Previous issues research

Context

The goal of this research was to answer the following research question:

Which problems did the old Magento-based B2C-webshop face and how can I avoid them?

Answering this question will help me avoid pitfalls and bad practices, which will help me maintain a more efficient project strategy.

To do this, I used the expert interview and root cause analysis methods.

Results

Root cause analysis

I performed a root cause analysis to determine the most important causes of these issues. Since a big part of the root cause analysis is to not have any previous biases towards what could be the root cause, I wanted to conduct this analysis before doing the expert interview. For the methodology of this root cause analysis, I followed the 5 step analysis by MindTools.

In this root cause analysis, I looked at problem symptoms, possible causes, future prevention methods and implementation of the solution.

Expert interview

I also conducted an expert interview with Bruno Delsing, Ryan Smith, and Thijs Kuipers, who are all developers that worked on the previous webshop using Magento. This helped me figure out possible issues I could face from first-hand experience.

Conclusion

When combining the results of the root cause analysis and the expert interview, I can conclude that the main causes of the previous Masita B2C shop are:

• Rushed development and ignored advice: Masita rushed developers to create custom extensions for their Magento webshop, ignoring advice to allow more time for proper development.
• Lack of communication and understanding: There was insufficient communication and understanding between Masita and the developers regarding the feasibility and time required for proper development.
• Insufficient research and planning: There was a lack of research and planning before starting development, leading to unrealistic expectations and technical difficulties.
• Reliance on quick workarounds: Masita opted for quick workarounds instead of investing in proper development processes, which contributed to plugin malfunctions and slow loading times.
• Lack of technology suitability: The chosen technology and ecosystem (Magento) were not suitable for all of Masita's requirements, leading to issues with custom development requests and dependencies on plugins.

To prevent these from happening again, I will make sure to spend enough time researching and communicating, as that seems to be the main cause.

Learning outcomes

4: Investigative Problem Solving

By interviewing multiple experts on this subject as well as performing a root cause analysis on the issue, I show that I am able to take different perspectives into account when supporting my conclusions.