Stage Choreography
Five lifecycle stages with dedicated shell workspaces, a wayfinder breadcrumb, and Guided vs. Manual choreography modes — window and view arrangement is declared centrally, not decided per shell.
Project lifecycle management in ProjectXL is organized around five stages that reflect the actual arc of a project from initial setup through closeout. Each stage has a dedicated shell workspace with its own set of relevant tasks, its own coaching content, and its own completion criteria. When a stage's required work is complete, the system transitions to the next stage — the user does not have to figure out when to move forward.
The Five Stages
System Configuration covers the initial technical setup of the workbook: calendars, resource pools, rate structures, and organizational definitions. Project Configuration covers the project-specific setup that answers "what is this project?": Work Packages, charge number mapping, and the initial project definition. Initial Planning is where the schedule and cost plan are developed through the baseline. Project Execution covers the recurring work of status collection, actual cost import, ETC maintenance, and forecast management. Project Closeout covers final reporting, archival, and the governance steps that close the project record.
Guided vs. Manual Mode
Choreography — which workspace opens, which analysis lens is shown, how panels arrange when a user navigates between surfaces — is declared centrally by the journey system and applies consistently across every shell in that stage. In Guided mode, the system executes choreography automatically when a transition is triggered, showing a brief confirmation before the arrangement changes. In Manual mode, the system surfaces the recommended next arrangement as an actionable card, and the user applies it explicitly. Both modes reflect the same declared choreography — the difference is whether it fires automatically or on demand.