Step 5: Making changes

Prioritize essential fixes

At this stage, it’s essential to limit changes to the critical fixes, avoiding the temptation to dive into improvements, as we already mentioned in the previous step. The priority here is to address the most pressing issues that could impact the functionality of your application, ensuring that these are resolved before moving on to any enhancements.

By limiting changes to essential fixes, you keep your project on track and reduce delays and budget overruns. This approach helps you deliver a functional version of your application quickly, allowing users to start using it as soon as possible. Additionally, focusing on critical fixes first helps manage stakeholder expectations, providing clear communication about what will be delivered in the initial rollout versus what can be expected in future iterations. This strategy not only streamlines the process but also builds confidence in the project's progress and ultimate success.

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Re-test and verify

Once you've made a fix for a specific use case, it’s vital to re-test it. Have the intended user test the fix and provide clear feedback—either a straightforward YES or NO on whether the fix resolves the issue. If the answer is NO, gather detailed feedback on what went wrong and what the user expected.  

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This step is crucial because even a well-implemented fix may not perform as expected under real-world conditions. For this reason, this method ensures that your fixes are truly effective and that no issues are overlooked.

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Document everything

Keeping a detailed log of all tests and results is essential for tracking progress, maintaining transparency, and ensuring accountability throughout your project. Whether you opt for a simple Kanban board, a spreadsheet, or a more advanced issue tracking system, the most important thing is to document every fix and its outcome.

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This log serves multiple purposes:

• It provides a clear record of what has been done, allowing you to easily track the progress of each fix and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.  

• It creates a transparent trail of actions that can be reviewed by stakeholders, helping to manage their expectations and provide assurance that all critical issues have been addressed.

• It enables you to identify patterns or recurring problems, offering insights for future improvements or highlighting areas that may require additional focus.

In the long run, this can be particularly useful for demonstrating that all identified issues were thoroughly addressed, whether to stakeholders, auditors, or team members who were not involved in the day-to-day process. However, it’s important to remember that even the most comprehensive log is not foolproof. Despite your best efforts, some issues may remain undiscovered or may arise later due to unforeseen circumstances.