Product development process

This page provides an overview of the steps involved in AITSL's digital product development process.

On this page

  • The role of the Brand, Comms and Digital Team
  • Stages of Product Development
  • Stage 1 - Discovery
  • Stage 2 - Alpha
  • Stage 3 - Beta
  • Stage 4 - Live
  • AITSL's Project Management Framework

    • The role of the Brand, Comms and Digital Team

    At AITSL, an important part of the role of the Brand, Comms and Digital Team is to lead digital product development so that it meets our strategic objectives, aligns with our requirements and standards, and delivers the most value to our users. Our goal is to build a clear understanding of the digital development process and ways of working for all teams across AITSL.

    AITSL's product development process is a user-centred approach with 4 stages.

    We use a user-centred approach to our product development across 4 distinct stages. User-centred means we focus on understanding the people who will use the products we develop (our users) and what they are trying to achieve (their user needs) so that we can build a product that works for them.

Stage 1 - Discovery

The Discovery stage is when the product development process starts. The purpose of Discovery is to get a deep understanding of the problems users are trying to solve. It helps the team challenge their existing ideas of what the problem and solution might be. This stage is for discovering, not validating. You won’t start prototyping and testing your product until the Alpha stage.

Prepare for the Discovery stage

Before you start this stage make sure you:

  • prepared all required project documentation, such as a project proposal and project plan, in line with AITSL's Project Management Framework
  • have the right roles and skillsets required to do this work and have sought advice from AITSL's Digital team
  • identified stakeholders and subject matter experts that you will need to work with
  • have all relevant reviews and approvals in place
  • understand any legal, regulations or policies that are in place that may impact your work
  • start by focussing on understanding the problem to be solved, and what your users needs are. Don't focus on a specific technical solution at this stage, such as a website or app (this will come in later stages).

Activities to perform

During the Discovery stage you undertake user research to understand user needs and the problems users are trying to solve.

This work could include:

  • conducting focus group interviews
  • conducting one-on-one interviews
  • surveys
  • analysis of analytics and existing research documentation
  • creating artefacts such as user journey maps, user stories and user personas.

You should also continue to ensure that your work is meeting AITSL's Digital Standards

There are many activities you can perform during Discovery. The goal should be to carefully choose which activities you can practicably undertake that will help you to form strong understanding of your users' needs. Contact the Brand, Comms and Digital Team to get advice as to which Discovery activities are right for your project.

Outcome of Discovery

At the end of the Discovery, you should have an understanding of the problem you are trying to solve, and what outcomes to aim for, as well as where to focus your efforts. You should also have an understanding of who you are trying to solve the problem for. At the end of Discovery you may also have some high-level ideas for solutions that you can take forward and test. In some cases, the end of a discovery might be a decision not to move forward with the project because, for example, there isn’t a user need.

Stage 2 - Alpha

The Alpha stage is where you develop and test prototypes based on your learning from Discovery to work out the right thing to build.

In Alpha stage you test the hypotheses that you reached at the end of Discovery stage. As you progress through Alpha, you will produce new hypotheses as you discover new things about the users and service. You’re not validating what users like or dislike. You are finding out how well prototypes meet the actual needs of users.

Activities to perform

In the Alpha stage you:

  • take your hypotheses from Discovery stage and create some high-level concepts
  • create storyboards to see possible solutions
  • create prototypes to test hypotheses with users — you should explore hypotheses with different kinds of prototypes, including paper and HTML
  • complete the stage by defining the minimum viable product

You should also continue to ensure that your work is meeting AITSL's Digital Standards

Outcome of Alpha

At the end of the Alpha stage, you should have:

  • user stories — they should relate to the overall user journey rather than being tied to individual features
  • a plan for your Beta stage and a less detailed plan for your Live stage
  • a basic working system with limited functionality that you can demonstrate to users
  • an understanding of legacy systems you need to replace or integrate with
  • a decision on whether to progress to Beta stage
  • analysis on the user needs research you have done
  • a decision on your minimum viable product (MVP)
  • an understanding of the technical and development requirements for your MVP

Stage 3 - Beta

The Beta stage is where the team builds and tests a solution based on what has been learned in the Alpha stage. The solution is a minimum viable product or MVP, which is the simplest version of a product that can be built to meet the users needs.

Activities to perform

In the Beta stage you focus on developing a functioning MVP that is more than a prototype. To do this you will need to perform the below main activities:

  • development
  • design
  • content creation
  • testing
  • release planning

You should also continue to ensure that your work is meeting AITSL's Digital Standards

Outcome of Beta

At the end of the Beta stage, you should have:

  • built and launched a Beta version of your product (MVP) to a subset of your users
  • made a prioritised list of work to be done, or a backlog
  • made a plan for ongoing user research

Stage 4 - Live

The Live stage is where your product is release live to all your users.

Activities to perform

In the Live stage you must make sure you have completed the below activities:

  • your product has passed required testing and is functioning as expected for your users
  • your product meets AITSL's Digital Standards
  • you have in place ongoing support arrangements for your product, for example, with an external vendor to provide ongoing technical support
  • a roadmap for your product has been created, with a clear plan for ongoing maintenance and product owner responsibility.

Outcome of Live

At the end of the Live stage, you should:

  • monitor the status of your product
  • continue to improve your product based on ongoing user feedback and your product roadmap
  • maintain quality assurance and ongoing testing
  • measure the impact of your product through qualitative and quantitative metrics

AITSL's Project Management Framework

AITSL's Project Management Framework (PMF) provides a guide to our all of organisation approach to project management. It covers the key componenets required for planning, managing and governing projects to ensure success and delivery of the desired result. You should use the PMF for your digital projects.

Digital product development can be iterative as it relies on feedback from users and learnings you develop throughout the Discovery, Alpha and Beta phases of development.

For this reason, it can be hard to determine with accuracy upfront the exact nature of your project deliverables, and therefore, also the cost and funding you require for your project. Avoid seeking approval and funding for a project that also commits to delivering a defined digital product before you have undertaken and completed the Discovery stage. Instead, consider seeking funding and approval for a discrete Discovery stage. After this you will be able to more clearly understand and define the product you intend to build, and then seek funding and approval for subsequent work based on more accurate information.

You should work with AITSL's Project Management Office and the Brand, Comms and Digital Team to understand your requirements and plan the right approach for your project.