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Process

♻️ SDLC Phases

Hybrid Agile-Waterfall lifecycle from planning to maintenance — and where we are right now.

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Methodology

We use a hybrid Agile-Waterfall approach: a clear linear progression through SDLC phases, but with 2-week sprints inside the development phase for iterative delivery and feedback.

  • Total duration: 16 weeks (planning → production).
  • Sprint length: 2 weeks.
  • Ceremonies: sprint planning, daily standup, demo, retro.
  • Source control: Git on GitHub with feature branches & PR reviews.

Phase Timeline

Week 1–2

1. Planning

Stakeholders, vision, MVP scope, documentation kickoff.

Week 3

2. Analysis

Functional & non-functional requirements, personas, user stories.

Week 4

3. Design

Architecture, ERD, wireframes, design system.

Week 5–12

4. Development

Implementation across web, mobile, and backend in 2-week sprints.

Week 13–14

5. Testing & QA Current

Full regression, UAT, performance & security validation.

Week 15–16

6. Deployment

Production rollout & monitoring.

Post-launch

7. Maintenance

Hotfixes, monitoring, hardening, and Phase 2 planning.

1. Planning (Week 1–2)

Objectives

  • Align on business goals & market position.
  • Identify stakeholders and decision-makers.
  • Lock the MVP scope and out-of-scope list.
  • Define the success criteria and KPIs.

Deliverables

  • Project charter (vision, scope, timeline, budget).
  • Stakeholder register.
  • Risk register & mitigations.
  • This documentation portal (initial skeleton).

2. Analysis (Week 3)

Objectives

  • Document functional requirements per module.
  • Capture non-functional needs (performance, security, accessibility, localisation).
  • Build user personas and primary journeys.

Deliverables

  • Feature specifications (now under Features).
  • User flows (now under User Flows).
  • Glossary of domain terms.

3. Design (Week 4)

Objectives

  • Define the system architecture and component boundaries.
  • Produce the database schema (ERD).
  • Build the design system & wireframes for all key screens.

Deliverables

4. Development (Week 5–12)

Approach

  • Sprints of 2 weeks; backlog of features prioritised by dependency & risk.
  • API-first: Laravel routes & tests before client integration.
  • Feature branches → PR → review → merge to main.
  • Continuous integration runs unit + integration tests on every PR.

Sprint themes (4 sprints)

SprintThemeModules
S1FoundationsAuth, profiles, follow, feed, posts, comments, reactions
S2Learning coreCourses, lessons, enrollments, progress, certificates, books, reader
S3Live & consultationsLive rooms (Jitsi), in-room chat, consultations, availability, ratings
S4Money & messagingWallet, transactions, invoices, PayPal, gifts, chat, notifications

5. Testing & QA (Week 13–14) Current

We're here. See the full Testing & QA page and the catalogue of Test Scenarios and Test Cases.

Test types running in this phase

Functional

Each module's happy paths & edges across web + mobile.

Integration

Cross-module flows: purchase → enrollment → consume → review.

UAT

Real users (or stand-ins) walk the personas' top tasks.

Performance

API p95, frontend Lighthouse, load tests on hot endpoints.

Security

Auth, role gates, file uploads, payment idempotency.

Accessibility

Keyboard, screen reader, contrast, focus states.

Localization

AR/EN parity, RTL layout, formatting.

Compatibility

Browsers, screen sizes, iOS & Android versions.

Exit criteria

  • 0 open critical / high defects.
  • Test pass rate > 95% across the catalogue.
  • UAT sign-off by Product Owner.
  • Performance budgets met.

6. Deployment (Week 15–16)

Objectives

  • Final production deployment on DigitalOcean.
  • Monitoring & alerting wired up.
  • Backup & restore drills.
  • App store submissions (iOS & Android).
  • Launch communications.

See the Deployment page for the runbook.

7. Maintenance (Post-launch)

  • Hotfix process for critical issues.
  • Weekly health review of metrics, errors, and feedback.
  • Monthly retros and small feature improvements.
  • Phase 2 backlog grooming (subscriptions, AI, etc.).

Tooling

Source control

Git + GitHub. Branch-per-feature, PR reviews, protected main.

Project mgmt

Issue tracker / Kanban for backlog & sprints.

Design

Figma for wireframes & hi-fi mockups.

API testing

Postman / Insomnia collections aligned with this docs site.

CI

Run tests & lints on PRs.

Monitoring

Application logs centralised; mobile crash reporting in-app.