Technical Processes

Several of Magnify.net's core development processes are summarized below.

Project Methodology

Over the last year, given our small team size and early stage, we had been using an informal development methodology based on frequent communication to prioritize a set of features to be built out over the following couple of days.

We are currently transitioning towards a more scalable project management model to handle additional team members and responsibilities, but intend to retain some "agile" characteristics so that we can adjust course as new information becomes available.

Tracking & QA

During the Beta period, bug testing is being done both by the team and by our customers. We've created an open (no registration required) support forum using standard BBS software, and we have posted a Support@Magnify.net email address for user questions and customer service requests. We've gotten terrific reaction and useful feedback from these services, and have been able to move quickly on most bugs soon after they're discovered.

All requested features and reported bugs are listed in an online project tracking system. New features and changes are generally announced within the company and reviewed by team members for bugs or suggested improvements, which are added to the project tracking system.

We expect to tie the site wide Support@Magnify.net email into FogBugz - allowing for some automated response and categorization as volume increases.

As part of the next round of growth, we anticipate hiring a QA person (on an hourly basis at first) so that as we move to a staged deployment process we can get perform additional testing and gather feedback without relying on (or risking) our user experience.

Development Staffing

Over the last year, the majority of Magnify's development work has been done in-house by core team members. (Development for two small Flash widgets was outsourced to freelancers.)

Magnify is currently in the process of retaining a number of contractors to provide additional development services, including web design, search engine optimization, and software development.

Magnify plans to hire programmers who will work for us on a full or part time basis. We don't anticipate using any offshore programmers (other than for discrete widgets that we may need from time to time).

Documentation

We have built and continue to improve basic online help systems for site creators and visitors. As we emerge from the beta period, we anticipate providing a greater detail of technical documentation to enterprise-class customers to support various APIs and integration capabilities on a rolling basis as those features are made available.

Our in-house code has basic in-line documentation which will be expanded as the development team grows. Effort has also been made to use logical names and sensible design so that the code helps to act as its own documentation. More detailed specs have been drawn up for a few discrete components as needed to direct development by off-site contractors.

Additional high-level technical summaries are prepared as needed for investors, partners, or team discussion, but we try to avoid creating unnecessary paperwork which will have to be kept in synch with the live product.