Assessment Methodology
01. Read requirements
Restate requested outcomes. Mark must-have behavior and acceptance criteria.
REFERENCE CATEGORY
Assessment Methodology
17 practical topics
Assessment Methodology
02. Identify actors
List who interacts with the system: customer, administrator, operator, external provider.
Assessment Methodology
03. Identify use cases
Write actor + action + outcome. Cover reads and mutations, not only creation.
Assessment Methodology
04. Identify entities
Name persistent identities and value objects; describe relationships.
Assessment Methodology
05. Extract business rules
Turn prose into invariants: bounds, ownership, valid states, currency, duplicate behavior.
Assessment Methodology
06. Identify constraints
Record time, language, database, offline requirements, scale, and forbidden dependencies.
Assessment Methodology
07. Design data model
Choose primary/foreign keys, nullability, uniqueness, indexes, retention, and amounts.
Assessment Methodology
08. Design API / interfaces
Define input, output, status codes, authorization, and errors for each use case.
Assessment Methodology
09. Design architecture
Use routes, controllers, models, and focused services only when warranted.
Assessment Methodology
10. Identify security requirements
Check validation, identity, permissions, encoding, secrets, audit needs, and least privilege.
Assessment Methodology
11. Identify failure cases
List missing records, invalid state, insufficient funds, duplicates, database failures, and unknown outcomes.
Assessment Methodology
12. Implement smallest correct version
Complete one vertical path with validation, persistence, response, and tests before extras.
Assessment Methodology
13. Test happy paths
Prove each acceptance criterion with realistic data and expected persisted results.
Assessment Methodology
14. Test edge cases
Check zero, negative, maximum, missing, malformed, unauthorized, duplicate, and concurrent inputs.
Assessment Methodology
15. Review security
Recheck every mutation and read boundary; inspect raw SQL, mass assignment, errors, and logs.
Assessment Methodology
16. Review maintainability
Check naming, responsibilities, duplication, configuration, and whether the next reader can follow the flow.
Assessment Methodology
17. Explain trade-offs
State assumptions, choices, limitations, alternatives, and what you would change with more time.