Six components of a well-written requirement are so powerful that I call them magical. Missing any one of these six requirement attributes will cost your project. Capture them up front to save money, time, help communication, and minimize frustration. Have you hired a company to gather requirements? They should provide these six. Because I love practical […]
When developing systems and software, how do you know when you’re done? Here are some proven failing methods: When time is up When the budget is exhausted When a sponsor or client demands the product When the project is cancelled or suspended These are arbitrary, and sometimes brutal, measures, none of which necessarily correlates with […]
As a business analyst or system developer, do you want to get more of what you need– accurate, complete, testable requirements that meet the customer’s needs–faster? Like any good business analyst, I often use graphical tools to explore an idea, discover logical relationships, simplify concepts, or present findings. Consider the following: This simple 2-by-2 chart […]
by Erik Jul* Capture Now. No time is better, and certainly not later. Document once. Don’t do the work multiple times. Whose got the time? Visible to all. Everyone has to see. Why? They might have more perfect knowledge, opinions, suggestions, have approval authority, or just need a sense of comfort. Revise quickly. With all […]
When you are done reading this post the importance of knowing the end goal will have been communicated: • Definition of Done • Acceptance Criteria • What does success look like? • What happens? • What gets completed? • What is the result? • The end goal These bullets all represent one concept. As a […]
by Erik Jul When specifying requirements for a new system, large or small, how much do we have to get right? Isn’t “All of it” the right answer? Not always, and maybe never. Concepts such as “minimally viable product” (which carries the moniker MVP as if it were some sort of champion), “iterative solution scoping,” […]
Project Approval You go to the company president requesting $500,000 for a project and they say, “Sure. No problem and please do not bother me with details such as why you need it.” Blind approval as described above is not likely to happen. There may or may not be a formal cost benefit analysis completed. […]
