Chapter 5 · Practice 3 of 4
Build the timeline around your department's evaluation dates
Why it matters
Your department's calendar already has fixed checkpoints, usually a proposal defence, one or two mid evaluations and a final evaluation. The University of Lahore's Islamabad campus guidelines, for example, place a first mid evaluation in weeks 13 or 14 of the seventh semester and a second one in weeks 6 or 7 of the eighth, with a report 80% complete before the second. Your dates will differ; put them into the timeline first.
Then plan backwards from each checkpoint:
| Checkpoint | What must be ready |
|---|---|
| Proposal defence | Approved scope, spike result, timeline |
| Mid evaluation | Requirements and design documents, core flow working end to end |
| Final evaluation | All must features tested, report complete, demo rehearsed |
A simple Gantt chart or table is enough. Leave a buffer of two or three weeks before the final evaluation for testing, fixing and writing; it always gets used.
Do
- Put the department's evaluation dates in first
- Plan the core flow to work end to end by the mid evaluation
Avoid
- A timeline that leaves all integration for the last month