Proyect types

The classification of projects presented here is intended to discriminate between projects according to their power, in a way that is practical and easy to understand focused on college students. I do not pretend to compete with the standards, methodologies or organizations that have something to say on the classification of projects, but provide a very natural point of view that has been poorly documented in the past.

Project types according to their scope

For this classification will take into account the type of interaction with the environment, and the purpose of carrying out the project. Many times this is not clear for the college student who has been assigned a project, because this student can feel that the only purpose is to please the tutors and teachers.

But there are some things we can say the purpose of projects:

• All projects allow to learn something.
• All projects satisfy needs.
• All projects have a result, this result may be tangible or not.

It is appropriate to ask for these items when starting a project: What can I learn from this project?, What needs can I satisfy with this project? and What result will have this project?. The answers to these questions will give us the Goals of the project.

The classification presented below should be done based on the response to the third question above. This means that this classification should be done based the expected result of the project.

• Research Project: The expected outcome of the project is information and knowledge. What we hope to get is: a set of data organized and significant for those involved in the project.
• Development Project: The expected outcome of the project is a design. What we hope to get is: a map, diagram, structure, or plans to run a task, for example to build an asset (Deployment project).

• Deployment Project: The expected outcome of the project is: value. What we hope to get is: a resource, directly or indirectly. It may be that the project will culminate in the construction of an asset, or to acquire or conserve a resource.

  The following are specific cases of the deployment project:

  • Demonstration Project: The expected outcome of the project is: attention, motivation and reputation. What we hope to get is: the interest of one or more persons in the services that we offer. Is a project of small-scale implementation can demonstrate the capabilities of who runs it.
  • Marketing Project: The expected outcome of the project is: money. What we hope to get is: the sale of the services we offer. It is a project of implementing a sales strategy.
  • Implementation Project: The expected outcome of the project is: equipment. What we hope to obtain is a set of functional tools and trained personnel.

When you are producing an intangible is common to find that the deployment project includes the design project. But for most tangible products of these two projects are separate. This is due to the need to create more of a tangible product to meet your demand, so many tangible products are made ​​from the result of the design project.

The possibility that the projects belong to more than one type may lead to think that all the projects belong to all types. You really have to say that to create a product we carry out projects of all types: Research, Development, Deployment. But that does not mean that it is always necessary to achieve them all.

As mentioned earlier, many deployment projects are made ​​from the result of a single design project. Similarly for the design requires a preliminary investigation. But may not be necessary to repeat the research project to get it every time.

At the same time a research project may require one or more deployment project to create models, tools or experimental situations. That does not mean they are necessary every time.

This confusion is evident when a teacher requires the characteristics of the three types of project in the projects assigned to students. For example, the teacher assigned students a project to make the model of a building. This seems to be a deployment project only. But the teacher also requires a methodology of research, such as survey, interview or observation. In response, the student can not understand why a survey to produce a model of a building. This is maximized by the project templates found on the Internet, which emphasize research projects.