• Requirements: What are the requirements?
• Deliverables:
  • What are the deliverables?
  • When are they required?
• Resources:
  • What are the resources (people, equipment, components)?
  • How much do they cost?
  • When are they available?
• Deadlines: are they any hard deadlines?

Diagrams help with thinking and communication. You should use Unified Modelling Language (UML) for system and software design! Other diagrams, e.g. isometric drawings, circuit diagrams, graphs of results will also be useful.

Some questions to ask yourselves:

• Do you have a top-level design? Class Diagram
• Do you have an object diagram and/or schematic?
• What other diagrams will you need? What for?

In the early stages of your project, high-level diagrams can help with dividing the project into its main areas of activity and assigning tasks. Later they are useful in detailed design. For more information on modelling see Architectural Model.

The project plan will be an early deliverable! It must show the main tasks, their sequence, time resources needed, and who will be involved with each. A plan in the form of a Gantt chart is the recommended format.

Your plan must be accompanied by an agreed “task and role matrix” signed by all members of the group. A suitable template for this will be made available on the Blackboard site.

See also: Notes from the Team Building Exercise, Architectural Model

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