Product Development Lifecycle

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to build and scale small software development teams. As a technical product manager, I rely on time-tested processes to ensure smooth software iteration. One of the key aspects of scaling a team is defining a clear product development lifecycle. Today, I’ll share my approach to structuring this lifecycle, ensuring that software iterations flow as seamlessly as possible.

Understanding the Development Lifecycle

At its core, the product development lifecycle follows the Build → Measure → Learn loop. This iterative process ensures that the product evolves continuously:

  1. It starts with an idea (feature request) or a bug (unintended behavior or learning).
  2. The team moves into development.
  3. The feature undergoes quality control:
    • Automated testing (unit & integration tests).
    • User testing (where applicable).
  4. The feature is deployed.
  5. Bugs or new learnings emerge, restarting the cycle.

A well-defined lifecycle helps teams minimize bottlenecks and improve efficiency.

Example: Permabot’s Development Lifecycle

To illustrate this process, let’s look at how I apply these principles to my Permabot project:

  1. Feature Ideation – Every new idea starts as an Epic in JIRA, providing a high-level view of the initiative.
  2. Bug Tracking (Ongoing) – Issues discovered during development or testing are logged as Bugs, which are prioritized for an upcoming release.
  3. Development Phase – Code is written, reviewed, and prepared for testing.
  4. Testing & Validation – Both automated and manual testing ensure that new features and bug fixes meet stability and performance expectations.
  5. Deployment – The validated update is released into production.
  6. Iteration & Continuous Improvement – Bugs and feature enhancements from the latest deployment are logged, feeding into the next development cycle.

JIRA Workflow Example

Here’s a look at how my JIRA workflow is structured:

JIRA Workflow Example

Being a team of one allows me to keep my workflow simple, yet structured enough to ensure quick iterations while maintaining software stability. One key aspect I’ve found useful is having a “Won’t Do” state. Plans change, and keeping an audit trail of ideas—along with the reasoning for cancellation—prevents unnecessary churn when those ideas resurface in the future.

Additionally, you’ll notice that all statuses can transition freely within the workflow. This flexibility allows tasks to move as needed, avoiding unnecessary process constraints. While some teams may prefer a strict, linear workflow with clear handoffs and deliverables between states, I’ve found that overly rigid workflows often make JIRA a blocker rather than an enabler for agile development. Ultimately, the tool should adapt to the team, not the other way around.

Final Thoughts

Defining a clear product development lifecycle ensures that software teams can scale efficiently and iteratively. JIRA workflows play a crucial role in enforcing these processes while keeping development streamlined.

How do you structure your development lifecycle? Feel free to reach out—I’d love to hear your thoughts!