Bringing Software Requirements to Life by David Walker (Micro Focus) - Sep 2009

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Bringing Software Requirements to Life

David WalkerProduct Owner

[email protected]+1 401 267 8874

mailto:[email protected]

9/24/2009

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bringing software requirements to life

means animating requirements to animate people

• gain a real understanding of the problem

• see why traditional approaches don‟t work

• become your inner educator

• break down the 4th wall

• tgim

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requirements problems are a subset of the systemic human

condition of poor communication

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelsonlai/1258727102/

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http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs45/f/2009/112/c/7/Yggrasil__the_world_tree_by_AlphonseCapone.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3272326.jpg

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http://www.greatlakesdigitalsalon.org/entries/CO/534-CO-1.jpg

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Babelcorp Inc.

Public Domain

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“[project success rates] are a low point in the last five study periods. This year‟s results

represent the highest failure rate in over a decade”

-Standish Group (5/09)

rework

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ConfidentialCopyright © 2007 Borland Software Corporation. 15

The Source of Software Defects

Requirements

41%

Others

7%

Data

6%

Interface

6%

Logic Design

28%

Environment

5%

Human

5%

Documentation

2%

Source: U.S. Air Force Project, F. Sheldon, 1992

“Reliability Measurement from Theory to Practice”


Source: Dean Leffingwell, James Martin

Rework typically accounts for

40% of total project cost

Original Project Cost

60%

Rework Cost40%

Cost of Rework

Why Manage Requirements?

Code1%

Other4% Design

13%Requirements82%

Rework Efforts

Requirements efforts account for

over 80% of rework effort

Size of Team Cost of Team Spending on Rework Potential RM Impact

100 $10,000,000 $4,000,000 $3,200,000

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Relative Cost of Fixing a Defect

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Requirements Design Code Development

Testing

Acceptance

Testing

Operation

Rel

ativ

e C

ost

to

Co

rrec

t a

Def

ect

Source: Barry W. Boehm, Software Engineering Economics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mzahra1/sets/72157606850556504/show/

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McKinsey & Co says…

“If a company is later to market with a new product by only six months, 33 percent of the gross

profit potential is lost”

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“Improving time to market by one month improves profits by 12

percent”

Standish says…

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• “If a company is later to market with a new product by only six months, 33 percent of the gross profit potential is lost”

http://devcentral.f5.com/weblogs/images/devcentral_f5_com/weblogs/Joe/WindowsLiveWriter/PowerShellABCsQisforQueues_919A/queue_2.jpg

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http://www.getacoach.co.nz/images/Oct4/wealth1.jpg

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Blame Chain SME #1

Blame Chain SME #2 Blame Chain SME #6

Blame Chain SME #5

Blame Chain SME #3

Blame Chain SME #4

Blame Chain SME #7

Everyone knows requirements must be serious and difficult and you must remain seated at all

times. No fun allowed.

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this is not easy…

and…it seems to be getting harder…

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(but it doesn‟t have to be “no fun”)


must be fun

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http://ciocollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/Complexity650-300.jpg

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http://www.idiagram.com/CP/cpprocess.html

http://www.globizer.net/service/dat/maps/default/0/0.jpg

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technical complexity & software complexity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nifmus/2385966735/sizes/o/

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/steevil/2755466776/sizes/o/

• Fatigue adj. (weariness, tiredness): temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work

• How many interesting excuses have you heard? Are they even making excuses any more?

• Maybe we‟ll do better if we DON‟T participate…could it be worse?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1suisse/3476366880/sizes/l/

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must be engaging

• Fatigue adj. (weariness, tiredness): temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work

• How many interesting excuses have you heard? Are they even making excuses any more?

• Maybe we‟ll do better if we DON‟T participate…could it be worse?

• What prevents active engagement? Reflex and Momentum

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1suisse/3476366880/sizes/l/

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Reflex: It hurts when I do this…

http://www.freewebs.com/nervous-system/doityourself.htm

http://www.tkk.fi/Yksikot/Laiva/Kuvat/jahrevik.jpg

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45

Public Domain

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http://messingaboutinboats.typepad.com/sailing/images/2008/01/07/ugly_fish.jpg

What would you fix?

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2139/2276620170_f1f717a84f.jpg

http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/help-with-english/NIS/interpreter_symbol_text.jpg

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noise

ambiguity

un-reconciled viewpoints

assumptions

ikiwisi


drives clearer communication

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http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/help-with-english/NIS/interpreter_symbol_text.jpg

http://www.annikeris.com/images/teacher_board.jpg

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"Teach me my most difficult concepts in my preferred style.Let me explore easy concepts in a different style.

