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Development Methodology

The project followed Agile Scrum, chosen for its iterative structure, built-in stakeholder feedback loops, and tolerance for changing requirements — all relevant given that requirements were still being refined through ongoing interviews with DeSIC staff even after development began.

Why Scrum, specifically​

Working as a two-person team changes how a methodology gets applied. Scrum's two-week sprint cadence gave the team a rhythm of small, reviewable increments rather than one long build-and-hope cycle, which mattered because there was no larger organization to catch integration problems late — the team had to catch them itself, every two weeks.

Research design​

A descriptive and exploratory research design underpinned the requirements process. That approach suited the situation: existing manual processes at DeSIC needed to be understood before they could be replaced, and the shape of a technical solution wasn't obvious until the actual pain points were.

Data collection​

  • Interviews — structured and semi-structured sessions with DeSIC staff, the primary stakeholders, covering operational challenges, event management, incubation tracking, and reporting needs.
  • User observation — direct observation of staff and innovators working under the existing manual system, which surfaced usability and workflow gaps that interviews alone missed.

Sampling​

A purposive sample was used, drawing from DeSIC administrative staff and student innovators directly involved in incubation programs. The sample was kept intentionally small but representative, matching the scope of a two-person academic project.

Feasibility​

Economic — built with open-source tools and free-tier cloud services, bringing the total project cost to KES 3,800, within the KES 4,000–5,000 estimate.

Operational — designed to align with existing DeSIC workflows, requiring minimal training given its role-based simplicity for administrators, mentors, and innovators alike.

Technical — built on a reliable, well-supported, and scalable stack (see Technology Stack), which kept technical risk low relative to the team's experience.