Development Approach and Life Cycle

The Development Approach and Life Cycle Performance Domain addresses how the product, service, or result will be created — and how the project will be structured to deliver it. The choice is fundamental: it shapes governance, stakeholder engagement, planning detail, risk posture, and team behaviour.

Five development approaches sit on a continuum from predictive to adaptive: Predictive (plan-driven, scope-fixed, often called 'waterfall') — best where requirements are stable and the cost of late change is high; Iterative — repeats activities to refine a product (e.g. prototypes); Incremental — delivers successive functional pieces to provide early value; Adaptive (agile) — short cycles, emergent requirements, frequent stakeholder feedback; Hybrid — combinations of the above used pragmatically.

Delivery cadence is a separate choice: single delivery, multiple deliveries, periodic deliveries, or continuous delivery. A predictive approach can still have multiple deliveries; an adaptive approach can still be a single delivery.

Life cycle phases are tailored — typical phases include Feasibility, Design, Build, Test, Deploy, Close — but their existence, sequence, and overlap vary widely.

Key Points

• Development approach exists on a continuum, not a binary choice
• Predictive: scope-stable, plan-driven, change-controlled
• Iterative: refine the product through repetition (e.g. prototypes)
• Incremental: deliver functional pieces successively to gain early value
• Adaptive: short cycles, emergent scope, frequent feedback — agile family
• Hybrid: combine approaches deliberately based on context
• Delivery cadence is independent of development approach
• Life cycle phases should be tailored, not copied from a template
• Phase gates support governance — but should not introduce waste

Key Terms & Definitions

Predictive Life Cycle

A life cycle in which scope, time and cost are determined early in the project and changes are carefully managed through a formal change control process.

Iterative Life Cycle

A life cycle that allows feedback on partially completed or unfinished work to improve and modify it.

Incremental Life Cycle

A life cycle in which the deliverable is produced through a series of iterations that successively add functionality within a predetermined time frame.

Adaptive Life Cycle

A life cycle that is iterative and incremental, with detailed scope defined and approved before each iteration begins. Also known as agile or change-driven.

Hybrid Life Cycle

A combination of a predictive and an adaptive life cycle, used to balance the need for early scope definition with the need to respond to change.

Delivery Cadence

The timing and frequency of project deliverables — single, multiple, periodic, or continuous.