Just don't teach me all the time in your preferred styleand think I'm not capable of learning."

A comment from Virleen M. Carlson, Center for Learning and Teaching, Cornell University

http://www.bruceeisner.com/myers_briggs_types.gif

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vakt

Net Geners Learn Differently

– 10,000 hours playing video games

– 20,000 hours on e-mail –chat – blog

– 20,000 hours watching TV

– 10,000 hours on cell phones, and

– under 5,000 hours reading

– fast paced, highly stimulating presentations

– increased interactivity with content & each other

– information that relates to the learner‟s world

– multiple options for obtaining knowledge.

Susan El-Shamy. Training for the new and emerging generations.

Quoted in http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=521

By 21 years of age, They need:

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“Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the school-aged population remembers

what is heard; 40 percent recalls well visually the things that are seen or read; many must write or use their

fingers in some manipulative way to help them remember basic facts; other people cannot internalize

information or skills unless they use them in real-life activities…”

(Teaching Students to Read Through Their Individual Learning Styles, Marie Carbo, Rita Dunn, and Kenneth Dunn; Prentice-Hall, 1986, p.13.)

• lecture

5%

• reading

10%

• audio-visual

20%

• demonstration

30%

• discussion group

50%

• practice by doing

75%

• teaching others / immediate usage

90%

comprehension:average retention rate after 24 hours

http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/adapthandbook/learner/images/pyramid.gif

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Adult Learners

According to Malcolm Knowles, adult learners have other learning characteristics, including:

• a requirement to know how the knowledge is of direct benefit,

• a need to apply the knowledge through actual experience,

• ability to learn quickly when the training content is considered to be of use,

• a tendency to learn best when a problem-based approach is used,

• a need for independence, but not enough to cause discomfort (e.g., some trainees are uncomfortable with role playing).


must be interactive

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must present the illusion of realism


must be in tune with the way they learn

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You‟re learners too – how do YOU learn effectively ?

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If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every

problem as a nail.- Abraham Maslow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadeyebart/sets/72057594122748485/show/

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nullum gratuitum prandium

http://www.ethicurean.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/free-lunch.jpg

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Requirements Definition

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requirements <> definition

Requirements <> Definition

change the name - change the game

• be open to other alternatives

– interviewing

– JAD

– card sorting

– Ethnographic study

– survey

– prototyping / simulation

76

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jad

http://www.boxesandarrows.com/files/banda/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide/sampleSort.jpg

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http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources/glossary_web/IMAGES/SV1.JPG

if you had to bet $1000 of your own money…

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http://mickmcquaid.com/paper-proto.jpg

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what is simulation?

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proven in other industries

secures executive attention

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prototypes ask questions before they answer them

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checklist

– don't take them too far

– need to be „real time‟ for collaboration

– need to get in front of as many eyes as possible

– needs to assist with management of feedback

– need to easily communicate downstream

– needs to integrate seamlessly into RDM

– needs to support non-software processes as well

– can't break the bank

89

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bart_/295339365/sizes/l/

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/defwheezer/18789500/sizes/o/

hello, world!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/3612764200/sizes/o/

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http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/images/process-explained.gif

Breaking the Fourth Wall

http://www.sanantonio.gov/convfac/images/highrezpics/lilastage.JPG

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What needs to change

• roundtrip the conversation

• get through - not just give out

• repair relationships

• be relevant – “own the problem”

• define the systems that people want to use

• Change is hard…

95

http://www.stevenmsmith.com/my-articles/article/the-satir-change-model.html

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Be a Trim Tab

With respects to Buckminster Fuller:

“Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary -- the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab.

It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab…”

“So I said, call me Trim Tab.”

http://cruiselinehistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/moittelcollectionmuseum001.jpg

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Visual Language

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualthinkmap/2533934877/sizes/l/

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visual language

this poses an ethical question

can we ethically continue to create our content, in the same “old prose” way, creating 23 to 89% more difficulty for

readers, and hence, creating that much more suffering for them?

can we ethically not use visual language?

Robert E. Horn (paraphrased)

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can we ethically not use interactive approaches when defining

applications?

can we ethically not bring software requirements to life?

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Bringing Software Requirements to Life

David WalkerProduct Owner

[email protected]+1 401 267 8874

mailto:[email protected]

Bringing Software Requirements to Life by David Walker (Micro Focus) - Sep 2009

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Transcript of Bringing Software Requirements to Life by David Walker (Micro Focus) - Sep 2009