What I look for in a Project Initiation Document?

Written by: Jonathan Briggs

October 28, 2009 [920 views]

If you are using one of the AGILE development methodologies for your Final Year Project (as opposed to Prince 2 or similar) then the PID you write should perhaps be a bit different.

Remember that AGILE encourages prototyping over requirements specification and collaboration with your client rather than documentation.

Also remember that producting a final year project is a political exercise with different supervisors having different approaches and priorities. What follows is my suggested headings for my students and you will need to discuss with your supervisor whether they make sense for your particular project.

1. Project summary – one page description of your idea, your client and your approach. Focus on what is interesting and novel.
2. Project goals – state what you are trying to do, clearly identifying both the minimum and what you would need to do extra for a high mark (no personal or university goals – we take those for granted)
3. Business justification – why is this project interesting, valuable, worth doing?
4. Research/market study – what is already being done that you will build upon? What are competitors doing? What are the interesting technologies? Make sure you include proper references. Don’t tell us that “the internet/ecommerce/social networks are going to be important”
5. First prototype – show that you have already mastered the ideas behind this project. Ideally this should be a screen based prototype or walk through. Mock this up in any tools you like. If you are building a decision support tool, show how your mockup supports a customer decision. Paper prototypes are adequate.
6. Plans for next prototype and the rest of the project – show what you plan in the next phase, what you need to master and what you will try. Show that you will involve your client/user in the next iteration
7. Project methodology – justify your decision to use an AGILE approach
8. Risks identified – these should be real project risks (I will take the personal risks such as sickness for granted)

One way to help many students think about their PID is to imagine that you are facing a funding panel; seeking £10-20k for your project. What would you say to such a panel? How would you convince them that you knew what you were doing and deserved the funding. You should have enough to show that you have really thought about whether your project is possible and how it is going to work.

Please feel free to ask questions about your projects below even if I am not your supervisor.

What do you think?

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