Tag Archives: requirements analysis

Rookie Mistake: Jumping to Conclusions with Presumed Solutions

When entry-level developers are assigned a business problem, they tend to latch on to the first solution that comes to mind. Not only does this have a tendency to lock in an inferior solution too soon, but it may even cloud thinking to the point of missing some important requirements.

Listening for Clues

Telltale signs of this mistake are in the developer’s vocabulary, so mentors should pay attention. When the rookie attempts to gather a program’s requirements, does he or she jump straight to using programming terminology in describing those requirements, like hash maps, FIFO queues, reference pointers, and LIFO stacks? Or, does he or she carefully stick to problem-domain terminology like definitions, breakdowns, groups, relationships, andpriorities?

If your rookie is indeed having trouble distinguishing the problem-domain from the solution-domain, then the following techniques may help. Continue reading Rookie Mistake: Jumping to Conclusions with Presumed Solutions

Is the User an Expert or a Novice? It Depends

Pragmatic Marketing LogoI posted earlier that Barbara Nelson of Pragmatic Marketing will be one of the presenters at ProductCamp this Saturday. When a company I was working with six years ago hired Pragmatic Marketing to teach everyone their system, it was a definite game changer, and she was the one who taught the course.  For my part, as a software engineer, I learned from her how to work much more closely and effectively with the marketeers.  The insights we all gained from Pragmatic Marketing’s experience were invaluable.  They are lessons that I continue to apply every day.

As just one tiny example, I’m reminded of an Aha! moment I experienced back then. It was the notion that novices don’t typically stay novices for very long. Continue reading Is the User an Expert or a Novice? It Depends