Northam, Inc. would have liked several changes to the design process. These changes largely deal with the quantity and methods of interaction between Northam and Gorillasoft.
First, face-to-face interaction between Gorillasoft and Northam should have been increased. There were only three face-to-face meetings between the two companies to specify requirements.
Second, along with an increase in interaction, the two sides should have specified smaller working groups to deal with specific areas of the project, and delegate representatives or leaders to co-ordinate the individual sets of changes with each other. Placing 20 or more people in one room and expecting them to suddenly hammer out details of specifications in an efficient, effective manner is ridiculous. Such mass meetings should never have occurred, yet these formed the majority of our interactions with Gorillasoft.
There should have been an increase in the allowable responses to various proposals put forth by Gorillasoft. Due to insufficient space, Northam was unable to fully articulate all their concerns with respect to Gorillasoft's proposals.
In general, the design process seemed too formalized and too ritualized. It seemed like just a set of hoops to go through that bore little, if any relation, to the actual project that we wanted Gorillasoft to undertake.
The overall major point that needs to be made is that Northam should be consulted at every step, even as the software is going into and through coding. Northam can identify difficulties even at this late stage, which could perhaps have been eliminated with appropriate levels of consultation.
Basically, it comes down to communication. Increasing communication between Northam and Gorillasoft would have helped the design process immeasurably.