The 729 Solutions Integrated Quality (IQ) Process

IQ: a proven process that gets you results

Every company starts with a problem.

Ours was simple: we disagreed with the way a lot of projects were run at the time- bloated budgets and timelines, unclear communication, and ultimately, sub-par products or solutions.

Could we do it better?

When the customer doesn’t know what they don’t know…it’s easy for consultancies to sell them things they don’t need and churn out products or solutions that really don’t address the problems that the customer came to them with.

We created a flexible velocity-based agile framework, (the Integrated Quality process) to guide customers past common pitfalls… so we’re able to complete higher-quality, better-performing projects on time and on budget.

The IQ process is how we do software development better.

It’s the best way to guarantee a common understanding and transparent communication between product team members and the key stakeholders of a project, so the things that matter most happen, and the things that don’t… get left behind.

It’s constantly evolving to tell you the truth about what’s REALLY happening with your project. Most people can’t tell you honestly what’s going to happen with your project. We can.

For example, we’ve been able to predict an 18-month project within two weeks’ accuracy.

It’s the way we connect ALL the dots for our customers.

And it’s how we end up saving our clients time, money, and frustration again and again.

1. Onboarding Phase

Get on the same page and set the team up for success

This checklist needs to be completed before any product development process can start.

Line items include:

• Budget
• Time frame
• Metrics for success
• Stakeholders
• Product owner
• Roles and responsibilities

Some of these items seem blindingly obvious, but in our experience working with other development agencies, we found that often when a project goes off the rails, it happens because it wasn’t well-scoped. That’s why we’re perfectionists when it comes to getting this right.

2. Estimation Phase

Research and discovery

Once we have the basics of your project scope, we perform significant research to fully understand:

• Primary user personas
• Recommended technical tools to use
• Estimated time needed
• A rough schedule of the project's major milestones (epics)
• A Functional Design Document

We use a project management tool called "Shortcut" to help us estimate your project’s trajectory, so that any given time we’ll all be able to see:

• How much work is left to do
• How long it will take
• How much more money it will cost to achieve the deliverables

Shortcut divides the larger conceptual deliverables of a project into what they call ‘epics’. Epics are broken down into more granular tasks called ‘stories’.

Each story is estimated by our engineers in points of difficulty. We do it this way because we found that hourly, Scrum-based estimates always change significantly as projects progress, and that we could increase our estimation accuracy exponentially by planning the work this way.

We estimate that we’ve saved clients up to 25% of their project’s budget by estimating this way instead of statically.

If applicable, this is also where we create:

• User flows
• Sitemaps
• Wireframes
• Mockups

This phase helps us capture critical information that informs decision-making throughout the project.

3. Tempo Phase

Create the foundation, establish velocity, and build momentum

The first few iterations of any project are all about establishing a velocity standard and building the foundational components of the product.

The goal here is to establish momentum, to hit the ground running, and to set a sustainable intensity that gives us clarity for the rest of the project.

Within the first iteration or two, the team should have something functional, even if it’s basic.

For really innovative technology, it can take multiple iterations to build that momentum, so we carefully monitor the project’s velocity and keep you in the loop every step of the way.

4. Production Iteration Phases

Estimate points, complete work, review, and adjust. Then, repeat

We use the backlog of stories that we created and prioritized to get to work. A product owner/ key stakeholder should be significantly involved, approving stories and collaborating with our team.

The team will assign points to any new stories that are not yet pointed. Any issues or concerns about specific items are discussed, and the PM works with the product owner to prioritize or re-prioritize the stories if anything has changed.

The product owner should be available throughout to address any questions or issues that are “blockers.”

Unlike other development agencies, we don’t need to have long sprint-planning meetings, iteration reviews, or over-the-top PM costs.

Why? Because our communication is built into every phase of the project and the way we approach the work every day.

Check-ins

In addition to the everyday contact we maintain with our clients, we schedule a weekly check-in to ensure alignment, pacing, and that production is on track.

The product owner reviews the completed stories, addresses any questions, confirms work is on track, prioritizes deliverables, and makes course corrections if needed.

During these meetings, the PM may demo the work to the product owner to assess completion, celebrate successes, and identify opportunities.

5. Framing Phases

Bridging the gap and keeping alignment

When the project is one-third finished, we have a meeting with the PM, any key stakeholders, and the product owner. We hold a similar meeting again at the two-thirds mark.

The agendas for these meetings are to:

• Demo the latest version of the product
• Review the product roadmap
• Measure success against goals and any other criteria established
• Discuss any issues
• Readjust the roadmap based on new inputs or strategic goals
• Evaluate hours used and hours left in the budget

6. Live Deploy Phase

Success!

When the product is finished, we finalize any documentation of what has been done.

Then, the PM will hold a final presentation meeting to:

• Demonstrate the product
• Revisit criteria and goals that were set throughout the project and how they were achieved
• Answer any questions
• Note any final tweaks that need to be made
• Readjust the roadmap based on new inputs or strategic goals
• Celebrate!

We also provide any training or hand-over support our clients need, so we can ensure that your new product immediately starts making a positive impact on your business.