Product by product

Problem/Context

In a Replacement project or Enhancement project where the existing system handles products of different types.

Solution

Create enough features in the first release to make it possible to migrate one product from the existing system to the new one.

Strengths

• If there is a large variation in features that are needed for different products this pattern reduces MDE significantly
• Internal users will often be organized around products. That makes it easier to achieve a situation where few users have to work with both systems in parallel.

Weaknesses

• This pattern does not work well if there are strong interdependencies between products. This is the case if one customer typically interacts with products of more than one type

Examples

• In a book club system one product is a particular type of book club.
• In an insurance system every type of insurance is one product.
• In a research application system one type of research program is a product