Whenever a software developer starts working on any type of new project, it is obvious that he would want to start scripting the code right away. Regardless of what his expertise is over the software are, if he builds software without laying out a plan for it, then he might be building a home without setting a strong foundation.
Well, no matter how strong the building process and use of resources are, the house is going to collapse, similarly, without a foundational layout, the software is also going to crash.
Nobody really wills to let the effort go in vain, just out of a silly mistake of not setting a plan for it, right? Well, that is where software design comes into play, a mechanism that allows critical software processes to be simplified in a certain manner.
Related Read: A Guide To Minimum Viable Architecture Points For Any Startup
It is obvious that while talking about software design, a question pops up, what is this software design after all? Well, the answer is not as critical as you might think.
Software design is basically a mechanism of preparing a plan, a layout for structuring the code of your software application. It is as simple as that to define, but is this that easy to perform? Well, that is a whole different scenario but if you are to perform software design for your new software project then it is a necessity to know its importance, otherwise, you might just miss the crisp of it.
Software design is a multi-stage concept. The software itself is a multi-layer, multi-dimensional spectrum, and its design has multiple intermediate steps, therefore; different types of software level design.
1. Architectural Design: Architectural design is the first step in software-level design. This involves the construction of a software application structure in order to have the correct interconnection of each element of code according to the required function.
2. High-level Design: This is the second step in software-level design. In this step, the designer splits the theoretical concepts, into multiple entities and ensures their functions are inter-related to get an optimum result. This module identifies a modular structure of different entities and creates a design to inter-connect all modules for a specific output.
3. Detailed Design: This is the third and last step of the software-level design. It involves the compilation of all modular outputs and arrangement or rearrangement o functional modules for the final outcome. This level of software design determines more of a logical structure out of constructed modules. The software outcome accomplishment part is the motive of the detailed design level of software design. What Is The Importance Of Software Design? Why Is It So Important?
As mentioned earlier, software design is the process of setting a foundation for constructing your software structure code. This is what makes it the most important aspect of software development yet there are many corner sights to it, which may give reasonable answers to the importance of software design.
Therefore, let us communicate about why software design is so important and what makes it the same?
Following are some points that make software design so important:
Modularity, the first concept of software design it is. It means cleaving your huge software project into small modules. It simply means splitting the software project into small pieces, small tasks called modules for the simplicity of work. Splitting your critical software project into modules only makes it easier to work on every requirement of the project.
It also gives the convenience of making changes in the future. If in case, the requirement of your client changes, then you can anytime go for restructuring a module, not the whole project. It gives you the ease of finding errors in the modules, not the whole structured complicated code.
Therefore, modularity makes the software simpler and simplicity makes it effective, this is why software design is important.
As software design is performed by creating modules, it makes the task easier to maintain. Tasks like finding bugs, debugging, restructuring, and changing the functionality of specific elements in the software application become quite easy due to software design.
A good software design gives you the privilege of changing the appearance, functionality, etc, of the software by working on a specific module.
For example; in case you have already completed the creation of a software application, but now you need a change in its interface then you can just make changes in the module that relates to the interface, you need not mess up with any other module. This is how software design helps in the maintenance of your software application.
Software design is a reflection of the performance of the software application. A good software design effectively displays the flow of functions taking place while the software is running. From input to output, a software design shall show all the steps so that the performance of the software application can be analyzed.
If in case the software project is handed over from a software developer to another, then the new developer should understand the software by just reading the software design and this is what the privilege is given by good software design.
When it comes to making changes in the software, the elements like portability come in handy. Portability in the software design gives the convenience of transferring functions from a module to another, as it can make a whole lot of changes in the functionality of software applications.
Another, important element of software design is Trackability. Trackability is as its name suggests, it is the aptitude for tracking the flow of functions taking place in the software working. Good software design provides track ability to the software application which makes it easier to use and maintain.
Now that I have mentioned the reasonable approaches towards the importance of software design, let’s have a talk about how it is done the right way.
Well, software design is more like a rule-free process because designers can have hold of their own designing styles. Yet, there are few steps that make a software design stand out, and implementing those steps in your software design flow is the right way to do it.
1. The first step is understanding the requirements. It is important to understand the requirements of your client and segment them to be included in your modules.
2. Establish communication between the team members. As software design is not a task of the one-man army, it takes a team to perform. Therefore, it is important to establish communication in the team so that there are clarifications and the right flow in the process.
