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High Level
Design
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High Level Design is the first of a (possibly) two-stage design process. The purpose of High Level Design is to:
- Make as many design decisions as possible before investing in coding effort
- Incorporate feedback from users and managers
- Provide documentation
The audience of High Level Design includes the customer, managers, and users.
Key Points
There are many, many points that can be made about correct approach to design. However, in general, Software Partners believes that good design will:
- Flow with the software tool or platform that is being used.
It is generally best not to try to force the tool into a preconceived notion of how the final application should look. Usually, it is possible to find an equally good or better solution to the business need that capitalizes on the way the software tool already works.
- Focus on the business needs. Often, a more efficient solution is "better" than a fancier or more ingenious solution. It doesn't have to be brilliant - it does have to work.
- Provide solutions to the key technical challenges of the project.
Deliverables
This process results in a Design Review and (usually) a High Level Design Document. The High Level Design document is medium to long, includes some diagrams and pictures, and is supplemented with software objects such as screen prototypes. It may show:
- Screen prototypes
- Narrative description of screen functions
- Data Model
- Major software module identification and description
- Interface definitions
- How key challenges and problems will be solved (example: how a simulation will be modeled using events and a concept of time).
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