When starting out on a new Umbraco Project it's really important to know and communicate what features and other requirements you have.  

There are many ways of communicating these requirements, but here at Carbon Six Digital, we use a spreadsheet called the Prioritised Requirements and Traceability Matrix.  Long name, but easy idea.

We’ve previously talked about producing a Prioritised Requirements List, which is a crucial first step in commissioning a new Umbraco site.  In this post, we look at the other side of this template, the Traceability Matrix.

The purpose of this side of the template is to track the ongoing development and testing of each of the requirements.  When the Traceability Matrix is properly completed it's possible to trace the life of each requirement through the development process and then through the various elements of the testing process.

We tend to take advantage of the hyperlinking features in Google Sheets so that we link out to the Trello Card where the feature is developed, and when it comes to testing we link out to the various test plans.

Finally, the owner of the requirement is responsible for undertaking User Acceptance Testing which we also track in the Traceability Matrix.

The key benefit of this document is the visibility and control of the requirements throughout the life of the project.  Of course, documentation takes effort, but we feel that the clarity that the traceability matrix adds huge value to our projects.

Our Umbraco Design Review makes use of the Prioritised Requirements List and Traceability Matrix to ensure that your Umbraco solution is fit for business purpose.  So if you plan to deliver your next site in-house, then we can provide support during the design and build of the project for a low-fixed price.