FDE Foundations · Module 1: The FDE Role
The Delivery Lifecycle
Six stages, six artifacts: discovery notes, brief, code, deployment, metrics, handover package. Skipping an artifact is where engagements go wrong.
10 min reading
Objectives
- Name the six lifecycle stages and the artifact each produces
- Explain why handover is a stage, not an afterthought
- Map a past project onto the lifecycle
Six stages, six artifacts
- Discovery. Interviews, observation, system archaeology. Artifact: notes with a measured problem statement.
- Framing. Scope, out-of-scope, acceptance criteria, constraints. Artifact: one-page brief the customer signs off.
- Build. Code, tests, fixtures. Artifact: a reviewed change set.
- Deploy. Install into the customer's environment under their change process. Artifact: a deployed, observable system.
- Operate. Watch, measure, fix. Artifact: metrics against the success measures from the brief.
- Handover. Documentation, training, ownership transfer. Artifact: runbook plus a signed acceptance.
Why the artifacts matter
Artifacts force honesty at each stage. Discovery notes stop you building the wrong thing. The brief stops silent scope creep. Metrics stop anecdotal success claims. The handover package stops the engagement living on in your head.
Failure patterns
The common failure is compressing stages one and two and paying for it in stage five: a system deployed fast, then unmaintainable, unmeasured, and unaccepted. Slower framing buys cheaper operations.
A deployment without a handover plan is a support contract you never quoted.
Quick check
An optional 2-3 question self-check. Answers never leave your device, are not stored, and never count toward any assessment.
Exercise
Take any project you have worked on. List the six stages and write one line per stage stating what artifact existed or was missing. Note which missing artifact caused the most rework.
Pass criteria
Six stages covered; missing artifacts identified; at least one consequence described with a specific example rather than a general statement.