There are 3 development methods that integrate quality into software development. 

Acceptance test-driven development.

Test-driven development.

And behavior-driven development. 

Software projects fail left and right in the unforgiving market due to running out of budget.

That can happen because they didn’t test often, and they didn’t test early.

The software development methods we’ll talk about here will remedy that by making sure quality assurance starts when development starts.

Although all 3 of them are similar, there are many key differences.

Here we’ll talk about their importance, how to do them and what separates them.

Let’s dive in!

It doesn’t have to be us, exactly.

Why Startups Should Work with a Software Agency

Here’s a brutal fact for you:

90% of startups fail.

According to research, some of the common reasons why startups fail include:

1. Misunderstanding the Market
   This often happens when startups skip validating their idea and fail to test it adequately. A lack of user research and real-world feedback leads to products that don’t resonate with their target audience.
2. The Wrong Team
   Many startups struggle with assembling the right development team. To cut costs, they hire mostly junior developers and end up with an inexperienced team tackling complex projects—a recipe for disaster.
3. Poor Product Quality
   Skimping on quality often backfires after launch. No one wants to use a buggy, poorly designed product, and customers quickly move on to better alternatives.
4. High Costs
   Development is expensive, especially in regions with high wages. Add to that the cost of hiring, onboarding, office spaces, and administrative support, and the budget can spiral out of control.

Of course, not every reason startups fail can be addressed by working with a software agency.

But the ones mentioned above? Digiits can help with all of them.

Our methodical approach to product discovery will ensure your idea has a place in the market.

Dedicated teams we assign to your project will be carefully composed to match the skill set needed to make your product a reality.

When it comes to quality, our mids and seniors outnumber our juniors 5 to 1. Our team is filled with developers with 9+ years of software engineering experience.

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Product Discovery & Design

Product discovery is arguably the most critical phase of the entire development process. This is where we dive deep to research and determine whether your idea is viable and has the potential to succeed in the market.

Once we’ve validated your idea, we seamlessly transition into the design phase. This stage is tightly connected to product discovery as it involves creating wireframes and user flows based on the insights gathered.

Here’s how our process works in more detail:

The Digiits Process

1. Kickoff
   We start by getting to know you and your vision. Through interviews with key stakeholders from your startup, we ask essential questions to ensure we understand your goals and your market. These include:
   • What are your business objectives?
   • Who is your target audience?
   • What are the must-have features of your app?
   • What problem will the app solve?
   • What goal will the app help your users achieve?
   • What are the common pain points of your target audience?
   • Do you already have buyer personas or user profiles defined?
   This kickoff phase allows us to gain a clear understanding of your app’s potential market fit and lays the foundation for designing a solution that aligns with your vision and your users’ needs.

Research

After the kickoff, we take the information you’ve provided and build on it by conducting our own in-depth research. This ensures we have a comprehensive understanding of your market, users, and competitors, enabling us to create a solution that truly stands out.

Our research activities include:

1. Exploratory Domain Research
   • Deep dive into your industry to understand trends, challenges, and opportunities.
   • Identify how your app can address unmet needs within your domain.
2. Data Gathering Workshops
   • Collaborative sessions with your team to extract valuable insights and define key objectives.
   • Facilitate discussions to align on goals, user expectations, and business priorities.
3. Competition Analysis and Market Positioning
   • Study your competitors to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in their offerings.
   • Pinpoint opportunities to position your product uniquely in the market.
4. User Research
   • Engage with potential users to uncover their pain points, preferences, and behaviors.
   • Validate assumptions through surveys, interviews, or focus groups to ensure the product resonates with your audience.
5. Solution Architecture Research
   • Evaluate the best technologies and frameworks to build a scalable, efficient, and user-friendly product.
   • Develop a technical roadmap that aligns with your business goals.

This meticulous research phase ensures that every decision we make is informed, strategic, and geared toward creating a product that thrives in the real world.

Discovery Workshops

Once we’ve gathered sufficient information, it’s time to take things a step further with Discovery Workshops. These collaborative sessions are designed to dig deeper into your product’s potential, allowing us to define ideal user personas, use cases, and core functionalities.

Together, we’ll refine the vision for your product and lay the foundation for its success.

