DA10: Capstone: three automations for Sharma Textiles
Planning the capstone
🎯You'll be able to
Plan the capstone: order the work, set checkable acceptance criteria and a realistic timeline with a buffer.
🏠The everyday picture
Before a wedding, the planner makes one master sheet: every event, who's responsible, what must be ready by when, and what happens if it rains. The day goes well because the plan was made before the rush.
📘What it really is
- The capstone has three projects, all for Sharma Textiles:
- Payment workflow: payment webhooks update the CRM and accounts;
- Inbox router: incoming customer emails go to the right team;
-
Weekly CRM tidy-up: a scheduled clean-up that reports what it changed.
-
For each, write a one-page scope (DA9) with outcome, in and out, assumptions and acceptance tests.
- Use the rubric below to check your own work. It's the same one a reviewer team will use when project review opens.
| Area | What "good" looks like |
|---|---|
| Works | Every acceptance test passes and results are recorded |
| Data | Mapping table, cleaning rules, units and time zones handled (DA4) |
| Code | Small, named, tested Code nodes with no secrets (DA5) |
| Reliable | Retries, alerts with owners, safe repeats, run log, health check (DA6) |
| Connected | API cards, correct sign-in and scopes, signed webhooks (DA7) |
| Business fit | Fits the revenue process and hand-offs (DA8) |
| Handover | Scope, runbook, data map, catalogue entry, case study (DA9) |
- Plan the order: build shared parts first (data cleaning, the run log, the error workflow), then the three projects.
- Set a realistic timeline, with a buffer for outside services that behave unexpectedly.
📝A worked example
A learner's capstone plan:
| Week | Work | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shared parts: cleaning step, run log, error workflow, credentials list | Each tested with pinned data |
| 2 | Payment workflow | 10 acceptance tests pass |
| 3 | Inbox router | 30 sample emails routed; misroutes under 10% |
| 4 | CRM tidy-up | Dry-run report matches a manual check of 20 contacts |
| 5 | Handover pack, demo recording, case studies | Rubric self-check complete |
Building the shared parts first meant the three projects reused one cleaning step and one error workflow, instead of three slightly different copies.
🌍Where it's used
- First client engagements for freelancers and agencies.
- Internal automation projects proposed to a manager.
- Portfolio building: three linked projects make a stronger story than three unrelated ones.
📝Case scenario
A learner starts by building all three projects at once, each with its own phone-cleaning code. In week 3 they fix a bug in one copy and forget the others, and the CRM fills with two formats again. They pause, move cleaning into one shared sub-workflow called by all three, and retest. The rest of the build goes faster.
🖱️Try it
Write your capstone plan: the three scopes, the shared parts, a week-by-week timeline with "done when" checks, and your copy of the rubric.
⚠️Common mistakes
- Building the projects before the shared parts. Sign: three slightly different cleaning steps. Fix: build the cleaning step, run log and error workflow first.
- A timeline with no buffer. Sign: one awkward API wrecks the plan. Fix: add a week for surprises.
🛠️For your project
The full marking guides, with safety-critical items and explicit pass rules, are on each project's page, where you also save your self-check and evidence.
✅Quick check
Why build shared parts such as cleaning and the error workflow first?
Show the answer
So all three projects reuse one tested version, and a fix in one place applies everywhere.
What is the rubric for?
Show the answer
To check your work against clear standards in each area before you present it.