☄️ The F.A.S.T Method for Building Your Next Product
A quick guided approach to rapid development and delivery.
One of the great things about learning to code is that the more you learn and start building things the better you get.
There’s no greater feeling than seeing your ideas come to life 🤩
The better you get at building things, the more you start to see patterns and better ways of working.
You might find that you encounter fewer bugs, or your project set-up process becomes more efficient or you can write code and solve problems faster.
Now let’s say you want to take all these skills you’ve built up to the next level and actually start shipping your personal projects as SaaS or other products to users.
How do you manage that process in a structured way that allows you to rapidly develop and deliver high-quality products?
This is where implementing a standardised methodology can make all the difference.
In this article, I'll introduce the F.A.S.T. framework - an approach I've developed for quickly going from idea to launch 🚀.
By following the F.A.S.T methodology, you can build momentum during each phase of product development - from building the foundations all the way through to release.
This structured approach will shave off precious time while still upholding stability, scalability, and reliability.
Let's break down each step of the F.A.S.T. framework so you can start shipping like a pro!
Frameworks
The starting point of rapid development is selecting the right coding framework for your project.
Frameworks provide pre-built structures, functions, and tools that allow you to hit the ground running instead of having to build everything from scratch.
Choosing a framework aligned with your tech stack and project needs lays the foundation for faster builds and deployments.
When selecting a framework, consider factors like:
Your front-end, back-end, database and other technical requirements
The learning curve and your team's familiarity with different frameworks
Documentation and community support available
Scalability needs as your project grows
Built-in best practices for performance, security, etc.
Once you've selected a framework, invest time upfront in thoroughly learning its architecture, core libraries, conventions and how to properly leverage it.
Having a solid grasp of your chosen framework prevents misuse which leads to technical debt and slowdowns later on.
Refer to official docs, tutorials, courses and other resources to rapidly skill up.
I’ve previously written about some great free resources for learning some of the most popular frameworks, you can check them out below:
Automation
Automating manual, repetitive processes is a key driver when developing and shipping software rapidly.
The right automation can free you up as a solo builder to focus your time on writing code rather than performing mundane tasks.
Leveraging Automation Tools
Look for opportunities to set up automation around repetitive but necessary workflows:
Build and dependency management e.g. npm, Composer, NuGet
Cloud infrastructure provisioning e.g. Cloudformation, Heroku, Netlify
Environment configuration e.g. dotenv, Docker, Git config
Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
Automating your CI/CD pipeline speeds up delivery by eliminating manual steps:
Use Git hooks to run tests and builds on commit
Script deployment with SSH, FTP, or API calls to push builds to environments
Leverage CI/CD services like Codeship, SemaphoreCI, TravisCI
Automated Testing
Automated tests enhance confidence without sacrificing speed:
Unit testing with built-in frameworks like Jest, PHPUnit, PyUnit
End-to-end browser testing e.g. Cypress or Selenium
Execute tests automatically e.g. Karma, Jest, PHPUnit
Automation helps give you your time back to focus on building while increasing consistency and reliability.
The key is to identify manual processes that can be scripted or configured through tools.
Scope Management
Well-thought-out scope management is important for shipping new features faster.
Without clear priorities and restraint on scope creep, projects become bloated and delayed.
Defining the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Focus your initial release on an MVP - a minimal set of critical features that solves a core user need. Resist cramming every possible feature into early iterations.
Define your target customer and their top needs an MVP should fulfil
Focus on the 20% of features that will provide 80% of the value
Be ruthless in cutting non-essential features for the first iterations
Effective Prioritisation
Prioritise ruthlessly based on business value to focus efforts on the most impactful features and tasks:
Create a prioritised product backlog based on value versus effort
Break down large tasks into smaller, executable tasks
Re-evaluate and re-prioritise frequently as needs change
Agile Methodologies
It can be useful to adopt Agile processes like Scrum and Kanban to iteratively develop and deliver working software even as a solo dev:
Use sprints to scope work into manageable iterations
Focus on getting working features done rather than perfect code
Gather user feedback early and often to guide development
Saying no to scope creep and priorities based on delivering value fast are essential to releasing early and often.
Agile methodologies are a way to formalise this approach into your development cycles.
Testing and Quality Assurance
Thorough testing is crucial for catching bugs before they reach users while also enabling speed. The key is balancing thorough validation with a fast pace.
We’ve mentioned automated testing but you can also consider:
Test-Driven Development (TDD)
With TDD, write tests before code to validate requirements and design:
Focus tests on behaviours and outcomes rather than methods.
Lean on tests to drive simpler, modular code design.
Prevent defects and rework through a fail-first approach.
Prioritise Risk
Not all code requires the same test coverage. Prioritise areas of highest risk:
Focus on critical user flows and edge cases.
If crunched for time, skip trivial unit tests and optimise for integration.
Make security and data integrity top priorities.
A smart testing strategy is essential for delivering quality at speed.
Automate where possible, design tests upfront with TDD, and allocate testing time based on risk.
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to build and ship products quickly.
But if you want to move away from a haphazard approach driven by cutting corners and compromising quality, you need a robust methodology.
The F.A.S.T. framework provides that disciplined structure for maintaining speed while upholding stability and reliability.
By optimising your use of Frameworks, Automation, Scope management, and Testing, you can overcome common bottlenecks from idea to launch.
Frameworks give you a head start with tried and true architectures. Automation eliminates manual legwork so you can focus on building. Careful scope control prevents creeping featurism. And embedded testing delivers validation at the pace of development.
While simple in concept, executing the F.A.S.T. methodology requires discipline. But the payoff is the ability to deliver stable and quality software 🚀.
So try the F.A.S.T. framework as your repeatable formula.
From your fellow ever-growing dev,
Cherlock Code
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