Phase 2 - Product Structure Development
After the SRS is validated, the next step is to translate system requirements into a more operational product structure. In this phase, the SRS is broken down into three main artifacts: Information Architecture (IA), Design System, and User Flows. These three artifacts are developed in parallel and become the foundation for interface design, data models, and system implementation.
The main goal of this phase is to answer three important questions:
- What exists in the product? → Information Architecture
- How should the interface look and behave consistently? → Design System
- How do users achieve their goals within the system? → User Flows
Information Architecture (IA)
Information Architecture defines the information structure and product navigation. This artifact describes pages, modules, menus, page relationships, and how information is organized to be easily used by users.
Output:
- Sitemap
- Menu structure
- Page hierarchy
- Feature and module relationships
Design System
The Design System defines the visual language and interaction patterns used throughout the application. Its goal is to maintain design consistency so that every page and component has a uniform appearance and behavior.
Output:
- Color palette
- Typography
- Spacing system
- Grid system
- UI Components
- Interaction patterns
- Responsive guidelines
User Flows
User Flows describe the steps users take to achieve a business goal. Each use case is documented in a structured manner so it can be used as a basis for design, data models, API contracts, implementation, and testing.
Minimum content of a User Flow:
- Use Case ID
- Actor
- Goal
- Trigger
- Preconditions
- Main Flow
- Alternative Flow
- Exception Flow
- Postconditions
- Related Pages
- Acceptance Criteria
In Chain of Truth, User Flows play a very important role because they become the main source for building Data Models and Use Case Integration Contracts in subsequent phases.
Output of Phase 2
This phase produces three new Sources of Truth:
| Source of Truth | Description |
|---|---|
| SoT #2 | Validated Information Architecture |
| SoT #3 | Validated Design System |
| SoT #4 | Validated User Flows |
These three artifacts will be used as the basis for creating High-Fidelity Prototypes in the next phase, while User Flows also become the main input for developing Data Models and UCIC.
Key Principle of Phase 2
In this phase, the team's focus is not on creating designs or code, but on ensuring that the product structure is correct. If the information structure, design patterns, and user flows have been validated, then the design, implementation, and testing processes in subsequent phases can be done more consistently with fewer revisions.