What Are Project Phases
There are five key phases in the HCD-Agile process: Discovery, Define, Design, Develop, and Deliver. Each phase includes goals, key activities, AI agent roles, and typical duration.
Phase-Specific Guides
Phase 1: Discovery
File: agents/phases/1-discovery.md
Description: Comprehensive guidance for the Discovery phase, focusing on research, user understanding, and problem exploration.
Phase Goals:
- Identify and understand target users
- Map current state and user journeys
- Discover pain points and unmet needs
- Build empathy with users
- Gather qualitative and quantitative data
Key Activities:
- User interviews and research
- Stakeholder engagement
- Context research
- Data analysis
AI Agent Role:
- Analyze and synthesize research data
- Identify patterns in user feedback
- Draft personas and journey maps
- Assist with competitive analysis
Duration: Typically 1-3 sprints
Phase 2: Define
File: agents/phases/2-define.md
Description: Guidance for synthesizing research insights and defining clear, actionable problem statements.
Phase Goals:
- Synthesize Discovery phase findings
- Create clear problem statements
- Prioritize opportunities
- Define success metrics
- Align stakeholders
Key Activities:
- Synthesis and sensemaking
- Problem framing
- Prioritization
- Success definition
AI Agent Role:
- Synthesize research findings
- Draft problem statements and HMW questions
- Help prioritize opportunities
- Suggest success metrics
Duration: Typically 1-2 sprints
Phase 3: Design
File: agents/phases/3-design.md
Description: Comprehensive guidance for ideation, prototyping, and testing potential solutions.
Phase Goals:
- Generate diverse solution concepts
- Create and test prototypes
- Iterate based on user feedback
- Validate design direction
- Create high-fidelity designs
Key Activities:
- Ideation and brainstorming
- Concept development
- Prototyping (low to high fidelity)
- User testing
- Iteration
AI Agent Role:
- Generate solution concepts
- Create wireframes and user flows
- Draft design specifications
- Synthesize user feedback
- Identify accessibility considerations
Duration: Typically 2-4 sprints (iterative)
Phase 4: Develop
File: agents/phases/4-develop.md
Description: Guidance for building, testing, and refining the solution iteratively with focus on quality and user needs.
Phase Goals:
- Implement validated designs
- Build in testable increments
- Maintain code quality
- Ensure accessibility
- Gather user feedback on working software
Key Activities:
- Sprint planning and development
- Continuous testing (unit, integration, UAT)
- Code reviews
- User feedback gathering
- Continuous integration
AI Agent Role:
- Write clean, maintainable code
- Create comprehensive tests
- Review code for quality
- Help debug issues
- Draft technical documentation
Duration: Multiple sprints (typically 2-week iterations)
Phase 5: Deliver
File: agents/phases/5-Deliver.md
Description: Guidance for launching the solution, monitoring performance, and iterating based on real-world usage.
Phase Goals:
- Deploy to production
- Monitor system performance
- Track success metrics
- Gather user feedback
- Iterate and improve continuously
Key Activities:
- Deployment planning and execution
- Post-deployment monitoring
- Metrics tracking and analysis
- Incident response
- Continuous improvement
AI Agent Role:
- Assist with deployment planning
- Monitor and analyze metrics
- Identify patterns in feedback
- Suggest improvements
- Support incident response
Duration: Ongoing (continuous deployment and iteration)