Introducing the USoft Approach

The USoft Approach is a methodical approach to manufacturing rules-based business systems that:

• are reliable and robust.

• have an optimal fit within the business context they operate in.

• have an exceptionally high level of data quality and maintainability.

The USoft Approach subdivides complex projects into simple, recognisable work phases.

Here is a quick overview picture. At first glance, business rules are especially important in the DEFINE phase:

Here is an expanded view of the USoft Approach. As cycles are repeated, business rules increasingly play a part in almost all the activities:

Advantages of the USoft Approach

Rapid prototyping with a wide audience

Specifications are so easy to read, navigate and test that you can have non-technical stakeholders validate them. These non-technical stakeholders can also participate in the process of building working prototypes (implementations) that gradually evolve into the target software.

Separation of concerns

USoft models show a clean separation between specifications and implementations. Furthermore, in each of these 2 columns, they show a clean separation of architectural tiers: objects and facts, data, rules, services, and human interfaces. This separation of concerns gives you a modular approach: whilst working in one area, the impact on other layers is minimal, and unwanted effects can be traced better than in conventional coding environments.

Requirements, rules and implementations are traceable and cross-referenced

The different specifications and implementations needed to realise your system are described as much as possible as a model. This makes it much easier to make them traceable, to establish cross-references and navigation paths between them and to ensure single-point-of-definition of all the artefacts. In the long run, this gives you maintainability and reduced project and maintenance costs.

Balancing work between phases

An indicator of quality is that you pay equal attention to each of the three main phases in the USoft Approach:

The picture on the right visualises that, if your way of working is unbalanced, this is almost always because too much time is spent on tasks in the DELIVER phase, especially on bug fixing.

You can ensure a balanced way of working:

• Make sure that, in the PLAN phase, you pay enough attention to planning what you want to do in the DEFINE phase.
• Make sure you meet the Definition of Done in the DEFINE phase.
• In the earlier stages of a project or application, invest in a proper infrastructure that makes continuous Delivery easy and reliable.