Walk a feature through the lifecycle
Map a hypothetical product feature through the stages of a chosen software development lifecycle (e.g., Agile Scrum), and locate the designer's role at each stage.
Steps
- Invent a feature for a product you know well — e.g., "add group expense-splitting to a payments app" or a feature from your final project.
- Choose a lifecycle. Agile Scrum is the default; waterfall is allowed if you argue for it.
- Map every stage. For each: what happens, who's involved, what artifact comes out (user stories, designs, code, test results), and how long it plausibly takes.
- Mark the designer's touchpoints. Where does design lead, where does it support, where is it (dangerously) absent?
- Add one failure. Something goes wrong mid-lifecycle — a requirement changes, testing finds a flaw. Show how the process absorbs it. (This is why the process exists.)
Things to keep in mind
- In your final project you are the whole lifecycle compressed into two sprints. This map is a preview of your next three weeks.
- Diagram > essay. A good flow diagram with annotations beats prose.
Submission
- One diagram mapping the feature through all stages, with the designer's touchpoints highlighted and the failure scenario shown.