Improved Iteration PT 1

Iteration is synonymous to repetition; to go over again and again, the goal of which is to arrive, with each repetition, at the relative perfection of an object or a project. This term is central to our present article, which will be dealing with the process of iterative improvement. If we reduce the term, in the context in which we are speaking of it, to its fundamental unit, it is a methodology of trial and error. An organization utilizing this process will create, test, improve and revise a product, at every step of its developmental cycle, until final satisfaction is achieved. It is, thus, a concerted venture of the will, which is to say that it does not happen on accident, as for example when an organization, according to a non iterative schema, has outlined the entire cycle of the product, and makes adjustments only when the reception the product meets is not that which was expected. The iterative process, on the contrary, is a deliberate project policy whose aim is to integrate feedback into the development of a product or project which, of necessity, must be open ended. Furthermore, it also involves the creative progress of the producer; a widening of the vision of a producer is taken into account in the iterative process, and interspersed into a product that by its very nature is receptive to these improvements. Accordingly, and in contrast to a non iterative scheme, the creator here will begin with a minimum viable product; that is, a product which is open ended, and which’s features are expected to be added on in the future. There are several reasons to venture this approach, but only a few will be necessary, we believe, to convince a business of the advantages of this approach. To begin with, products are not conjured out of, and into, a vacuum. There are precedents which impel the creator of a product to create one, needs which he detects in his environment, just as there are factors which exist upon the conception and implementation of the design and which are also dynamic. The latter point is most important for assessing the fecundity of the approach. The creator, bearing in mind the vicissitudes of his environment, makes sure to integrate these changes into the development of the product. If he conceives of the entire plan at once, its pattern of implementation, etc, he makes a fatal presupposition of his environment, he admits indirectly that he does not have the instinct for dynamism and adaptability which are indispensable to a business environment. More tenable, on the other hand, would be the successive iterations of the product according to the changes in the needs that the creator is able to identify around him, the utilization of trial and error to fine tune a product and get a feel for its operation in the environmental context he wishes to apply it. Furthermore, the iterative process leaves space, as we have already suggested, for the creative changes that occur in the mind of the creator or the organization. The process also reduces costs which could be exhausted on a single, linear project by investing little time and effort into the process progressively. A comprehensive project that does not provide for alterations will of necessity be unable to see resources managed in comparison to one in which, at each juncture, the minimum of effort is required. Hence we see these few but immensely important reasons for this process.

Some examples of iterative process. There are several examples of this process. For this article, it is relevant to present those which are connected with businesses.

• product development: product development can largely be subsumed under the category of iterative improvement. One only has to think of the technology which is readily available to him once he looks around him. It is clear that these products have had previous renditions, and that in the future whatever exists now will be improved upon.
• Marketing: we can also find this process in the arena of marketing. Thus, a marketing team will progressively alter an image to assess which of them best appeals to the consumer, making improvements as feedback is received.

Conventionally, we can identify five stages of the iterative process. Planning and requirements, which involves an overall goal for the project, a concrete statement of what the creators intend to achieve by the process. This overarching goal will serve as a guide for the iterations which will accompany each phase of the development and which cannot be arbitrary. The goal sets the bounds outside of which, once the project steps, it loses any structure or orientation. This stage is followed by analysis and design. The goal has been set. What follows will be the elucidation of the technical requirements of the project at its current phase. Just as the succeeding phases, this stage will be controlled by the goal. Then follows the implementation, where the team will create the first iteration of the deliverable. After this is the stage of testing, from which, in the project itself, and the surrounding environment, feedback is received upon which subsequent iterations are made, according to such feedback. Finally comes the evaluation and the review. Once the tests have been made, once feedback has been received, the team will have a sense of what is required. The product may or may not have attained its realization. If the former is the case, then the creator will revert to phase two, that is, the iterative phase. Here adjustments are made to the deliverable which coincide with the feedback received, all in accordance, of course, with the overarching goal.