The document discusses several key lessons related to software engineering and project management based on the experiences of experts like Frederick P. Brooks, Steve Jobs, and Jacob Nielsen. It notes that lack of planning can lead to issues like cost overruns. It also emphasizes the importance of effective communication, prioritizing features, and iterating quickly to avoid repeating past mistakes. The document recommends focusing on simplicity, usability testing, and documentation to help projects succeed.

1. Software Engineering and Project Management Ad Hoc Stories Mohammed S. Makhlouf – IS Department,4 th year

2. Our Key Witnesses Fredrick P. Brooks Steve Jobs Sarah Winchester Jack Welch Jacob Nielsen

3. Lack of planning Winchester Mystery House

4. Lack of planning Planning is some how a design problem, And “ Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs

5. Projects usually become late Even if your estimates are so accurate you’re only half done. Projects do get late for one reason or another so hustle hard. Never Add man power to late projects. They only get later ! Fredrick P. Brooks

6. Communication Tower of Babel One big Failure … in Italian it is a fiasco

7. Methodologies and Details “ Too Often we measure everything and understand nothing.” Jack Welch Time and Attention are Finite!

8. Methodology

9. Methodology

11. Cut Features Be realistic about what you really need and what is actually usable.

13. Use it or just try it “ Clear content, simple navigation, and answers to customer questions have the biggest impact on business value. Advanced technology matters much less.” “ Progressive disclosure defers advanced or rarely used features to a secondary screen, making applications easier to learn and less error-prone.” Jacob Nielsen

14. Code and Documentation Should be fully related and not just a heap of papers.

15. So what to do For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong. Fail Fast. Iterate. Explore. This isn’t construction or rocket science.

16. Insanity The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So please don’t repeat these age old problems

17. Thank you, thank you, thank you You are all far too kind