updates.

In this project, approximately 250 such issues have been generated, and we've been diligently filling them in. HyperD's project managers meticulously undergo this process in the initial 1 to 2 weeks before project implementation.

🫡 Ready!

Well, all the preparations are complete now. It's time to embark on the daily development journey with experienced and optimal developers, using well-organized materials.

HyperD PMs: Your Partners in Software Success

Partner with HyperD and experience the difference that an experienced and dedicated project manager can make. Our PMs are not just project managers; they are your partners in software success, ensuring that your project vision is translated into a reality that exceeds your expectations.
 

If you're curious about the various incidents that occur when eight global developers come together to create an app, and the project manager struggles to ensure a smooth schedule according to the plan, please stay tuned for the next post.

This has been Editor Kaydee.