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Software development methodologies have come a long way since traditional development has evolved into more flexible methods such as agile. Agile methodology also has seen its fair share of evolutions, the Rapid Application Development (RAD) model being one of them.

But how does this model work, and how can you utilize it for your projects? We’ll answer all your questions with today’s guide on rapid application development.

What Is Rapid Application Development?

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is an agile development approach. It focuses more on ongoing software projects and user feedback than a strict plan. The RAD model creates prototypes to introduce the product to their target market.

The RAD model is often mistaken for a specific model, but it’s a method to deploy prototypes faster that can mimic the product and demonstrate its functionalities. Once the prototype is complete, developers can utilize the RAD model to deploy multiple iterations quickly.

History of RAD

Barry Boehm and James Martin realized back in the 1980s that software is infinitely malleable and not a raw mineral resource. They took advantage of this characteristic of the software. Then, Barry Hoehms created the spiral model, and James Martin created the RAD model.

Phases of The RAD Model

1. Business Modeling

This phase takes information from business-related resources to combine into a detailed description. This description details how the data can be used during processing and why the specific information is useful to create success for the industry.

2. Data Modeling

All the information collected during the previous phase is analyzed during this phase. After the analysis is complete, the data gets separated into different groups. The team examines each group carefully to assign the right description for each group. The team also defines the usefulness of each group.

3. Process Modeling

In this phase, you take everything you learned and see where it all fits. It starts with understanding how your collected information fits into and supports specific business functions. The team can also make necessary adjustments.

In this phase, you and the team will create an outline to change, add, delete, or retrieve a data object.

4. Application Generation

The developer team then starts compiling the application based on the gathered data. With all the necessary information, the team starts creating a prototype that will be tested in the next phase. The developers leverage automation tools to speed up this phase.

5. Testing And Turnover

In this phase, the prototypes are tested separately. In these different phases, both the client and the users offer scrutiny of the product to determine different issues or possible improvements that you can make in the future.

Advantages of Rapid Application Development Model

1. The Development Time Is Cut Short

Since a prototype takes a shorter time to create an actual product, the development time is cut much shorter. Another reason for the high pace is the team leveraging automation and working on a previous iteration of the project to make improvements.

2. Cost of Development Is Reduced

The RAD model is focused on prototypes, and the highly optimized procedure for creating prototypes means you’ll require as few resources as possible. This results in reduced development costs.

3. Ensures Developer Satisfaction

In a rapid development environment, the developers constantly present their work to the clients. Once the clients approve of their work, it can offer affirmation to the developer, increasing developer satisfaction.

Challenges of Working With The RAD Model

1. More Scalability Can Hurt The Project

Higher scalability can often hurt a project when the project expands beyond a single team. When the user stories are constantly changing, it can become tougher to keep all team members on the same page, and it can slow down the development cycle.

2. Commitment of Developers May Falter

Developers frequently consult with product owners and stakeholders like users and customers by attending frequent meetings when creating prototypes. They can often result in unnecessary cycle consumption.

3. Front-End Receives More Focus

The RAD model focuses on finding solutions based on the problems that the customers point out. However, the clients interact with the front end more, and the feedback becomes more front-end oriented. This results in creating products that only focus on the front end more.

When Is Rapid Application Development The Best Choice?

1. Is The Current Product Mission Critical?

If you’re working with a product dealing with customer data or security-related projects, there’s little room for error. The RAD model is the best solution in cases like these since customers can express their security-related concerns to correct all the errors.

2. Do You Have Access To End-User And Client Feedback?

The RAD model requires the customers and clients to provide the right feedback after constant user testing. If you can access customer feedback, then the RAD model is the right choice for developing and improving your product.

3. Can You Divide Your Deliverables?

In the RAD model, you must present prototypes to your client that often miss active user flows. You have to divide the project into multiple smaller groups of deliverables for proper project delivery if your project is viable.