3. Define the functional flow of the software, choose compatible integration systems, select tools to complement it and never overlook the price factor of application.
4. Avoid using multiple document management systems so that you have a unique solution environment.
5. Deploy the aspects of development, testing and performance analysis carefully in the design itself.
As we can see that the methodologies which we discussed above are unique in their ways. They are usually applied as per the requirements of the business at any given point in time. Companies have to carefully assess the situation and then apply the appropriate methodology for desired results. If you plan on initiating development methodologies such as DevOps and Design Sprint in your organization, Mindbowser can be your solutions partner.
How to Effectively Hire and Manage a Remote Team of Developers.
Download NowMindbowser and team are professional, talented and very responsive. They got us through a challenging situation with our IOT product successfully. They will be our go to dev team going forward.
Founder, Cascada
Amazing team to work with. Very responsive and very skilled in both front and backend engineering. Looking forward to our next project together.
Co-Founder, Emerge
The team is great to work with. Very professional, on task, and efficient.
Founder, PeriopMD
I can not express enough how pleased we are with the whole team. From the first call and meeting, they took our vision and ran with it. Communication was easy and everyone was flexible to our schedule. I’m excited to...
Founder, Seeke
Mindbowser has truly been foundational in my journey from concept to design and onto that final launch phase.
CEO, KickSnap
We had very close go live timeline and MindBowser team got us live a month before.
CEO, BuyNow WorldWide
If you want a team of great developers, I recommend them for the next project.
Founder, Teach Reach
Mindbowser built both iOS and Android apps for Mindworks, that have stood the test of time. 5 years later they still function quite beautifully. Their team always met their objectives and I'm very happy with the end result. Thank you!
Founder, Mindworks
Our CISO was extremely impressed by Mindbowser’s work. It is pretty rare to see this kind of clean security report so early in the company’s journey. Huge Thank you for the disciplined approach here.
Founder, TrestleIQ
Mindbowser has delivered a much better quality product than our previous tech vendors. Our product is stable and passed Well Architected Framework Review from AWS.
CEO, PurpleAnt
The flexibility and capacity of the Mindbower staff has been impressive.
CEO, ProofPilot
I am happy to share that we got USD 10k in cloud credits courtesy of our friends at Mindbowser. Thank you Pravin and Ayush, this means a lot to us.
CTO, Shortlist
Mindbowser is one of the reasons that our app is successful. These guys have been a great team.
Founder & CEO, MangoMirror
Kudos for all your hard work and diligence on the Telehealth platform project. You made it possible.
CEO, ThriveHealth
Mindbowser helped us build an awesome iOS app to bring balance to people’s lives.
CEO, SMILINGMIND
They were a very responsive team! Extremely easy to communicate and work with!
Founder & CEO, TotTech
We’ve had very little-to-no hiccups at all—it’s been a really pleasurable experience.
Co-Founder, TEAM8s
Mindbowser was very helpful with explaining the development process and started quickly on the project.
Executive Director of Product Development, Innovation Lab
The greatest benefit we got from Mindbowser is the expertise. Their team has developed apps in all different industries with all types of social proofs.
Co-Founder, Vesica
Mindbowser is professional, efficient and thorough.
Consultant, XPRIZE
Very committed, they create beautiful apps and are very benevolent. They have brilliant Ideas.
Founder, S.T.A.R.S of Wellness
MindBowser was great; they listened to us a lot and helped us hone in on the actual idea of the app. They had put together fantastic wireframes for us.
Co-Founder, Flat Earth
Ayush was responsive and paired me with the best team member possible, to complete my complex vision and project. Could not be happier.
Founder, Child Life On Call
As a founder of a budding start-up, it has been a great experience working with Mindbower Inc under Ayush's leadership for our online digital platform design and development activity.
Founder, Courtyardly
The team from Mindbowser stayed on task, asked the right questions, and completed the required tasks in a timely fashion! Strong work team!
CEO, SDOH2Health LLC
Mindbowser was easy to work with and hit the ground running, immediately feeling like part of our team.
CEO, Stealth Startup
Mindbowser was an excellent partner in developing my fitness app. They were patient, attentive, & understood my business needs. The end product exceeded my expectations. Thrilled to share it globally.
Owner, Phalanx
Mindbowser's expertise in tech, process & mobile development made them our choice for our app. The team was dedicated to the process & delivered high-quality features on time. They also gave valuable industry advice. Highly recommend them for app development...
Co-Founder, Fox&Fork