Want to speed up the development process and launch your product much faster? Then, you might need to go with Rapid Application Development (RAD). As its name suggests, Rapid Application Development is a revolutionary development process that can transform your ideas into reality in no time.
Traditional development can be slow and expensive. You can imagine the resources, time, and money that can get wasted with the traditional development approach. That is where rapid application development comes in, to help build software very fast!
If your focus is on continuous feedback, collaborative sprints, and key attention to user needs, RAD can help! In this article, we will discuss all important facts related to rapid application development.
What is rapid application development?
RAD is a development approach that employs powerful tools and methods for rapidly delivering software with enough flexibility to accommodate changes.
Rapid Application Development is part of the agile software development approach. Its focus is on user feedback and does not follow a strict plan. Hence, it produces a prototype through quick feedback and gives less emphasis on the planning part of the development process.
In this development approach, teams build the bare frame, get user feedback, and adjust as the development progresses. It is quick and lets you adapt to changing needs. This development methodology is also referred to as rapid application building (RAB).
In short, rapid application building can be tested and refined, unlike traditional development models, which emphasize excessive planning and design phases.
Origin of rapid application development
During the 1980s, Barry Boehm and James Martin leveraged the most important trait of software program flexibility when they started designing their development models. Boehm worked on the Spiral Model, and James Martin worked on the rapid application building model. As a result, the new development approach began, laying the foundation for agile software development.
Rapid application development practices
Based on the specific frameworks, the methodology and tools used may vary in rapid application building. However, the fundamental phases remain the same.
1. Defining needs
Rapid Application Development, or RAD, starts by defining requirements instead of spending time creating detailed specifications. In this methodology, developers prioritize collaborative work. In fact, it follows a loose strategy that allows for adjustments during development.
Developers gather the essential aspects of the product. Clients share their vision, and developers collaborate on the key features to make their vision a reality. Further, this collaborative approach allows for great flexibility and ensures that the final product matches end-user needs.
2. Prototyping
Prototyping is the process of developing a basic version of a product to test ideas and collect feedback before creating the final product. It aims to identify clear solutions for improving the end product and ensure that it fulfils the end user’s needs. During this process, you can enable testing and modifying a design before it becomes finalized.
At the final stage, developers clean up and organize the prototype’s code and address the ‘technical debt’ incurred by rapid delivery.
3. Collect feedback
Once the prototype is complete, we move on to the next phase of gathering feedback from clients. The feedback can be related to anything from the user interface (UI) to the core features. Developers must expect adjustments as the users may identify areas where the initial requirements need modifications.
Quite often, users may find that what works well on paper may not work well in practice. Once the developers receive the feedback, they return to the prototyping stage if an adjustment is needed. If the feedback is good, it implies that the users are happy with the prototype design, and the development team can move towards the finalization stage.
4. The final stage
The final stage is all about refining the application. The developers have to re-engineer the code to ensure its maintainability and stability in the future. To deliver the desired product, developers need to integrate back-end data with real-world data and create complete documentation.
Each phase gives an opportunity to collect feedback on the application development. It helps developers reshape the product on the basis of user input. Finally, it results in developing a successful end product. It focuses on the iterative nature of the rapid application building approach and the importance of user feedback during the entire development process.
What are the advantages of rapid application development?
The approach leverages the above four steps to help developers to minimize risk, and ensure better quality products. Here are a few of its significant advantages.
Speed
Unlike traditional methodology, the developers who execute rapid application building are more likely to complete the work on or before the specified time. Usually, there are minimal change requests after delivery.
Satisfaction
Clients/users validate the results from the beginning, and developers can present their work regularly. Once the developers give outputs that satisfy the clients, it helps them to deliver the final product as desired. As a result, the development team receives its fair share of appreciation as well.
Cost
This development approach has the advantage of early user feedback. It eliminates expensive rework and thereby minimizes further investment, such as developing a feature that may not be useful in the future.
What are the disadvantages of rapid application development?