What Our Discovery Workshops Include

1. User Personas
   • Define detailed profiles of your ideal users, including demographics, behaviors, needs, and pain points.
   • Ensure a user-centric approach to the product design process.
2. User Journey Mapping
   • Visualize how your users will interact with the product from start to finish.
   • Identify opportunities to streamline their experience and address potential challenges.
3. Scoping and Planning Product Volume
   • Collaboratively outline the scope of the product.
   • Plan the product roadmap to balance ambition with feasibility.
4. Context and Use Cases
   • Define the key contexts in which your product will be used.
   • Identify real-world scenarios that will drive adoption and engagement.
5. MVP Feature Discussion and Prioritization
   • Identify the core features necessary to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
   • Prioritize features based on impact, effort, and alignment with business goals.
6. Process Mapping
   • Outline key workflows and processes to ensure operational efficiency.
   • Highlight interdependencies and optimize processes for scalability.
7. Sketching User Flows
   • Design step-by-step paths that users will follow within the app.
   • Ensure intuitive navigation and interaction.
8. Wireframing
   • Create low-fidelity visual representations of your product’s structure.
   • Begin shaping the app’s design, focusing on functionality and usability.

Functionality and UX Proposal

At this stage, we compile all the research, assets, and insights gathered during the earlier phases of discovery. These findings form the foundation for crafting solutions that address both functionality and user experience (UX).

Our Functionality and UX Proposal includes:

• A detailed outline of proposed features based on user needs and business goals.
• A UX strategy that ensures an intuitive, seamless experience for your users.
• Clear documentation of all deliverables to align expectations and guide development.

Mockups

Once we’ve finalized the functionality and UX proposal, we create non-interactive screens using your brand guidelines. These mockups allow us to visualize the product’s structure, layout, and design elements, ensuring everyone has a clear picture of how the product will look before we move forward.

UX/UI Design

This is where our design team works its magic. Leveraging your brand style and industry best practices, we craft a design that is both visually stunning and highly functional.

• UX Design: All agreed-upon user flows are brought to life, ensuring smooth navigation and a logical structure for your product.
• UI Design: Every screen is designed in detail, covering all elements, states, and animated transitions for a polished, professional finish.
• Consistency: The design remains consistent with your brand identity, creating a cohesive and recognizable experience for users.

By the end of this phase, you’ll have a complete visual blueprint of your product, ready to move into development.

Your Involvement

To achieve the best results, your participation will be essential during the kickoff interviews and discovery workshops.

Don’t worry—our team is flexible and will work around your schedule to ensure these sessions are productive and convenient. Your input is invaluable, as it helps us align the product with your vision and business goals.

Roles Involved

To bring your product to life, we assemble a team of experts, each with a unique role in the discovery and design process:

Product Owner (PO)

The PO acts as the bridge between your team and Digiits’ development and design teams. They ensure the discovery process runs smoothly and translate market and user research into actionable feature ideas.

• Facilitates communication between stakeholders and the team.
• Prioritizes features and manages the roadmap.
• Ensures alignment with business objectives.

UX/UI Designer

The UX/UI Designer leads the design process, ensuring every aspect of your product is user-centered and visually cohesive.

Their responsibilities include:

• Creating user journeys and user flows.
• Defining and refining user personas.
• Leading discovery workshops to extract valuable insights.
• Designing wireframes to map the product’s structure.
• Crafting detailed and visually engaging UX/UI designs.

Software Architect

The Software Architect is the technical backbone of the project, leveraging years of experience to ensure every idea is feasible and scalable.

Their responsibilities include:

• Proposing software components tailored to the product’s needs.
• Recommending third-party services to enhance functionality and efficiency.
• Developing scalability solutions to future-proof the product.
• Evaluating new feature ideas for technical viability and growth potential.
• Planning the optimal tech stack to align with your goals.

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This collaborative team structure ensures that every aspect of your product, from design to functionality, is thoughtfully crafted and strategically executed.

Software Development

Here’s where the magic happens: software development—the heart of what we do best at Digiits.

We follow the SCRUM Agile methodology, a proven approach that ensures flexibility, transparency, and efficiency for both our team and our clients.

Important: Quality assurance (QA) is a cornerstone of our development process, and our QA engineers are integral to every stage, ensuring a high-quality product from start to finish.

Let’s walk you through how our process works.

SCRUM Agile Methodology

1. Backlog Creation

Before diving into development, we establish a clear and organized backlog. This involves breaking down complex features into smaller, manageable tasks that can be distributed among team members.

