A software development team brings together various specialists, each of whom plays a different role in the process of creating a product. The main goal is to translate the customer’s idea into functional software. Each team member interacts with others in one way or another, and the success of the project depends on managers and leaders, since they are assigned the role of selecting and organizing the work of the entire team.
What specialists are involved in the project?
The typical structure of a development team on a project consists of: product owner, business analyst, project and product manager, UX/UI designer, team lead, developers, engineers, including test automation engineers, and a DevOps engineer.
Stages of software development on a project: who is responsible for what?
Software development typically goes through several key phases (cycles), each of which involves specific tasks and involves different team members.
The process begins with project initiation, when an idea is developed into a concrete concept. This is where the product owner and product managers come to the fore.
The Product Owner is responsible for creating and managing the product from start to finish. The main job of a product owner is to act as a liaison between the customer and the development team, ensuring that the final product meets user expectations and the client’s business goals.
One of the key responsibilities of a PO is managing the product backlog:
- Setting and updating the list of tasks and functions that need to be implemented;
- Prioritization of tasks;
- Ensuring that requirements for each task are clear and detailed.
A Product Manager is a specialist who defines the strategy and vision of a product. The product’s responsibilities also include building product roadmaps.
A product roadmap is a visualization of the main goals, stages and directions of product development, depending on what stage of the product life cycle it is at.
After this, the Project Manager comes into play. His task is to organize and plan the entire development process.
Project Manager is the headliner of the project, coordinating the progress of work, deadlines and communication on the project. You can read more about the differences between Project and Product managers in the article .
A Team Lead is a coordinator of the team’s work, distributing tasks and monitoring their implementation. He works closely with the Project Manager and Product Manager to ensure tasks are completed in accordance with the project plan and priorities. The team lead monitors the team’s progress, solves problems that arise, and eliminates issues that may interfere with work. He also participates in sprint planning and estimates deadlines for tasks.
A Business Analyst transforms business requests into specific technical requirements, writes specs and other documentation, and helps the team in testing and validating solutions. The analyst interacts with the product manager and development team to make sure everyone understands what needs to be done and how it should work.
Then the UX/UI designer gets involved. His mission is to create a convenient and attractive interface that will be intuitive to users. The designer develops mockups and prototypes, tests them with users and makes changes based on the feedback received. The designer’s goal is to make using the product enjoyable and not difficult.
Once all the requirements are defined and the design is approved, the team moves on to the development stage. Here the main characters are developers, divided into front- and back-end specialists. Ready-made layouts developed by the designer are embodied in real pages or interfaces. The Frontend Developer does this, ensuring that elements are displayed correctly on different devices and in different browsers.
A Backend Developer creates and maintains the invisible part of websites and applications—the server side. This is what works “under the hood” and provides the functionality that users see and use on the screen.
For example, when you fill out a form on a website or send a message in a chat, the backend developer writes code that processes this information and stores it in the database. It is also responsible for the logic that makes it possible to register users, manage their data, authorize and other complex functions that are not visible on the screen, but are necessary for the application to work.
Their work requires a high degree of coordination and interaction with each other to ensure the smooth running of the entire application/website.
In order to minimize the number of possible errors when using the product after release, preliminary tests are carried out. Testing is carried out by QA engineers (testers), interacting with almost the entire team. The work of QA engineers guarantees a reliable and error-free final product.
After development and testing are completed, the deployment phase begins. Devops engineers and system administrators are involved in this process. They ensure that the application is configured and running in production, and perform final tests and checks to ensure that everything works correctly.
What does DevOps do on a project? A DevOps engineer is a link between developers, testers and managers. A DevOps specialist makes every possible (sometimes impossible) effort to speed up product development and improve its quality by automating development, testing and deployment. It monitors the performance and availability of applications, ensuring their continuous operation.
Also, the team may include a Scrum master if the project uses the Scrum approach. He organizes and conducts sprints, monitors time frames, and improves processes.
As users use the product, the technical support team is responsible for processing their requests and resolving any problems that arise. Technical support is the first point that users turn to when difficulties arise. She collects feedback and passes it on to the development team for further improvements.
These roles may overlap or be combined depending on the size and structure of the team, as well as the specifics of the project.
How to form a development team correctly?
- Goals and requirements. Before you start selecting a team, you need to clearly define the project’s goals, functional and non-functional requirements, expected results and its duration. This will help you understand what specialists and skills may be needed.
- Team type. The team can be formed from full-time employees, freelancers or specialized outsourcing/outstaffing companies. The choice depends on the budget, timing and specifics of the project. Each option has its pros and cons, and it is important to choose the one that best suits your needs.
- Determining the required specialists. It is necessary to decide on the size and structure of the team.
- Selection of specialists. It is important not only to find people with the necessary technical skills, but also those who can work effectively in a team. Evaluate their experience, qualifications and soft skills. Good team communication and cultural compatibility often mean more to achieving the final result than the level of knowledge.
- Work organization. Determine development methodology (e.g. Agile or Waterfall), project management tools (Jira, Trello) and communication (Slack, Zoom). Establish regular meetings to discuss progress, identify problems, and plan next steps.
What is a turnkey development team?
A ready-made development team is an already formed group of specialists with all the necessary skills and experience for the full software development cycle, from the initial concept to the final release and product support.
What influences the team structure on a project?
- The type and complexity of your project;
- Duration of the project;
- Budget size;
- Approach to software development.
Build your development team with PlaysDev
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