Just like there are two sides of a coin, rapid application development comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s quickly check out its limitations.
Limited scalability
When a project requires inter-team interaction, the development cycle can slow down and affect the pace of the project. Therefore, it’s hard to accommodate more groups of people when there are regular changes during the development phase.
High commitment
Unlike waterfall development environments, in rapid application, building the prototype requires both the clients and the development team to establish a feedback loop. Therefore, it consumes much time.
User-interface oriented
Focus on user experience makes developers overlook the back-end code as they pay attention to the user-interface. This often results in neglecting the back-end side and it can potentially cause issues in the future when developers finish creating the app.
Is rapid application development and agile development the same?
Often, there arises a doubt that rapid application building and agile are the same thing. However, rapid application building is considered a precursor to agile, but it is more than a development strategy.
To make it more clear, we have compiled a comparison between the two development methodologies.
When should you select rapid application development?
Now that we know the advantages and disadvantages of RAD methodology, we have some idea about the projects that can benefit from this development strategy.
RAD is ideal when you plan to create a customer-facing website or when you want to develop an internal business tool.
However, you should know that it is not particularly suitable for mission-critical software. Examples include power grid control systems, air traffic systems, health record systems, online banking, logistics management, and so forth. Usually, mission-critical software plays a key role in ensuring the smooth operation of a business, and its failure or malfunction can cause serious consequences.
Therefore, before you select rapid application development, make sure that you check these critical aspects:
1. Mission-critical products
If your product comes under the mission-critical category, for instance, if end-user security comes under the scope of your product, it should be free from errors. In the rapid application building scenario, since the focus is on rapid prototyping, your team can make mistakes and fix the errors rather than implementing development step-by-step with additional testing. Therefore, if the project should be free from flaws before you expose it to end-users, RAD is not the best choice.
2. End-user and client feedback
Rapid Application Building relies on end-user and client feedback. End-users need to give feedback and participate in user-testing. Similarly, clients should also commit to offer regular feedback cycles during the iterative process. Under such instances you can move on with RAD.
3. Dividing the project deliverables
In RAD, the end-user gets exposed to prototypes early for feedback. Nine times out of ten, these prototypes are incomplete. As a result, you need to divide your project in such a way that your team can build products in modules. Therefore, RAD is ideal when there is scope for dividing your project and creating and presenting a product in portions.
4. Scope for quick iteration
Since rapid application development methodology moves fast, developers have to adapt quickly. Creating a core application with changes later is time-consuming. Therefore, designers and developers should make sure to adapt to the rapid feedback system.
How does ThinkPalm speed up your rapid application development process?
ThinkPalm’s software development services, particularly the rapid application building methodology, use low-code technology that can simplify complexities. We help automate the software development process to deliver products quickly, enabling our team to build and deliver enterprise-grade web and mobile applications quickly.
ThinkPalm is a game-changer that accelerates your software development process with RAD methodology. We understand your project requirements and translate them into functional prototypes very quickly. Further, it helps you get feedback very often and early.
Our development team collaborates with you, using their diverse skills to meet the requirements and build the prototypes efficiently. They will guide you through the iterative process in this development model. Finally, they help you refine the prototype based on continuous feedback and ensure that the end product meets your needs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What does Rapid Application Development mean?
Rapid Application Development involves development and testing. It is a development methodology that focuses on quick project development and delivery rather than long-lasting preparation.
In what circumstances is Rapid Application Development ideal?
If you want to build a product quickly and launch it in the market as early as possible, rapid application building is the best development methodology. It gives iterative deliverables, and you can also release improved versions.
What is the benefit of Rapid Application Development?
This methodology allows you to launch products, respond to user needs, and enhance features quickly, helping businesses gain a competitive edge.
Author Bio
Silpa Sasidharan is a content writer and social media copywriting expert working at ThinkPalm Technologies, who aspires to create marketing texts for topics spanning from technology, automation and digital business solutions.