4. Can The Team Iterate ASAP?

As the model’s name suggests, the RAD model rapidly depends on project iteration. If you have a specialized team that can iterate as fast as possible, then the RAD model is right for you.

5. Do You Have The Budget?

The RAD model can grow to be quite expensive at times, and faster iterations mean a high-range tech stack and automation in all possible steps. If you’re ready to take on the financial responsibility, you can utilize the RAD model for your project.

Rapid Application Development Tools

Design And Prototyping Tools

The tools in this category can help your team create impressive interactive designs at a faster pace. Some tools in this list can also help the developers export the solution as a functional cross-browser prototype.

• Adobe Experience Design
• Balsamiq
• InVision
• JustInMind
• Mockplus
• Origami Studio
• Proto.io
• Sketch
• Webflow

User Feedback Tools

These tools help developers and product owners collect feedback remotely without having to travel and collect feedback in a face-to-face meeting.

• Conjure
• InVision
• Red Pen
• Usability Sciences
• Userbrain
• UserTesting
• Validately

Rapid Application Development Platforms

With these applications, your developer team can easily complete prototype or application development. These tools can also help accelerate the production cycle.

• Alpha Software
• AppGyver
• Appian
• Kony
• Zoho Creator
• Mendix
• OutSystems
• Salesforce AppCloud
• Spring
• Visual LANSA
• WaveMaker

Top 3 Examples of RAD

These are a few example ideas that you can build quickly with your team using the RAD model.

1. Purchase Order

Collecting data and approving purchase orders is a simple process that often gets complicated by readymade options. Still, you should build them on a platform that allows more than just basic functionality.

To start the project, gather a procurement team with the relevant knowledge. Then, bring the current forms together to clearly understand the workflow.

For purchase orders, creating a vendor database from which the form can call up information for quick reference is better.

Once all the steps are planned and ready, check if you want to add any extra steps or create any conditional steps that only occur when certain conditions are met.

Once ready, the team can create the prototype to share with potential users. They can go through unique user journeys and suggest improvements to the purchase order process.

2. Employee Resignation

HR has a lot of steps to coordinate in the case of an employee resignation. This app seems trickier to build on a surface level because of all the different moving parts. But you can take the same approach as before.

Only for this development, the HR development leads the development with the help of management, payroll, IT departments, and other internal departments.

At some point, HR might want to handle the processing of employee resignation and termination within the same app. However, it would be a herculean task with the waterfall method since you’d have to go back and build the whole thing from scratch. But with RAD, you only need to add in the functions once you determine all the steps.

3. Travel Request

An app that the entire company can use since business personnel frequently need to travel. Regardless of the team using this application, the finance team must take the lead.

A key element of travel requests is keeping strict control over travel policy adherence. Travel requests can become chaos to control since there might be departments that can or will find a workaround for a detailed policy already in place.

A great solution to this is to create a form of all travel policies and validate key data to ensure all the parameters have been met for approval from the manager. After that, the finance team can approve the necessary budget for the expedition.

How To Make The Most Out of Your Rapid Application Development Life Cycle

Knowing how to get it right is the start, but the right steps can go a long way. Here are a few tips and tricks to make the most out of your Rapid Application Development Life Cycle.

• Fill your team with experts who habitually deliver long before deadlines. The RAD model thrives when teams prioritize schedules.
• Ensure that the stakeholders know how to share knowledge and be knowledgeable.
• Secure high budgets for experienced developers who don’t shy away from feedback and deliver quick turnarounds
• Complement the skillset of your team members with the right app development tools and automation to turn models into workable prototypes faster.

To Wrap It Up

Rapid Application Development is suitable for efficient prototyping, leading to an MVP. The RAD model can be applied even when creating complete applications as well.

Planning to pitch to your clients and potential investors with a prototype they can’t refuse? Bring your ideas to Impala Intech, and let us build you a working prototype within a few hours.

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