2. Sprint Planning

Once the backlog is ready, we plan out sprints—short, focused periods for task delivery.

• Each sprint typically lasts two weeks, but we can adjust this based on the project’s size and complexity.
• Tasks for the sprint are selected and prioritized to ensure smooth progress.

3. Development

This is where the actual work begins.

• Our development philosophy emphasizes agility and continuous delivery.
• Parallel to development, quality assurance activities are conducted to catch issues early and maintain high standards.

4. Sprint Refinement

Circumstances often change mid-sprint—whether it’s new priorities or adjustments to existing tasks.

• During refinement, we update the sprint as needed and roll over tasks that require more time to the next sprint.

5. Sprint Review

At the end of each sprint, we evaluate:

• Completed tasks.
• Areas needing adjustment.
• Tasks to carry over into the next sprint.

6. Sprint Retrospective

For efficiency, we often combine this meeting with the sprint review. The goal of the retrospective is to assess:

• What went well.
• What could be improved.
• Process enhancements or new tools that may be needed.

This constant reflection allows us to refine our approach and deliver better results with every sprint.

Roles Involved

Our development teams are meticulously assembled to match the complexity and requirements of your project.

1. Software Engineers

The heroes of the development phase, responsible for:

• Building and releasing product increments within the agreed timeframes.

2. QA Engineers

Tasked with ensuring the product meets high-quality standards through:

• Functional verification.
• Integration testing.
• System and user testing.
• Unit testing.

3. Project Manager/Scrum Master

The organizer-in-chief, responsible for:

• Managing the backlog.
• Writing user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Planning and prioritizing tasks during sprints.

Your Involvement

1. Meetings

We recommend daily check-ins to maintain alignment and ensure transparency. At Digiits, we believe it’s better to overcommunicate than risk under-communicating.

2. Subject Matter Expertise

Your industry expertise is vital. Whether your product relates to banking, agriculture, or any other sector, your guidance will help our team understand the nuances of your niche, ensuring we deliver a product that truly fits your needs.

Continuous Product Improvement

Creating an MVP is just the beginning—about 25% of the journey. The real magic happens when a good product becomes great by actively listening to your users, analyzing their feedback, and addressing their needs through continuous feature enhancements.

Here’s how Digiits handles this process:

The Process

1. Analytics Tools Implementation

To gain valuable insights, we integrate analytics tools into your product. These tools help us track user behavior, identify pain points, and uncover opportunities for improvement.

2. Analyzing User Feedback

Once enough data has been gathered, we analyze and prioritize feedback to guide the next steps.

• Low-usage features: If a feature implemented in the MVP isn’t being used, we consider removing or reworking it to streamline the product.
• New opportunities: Feedback often reveals new features or improvements that users want, helping us prioritize what to build next.

For example, heatmaps can show how users interact with the mobile app, providing critical insights for optimizing usability.

3. Implementing New Versions

With feedback analyzed, we enter a quick iteration cycle to develop and release new features and improvements.

• These cycles ensure your product evolves continuously to meet user expectations.
• Updates are rolled out seamlessly, keeping your product fresh and relevant.

4. Maintenance

Regular maintenance ensures your product remains robust and functional. This includes:

• Updating dependencies.
• Ensuring compatibility with new operating system versions.
• Fixing any issues that arise post-release.

Roles Involved

Continuous product improvement involves all key players from the earlier phases:

• Product Owner (PO): Guides the prioritization of user feedback and ensures alignment with business goals.
• Software Development Team: Implements new features and maintains the product’s technical health.
• UX/UI Designers: Refine user interfaces and experiences based on feedback, ensuring updates are visually cohesive and user-friendly.

Conclusion

Let’s summarize.

Why you should work with Digiits:

• No Hiring Hassles: We take care of building the perfect team, so you don’t have to.
• Effortless Scalability: Scale your project up or down seamlessly as needed.
• Expertise Across Technologies: We excel in all major mobile and web platforms, ensuring top-notch results.
• Cost Efficiency: Eliminate the overhead of maintaining an in-house development team and supporting functions like HR.

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Our Process:

1. Discovery & Design
   • Define your product’s vision and ensure market fit through research, workshops, and wireframing.
2. Software Development
   • Build, test, and refine your product using agile methodologies to ensure efficiency and quality.
3. Continuous Product Improvement
   • Evolve your product through user feedback, analytics, and quick iteration cycles.