Research/Development Plan – draft
I have created a research and development plan!
The first person I showed this to (Frank) thought this was rather promising. The second person I showed this to (a developer at a startup) laughed and said to build in an extra 10 months, just in case.
So… I guess we’ll see how this goes. But here it is!
October (what remains)
• final research/development proposal
• final thesis proposal
• learn how to build a web app with Python and MongoDB
• “Hackathon” weekend to jump-start buildout of MVP (front end)
- define base feature set
- wireframe sketches
- final aim: develop working website with basic video chat/recipe viewing interface
November
• Continue building MVP (back end)
• Recruit 10 testers (from my network) to begin using site so far
- goal: have each person use the site with their friends at least once within the month
• Interview testers to understand their reactions
December
• Continue building MVP
• pinpoint 3 candidates for advisor
• recruit 10 more testers (again from my network)
• interview testers
• create “coming soon” page to gather email addresses for a bigger test pool
January
• Finalize MVP (bare minimum, core features) over winter break if possible
• work on product branding and design, refine interface
• send out up to 100 invitations to email addresses gathered from “coming soon” page
February-March
• gather use metrics from all the new users (surveys, site analytics)
• bug fixes & work on tweaking site based on user feedback
• 10 more user tests / interviews (via Silverback)
• analyze results from user tests
April
• write thesis documentation
• produce promotional video / demo?
• bug fixes, further tweaking as time allows
• prepare for public alpha release at thesis final presentations
May
• done!
• sleep for, like, 72 hours straight