9/24/2009
Bringing Software
Requirements to Life
David Walker
Product Owner
david.walker@microfocus.com
+1 401 267 8874
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9/24/2009
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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9/24/2009
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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9/24/2009
The Source of Software Defects
Logic Design Documentation
28% 2% Human
5%
Interface
6% Environment
5%
Data
6%
Others Requirements
7% 41%
Source: U.S. Air Force Project, F. Sheldon, 1992
“Reliability Measurement from Theory to Practice”
Copyright © 2007 Borland Software Corporation. Confidential 15
Why Manage Requirements?
Cost of Rework Rework Efforts
Rework Cost Original Code Other
40% Project Cost 1% 4% Design
60% Requirements 13%
82%
Rework typically accounts for Requirements efforts account for
40% of total project cost 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
Source: Dean Leffingwell, James Martin
Copyright © 2007 Borland Software Corporation. Confidential 16
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Relative Cost of Fixing a Defect
70
60
Relative Cost to Correct a Defect
50
40
30
20
10
0
Requirements Design Code Development Acceptance Operation
Testing Testing
Source: Barry W. Boehm, Software Engineering Economics
Copyright © 2007 Borland Software Corporation. Confidential 17
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 #5
Blame Chain SME #2 Blame Chain SME #6
Blame Chain SME #3 Blame Chain SME #7
Blame Chain SME #4
Everyone knows requirements must be serious
and difficult and you must remain seated at all
times. No fun allowed.
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9/24/2009
this is not easy…
and…it seems to be getting
harder…
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(but it doesn‟t have to be “no fun”)
bringing software requirements to life
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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9/24/2009
bringing software requirements to life
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
bringing software requirements to life
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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9/24/2009
"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 style
and 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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9/24/2009
vakt
Net Geners Learn Differently
By 21 years of age, They need:
– 10,000 hours playing – fast paced, highly
video games stimulating presentations
– 20,000 hours on e-mail – – increased interactivity
chat – blog with content & each
– 20,000 hours watching TV other
– 10,000 hours on cell – information that relates
phones, and to the learner‟s world
– under 5,000 hours – multiple options for
reading 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
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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.)
5%
• lecture
10%
comprehension:
• reading
average retention
rate after 24 hours 20%
• audio-visual
30%
• demonstration
50%
• discussion group
75%
• practice by doing
90%
• teaching others / immediate usage
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).
bringing software requirements to life
must be interactive
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bringing software requirements to life
must present the illusion of realism
bringing software requirements to life
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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9/24/2009
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
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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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9/24/2009
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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9/24/2009
can we ethically not use interactive
approaches when defining
applications?
can we ethically not bring software
requirements to life?
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9/24/2009
Bringing Software
Requirements to Life
David Walker
Product Owner
david.walker@microfocus.com
+1 401 267 8874
53