According to the Standish group, 64 percent of features in systems are rarely-or never-used. How does this happen? Today, the work of eliciting the customers' true needs, which remains elusive, can be enhanced using data-driven requirements techniques. Brandon Carlson introduces data collection approaches and analysis techniques you can employ on your projects right away. Find out how to instrument existing applications and develop new requirements based on operational profiles of the current system. Learn to use A/B testing-a technique for trying out and analyzing alternative implementations-on your current system to determine which new features will deliver the most business value. With these tools at hand, you can help users and business stakeholders decide the best approaches and best new features to meet their real needs. Now is the time to take the guesswork out of requirements and get "Just the facts, Ma'am."

1.
BW6
Concurrent Session
11/7/2012 2:15 PM
"Data Collection and Analysis for Better
Requirements: Just the Facts, Ma'am"
Presented by:
Brandon Carlson
Lean TECHniques, Inc.
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073
888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com

2. Brandon Carlson
Lean TECHniques, Inc.
A self-proclaimed nerd, Brandon Carlson works for Lean TECHniques, Inc., an IT consultancy that helps
teams deliver high-value, high-quality products to market. Since starting his career in 1995, Brandon has
held positions ranging from developer to manager—and is still learning. Passionate about elevating the
performance of IT as a whole, he has helped numerous organizations from startups to Fortune 100
companies improve their product development and delivery systems. Brandon’s current interests include
data-driven product definition/development and professionalism in the world of software development. He
can be reached on Twitter and pretty much everywhere else on the web as “bcarlso”. Read his blog.

3. Just The Facts Ma’am
Data Collection and Analysis for Better
Products
About Me
Brandon Carlson
Lean TECHniques, Inc.
bcarlso@leantechniques.co
On the web: ‘bcarlso’
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4. Hidden Constraints
A Turning Point
2

5. Houston: We
Have A
Quality
Problem
Scope of the Problem
• As of 2010, the average IT shop spent
about 27% of their software budget on
custom software development.
• About 1 in 8 shops spent more than 50%
of their software budget on custom
software development.
3

6. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend me
a Buck
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend me
a Buck
4

7. Stop Listening To Your Customers!
7 Spotlights
Seven factabulous
y
g
ways to get better
requirements
5

8. Play the
Nickel Slots
aka Little Bets
1
Observe First
Stalking > Talking
2
6

9. 3
Web Analytics
App Instrumentation
log(sha1(currentUser, deviceId));
4
7

10. App Instrumentation
results = performSearch(searchString);
log( “Search:”
+ searchString
+ “R t
“Returned:”
d”
4
+ results.size() );
Split Test
Choose between
p
two options
5
8

11. 6
Toggle Features
7
Enterprise Anthropology
9

12. 7 Spotlights
• Nickel Slots
• Observe First
• Web Analytics
• Application Instrumentation
• Split Testing
• Toggle Features
• Enterprise Anthropology
7 Spotlights
• Nickel Slots
• Observe First
• Web Analytics
• Application Instrumentation
• Split Testing
• Toggle Features
• Enterprise Anthropology
10

13. Use the 7 Spotlights to
get the facts about what
y
your customers do...
...then combine that
with what they say
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14. ...to help you eliminate
waste and discover the
g p
right product.
The “Right” Product
• Reduced Market Risk
• Increased Customer Understanding
• “Good Enough” Features
• Hi h ROI
High
• Treasured
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15. The “Right” Product
• Reduced Market Risk
• Increased Customer Understanding
• “Good Enough” Features
• Hi h ROI
High
• Treasured
just-the-facts@leantechniques.co
13

16. Questions?
bcarlso@leantechniques.co
@bcarlso
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