A unique methodology to build awesome software products

Welcome to CAL - a unique and effective product development methodology. This guide will walk you through the stages of product development, from ideation to sustained maintenance. We will focus specifically on the Craftsmanship Achievement Level (CAL), a metric used to measure progress during the production stage. This methodology also includes the core factor (CF) and awe factor (AF), which help quantify product functionality and user experience respectively. With CAL, the product development process is more streamlined and efficient.

Methodology

Product development stages

1. A: Alpha stage - Ideas, analysis by cases and brainstorming
2. B: Blue paper initiation - requirements, feature set and UI sketches, ideas
3. C: Production and craftsmanship starts
4. M: Cz completion and Sustained maintenance starts

Stage C - CAL (Craftsmanship Achievement Level)

CAL is a metric to measure the progress of the product development during stage C i.e. production of the product.

CAL = (CF + AF) / 2

1. C0 → C9: (0 < CF ≤ 9, 0 ≤ AF ≤ 9)
2. Cz : The best possible product that creators can produce (CF > 9, AF > 9)

Core factor (CF)

Achieving core functionality of the application.

CF ⇒ percentage of product feature set completed on a scale of 0 - 10

Awe factor (AF)

Achieving ease of use and delightfulness of the application.

AF ⇒ ranges between 0 - 10

✅ (positive points)

• Animations and transitions
• Excellent feedback for user actions
• Unique and innovative UI element, component or page design
• Surprises
• Onboarding, walkthrough tutorials, product guides

❌ ( negative points)

• Bugs
• Non functioning or partially functioning features

AF calculation

(5/10) (60/100) CF value | | Intuitiveness and ease of use | 40% of CF | IE: 2/10

(2/10) (40/100) CF value | | Delightfulness | 20% of CF | DE: 0/10

(0/10) (20/100) CF value |

PUT and FUT

PUT: Partial usage test ⇒ A user using the product at least for a partial need.

1. level A: some part of the core or fundamental core itself (0 ≤ CF ≤ 1)
   1. examples: Dapien’s Depersonate, Airbnb first version, MVPs etc
2. level B: Just enough core - kinda beta MVP version (1 ≤ CF ≤ 2)
3. level C

FUT: Full usage test ⇒ A user using the product for a certain need fully depending on this particular application.