Once a final Prototype design is approved, PCA will double-back with the Client to gather all of the underlying details required by our engineering team to build out the application.   While the Detailed Design Phase is less visible/tangible than the Prototype Design Phase — in fact, it may seem like it is just slowing down the Project — this step is essential to uncover, communicate and resolve any unknowns so we can better align expectations on how the application is going to function, and ultimately to insure that PCA is building a solution that meets your specific business and operational needs.   Depending upon the nature of your application, detailed design requirements may include:

• Use cases and Test cases that clarify how the application is expected to behave and perform specific tasks
• Business logic, algorithms, and calculations that support the visual design
• Input constraints and data validations to be performed as data is input by users
• Data schema diagrams that layout the tables and relational data model
• Third-party controls that PCA may wish to use in developing the application
• Low level functional specifications for tricky or more complex areas of the application
• A data migration plan to move your business data from your old system to the new application

Payback on gathering details at this early juncture can be ten-fold by avoiding issues down the road and speeding up the development phase.   If necessary, PCA will update our project estimate based upon the results of the Detailed Design phase.