The IconProcess, like its foundation, the Unified Process, has nine disciplines to structure the work of multi-skilled teams. Each discipline has activities performed by specific roles, in order to achieve a goal such as managing a project or ensuring a website is properly tested. Each role views the process from its own unique perspective, and all roles can view the overall process. These views allow project teams to discuss the project's organization, goals, and progress coherently, using a common language.

These disciplines form the core of the IconProcess

• Business Strategy – Defining a business concept or plan, brand and marketing strategies, and the business processes and organizational design to carry it out. This discipline replaces the Unified Process's Business Modeling activities, from which it differs significantly. Explore the details of the Business Strategy roles, activities, and artifacts.
• User Experience – Defining features, content, and information, navigation and visual design to support the Business Strategy. This workflow replaces the Unified Process's Requirements discipline, from which it differs significantly. Explore the details of the User Experience roles, activities, and artifacts.
• System Analysis & Design – Analyzing and designing the software, including the technical architecture designed within a specified environment.
• Implementation – Producing the code, optimizing rich media assets, and integrating the tested components into an executable system.
• Test – Verifying proper system implementation, integration, fulfillment of requirements, and satisfaction of the stated intent.
• Deployment – Ensuring the system is ready and available for use through implementation of business process and organizational changes, launching and executing marketing campaigns, and launching the site or rolling out the system to its users. The IconProcess Deployment discipline differs significantly from the Unified Process's discipline.
• Project Management – Defining and balancing the project's scope, cost, risks, and priorities while facilitating the project team's success.
• Configuration & Change Management – Controlling changes to and maintaining the integrity of a project's artifacts, including its scope decisions and source code.
• Environment – Establishing and maintaining the project team's development environment, process guidelines, tools, and other aspects of its support structure.

The graph below (which is based on the Rational Unified Process® (RUP) 'humpback' chart) shows the two dimensions of the IconProcess: the phases representing time are shown horizontally and the disciplines are shown vertically.

Every phase contains activities in each discipline. The size of the humps indicates how the emphasis on a discipline's activities changes over time.

The activities defined in these disciplines are performed iteratively — in contrast to a waterfall manner. Various team members perform activities in several disciplines simultaneously, but without chaos. Defined phases and milestones mark the path toward completion.

The most successful teams all have some people performing activities in multiple disciplines. These people hold key roles such as the Business Strategist, Software Architect, Creative Concept Director, Requirements or System Analyst, Information Architect, and Usability Evaluator, with primary responsibility for several activities and providing crucial input as supporting roles for others. While the primary activities are usually within a single discipline, the activities these roles support may span several other disciplines. Thus, the IconProcess demands and gets the most from an integrated, multi-skilled team.

If you're a Project Manager, Business Strategist, User Experience Specialist, or Developer, read how your work is related to and may benefit from the IconProcess.