Most developers are moving away from the Waterfall methodology. If you want to quickly develop your applications, then you should try RAD. The waterfall methodology follows a fixed schedule. You can’t perform continuous iterations. If your client suggests some changes, then you need to restart the development process. This can increase the duration of your development process.

Instead, you can use the RAD approach. This approach was invented by James Martin. It is a very old approach. However, most developers still use it. It is one of the most famous application development processes. RAD will help you in keeping pace with your client and business needs.

Definition of RAD or Rapid Application Development:

Rapid Application Development is a very famous development model. It doesn’t focus on following any strict schedule. This model mainly focuses on user feedback and ongoing projects. The Waterfall method mainly focuses on following the schedule. However, this method only focuses on user feedback. You don’t need to worry about following any strict schedule. Some of the important benefits of RAD are:

Fast Delivery

You can divide your whole software project into modules. These modules will be treated as a separate entity. Thus, you can reduce the delivery time. If some module is complete, then you can directly upload it. Every module will go through a different testing phase. These modules will be winded together in the final product. Thus, your team can work on different modules. If someone is good at the frontend, then they can work on the frontend of the application. Similarly, the backend engineer can work on the database part. This will help you in reducing the delivery time of your application.

Quicker Adjustments

This is another important benefit of using the RAD model. If you are using the Waterfall method, then you can’t change your application. You need to restart the development process for making any changes. Developers need to make various changes during the development process. RAD methodology will help you in easily making these changes. Thus, you can quickly develop new products.

Fewer Errors

RAD will help you in reusing your code. Thus, you don’t need to test your code again. This will also help you in reducing the errors from your code. You can test all the modules separately. Hence, you don’t need to test the final product. Also, you will find very few errors in this model.

Cost savings

Many companies think that RAD is an expensive model. You need to invest money in hiring talented coders. However, they will help you in reducing the development time. Thus, you can quickly create new applications for your client. This will help you in increasing the revenue of your company. If your client wants some changes, then you can quickly edit the application. You don’t need to start the development process from scratch. This will help you in saving a lot of money.

Better risk control

If you are using RAD, then you can give importance to risk factors. You can monitor risk factors at the starting of the development process. Also, you can discuss them during the development process. Sometimes you will find new risks during the development process. You should immediately address those risks. If you are using other models, then you need to wait for the final version. Developers will handle risks after they have created the final version. Thus, you need various bugs in the last application.

RAD Methodology

Define Requirements

In RAD, you need to first define the set of requirements. You don’t need to worry about developing specs for every user. These requirements are mostly temporary. You can change these requirements during the development process. Thus, most developers will define loose requirements in the starting.

Prototype

In this, the developer will create a prototype for their client. This prototype can satisfy all the requirements. However, the initial prototypes will only satisfy some of the requirements.

Feedback

Developers will show their prototype to clients. They will collect feedback from their end-users and clients. Clients will give them feedback about everything. If they don’t like the UI, then developers will change it. Clients can change their mind at any time. Some features look very good on paper. However, then don’t make any sense in practice. Thus, this step is also very important. If the client needs changes, then they will inform the developers. Sometimes the client will be satisfied with the prototype. Thus, the developers don’t need to do any changes. They can directly move to the next stage.

Final Product

This is the last stage of the RAD cycle. Developers will optimize their product at this stage. Sometimes they will even re-engineer the whole product for increasing stability. Developers will also connect the production data with the backend in this stage. If there is some maintenance task left, then developers will complete it. They will make sure that the product is ready for the client. The code should be clean. This will ensure that developers can make changes in the future. After this stage, the developers will hand over the product to the client. Thus, they have to make sure that everything is complete.

Conclusion

RAD model is becoming very popular with time. Many developers are using it for creating their products. It is helping developers in improving their productivity. In this, they can divide the application into modules. Thus, every developer can work a small prototype. It is also easy to test these prototypes separately. The developers will combine these prototypes in the last stage. It is also important to take feedback from your clients. This is the most important step of RAD methodology. It will ensure that you are meeting your client expectations. The best thing about the RAD model is that you can easily change your application. If you need more information about the RAD model, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.