Draft of the SXSWi 2010 core conversation.

1. Surviving Federal
Contracts
From IXD Hell and Back
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2. 7 Levels of Federal Contract
IXD Hell
• Contracts & Task Orders: Damage Control
• Restricted & Secure Facilities: Dealing with the Past
• Cubeville: Who’s Who
• Roles & Responsibilities: Silent Bob & the
Spokesmodel
• Its Not a Wizard!: The Prototype
• Perceived Requirements: Engineers Gone Wild
• Multi-Year Contracts: It’s a Relay Race
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3. Contracts & Task
Orders: Damage Control
• Contract was already defined
• Fix 6 months of work into 3 months
• Work with what you have
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4. Restricted & Secure Facilities:
Dealing with the Past
• Getting a clearance: don’t lie, take it
seriously
• Its not as bad as you think
• You’re not the only one with a past
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5. Cubeville: Who’s Who
• Cubeville: nickname for any & every office
• Cap’t Fantastic: the smartest person in the
room
• Milton: the developer who just wants to help
• Absentee Parent: the Project Manager who just
doesn’t get it
• Ruthless Pragmatist: the person who does
whatever it takes to make a deadline
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6. Roles & Responsibilities: Silent
Bob & the Spokesmodel
• Who is the Boss?
• Be prepared
• Know when to take the lead
• Know when to let go
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7. It’s Not a Wizard!:
The Prototype
• Be prepared to fail
• Celebrate little wins
• Get clear communication on what you’re
building
• Work with your users, Subject Matter
Experts (SME’s) are your friends
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8. Perceived Requirements:
Engineers Gone Wild
• Listen for and ask about all requirements,
actual and perceived
• Siloed engineers = wild, wild west of code
• Somebody has to OWN the UI
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9. Multi-Year Contracts:
It’s a Relay Race
• Its about teamwork
• Importance of a back channel
• Work like you are planning the next phase
of the project
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10. Surviving IXD Hell:
Do the Work
• Draw Everything
• Call Shenanigans
• “Why are you making me do this?”
• “I can tear up this piece of paper”
• Have a common language
• You are the Boss
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11. Draw Everything
• Regardless of what you use, visualizations are
much more interesting than specifications
• Get people to draw with you. “Draw me a
picture of what you just said”
• Transparency: the more you show, the more
engaged the team becomes
• Collaborative sketching: work becomes less
magical and more practical
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12. Call Shenanigans
• Critique your colleague’s work
• Have your colleague critique your work
• Be tough
• Be ready to take the feedback
• Don’t be afraid to call shenanigans on them
or on yourself
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13. “Why are you making
me do this?”
• Its not about you, its about the user
• Find the user
• Listen to the user
• Trust the user, they are your friends
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14. “I can tear up a piece of
paper”
• Work on paper for as long as you can
• Tearing up paper is cheaper than tearing up
code
• Again, draw everything!
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15. Common Language
• Words have meaning
• Whatever words the users use, you use
• Agree on terms to describe the design
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16. You are the Boss
• There is a natural lead for each phase of
the design
• Know when its you
• Know when its not
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17. Finally...
• Ask how you can help.
• Do good work.
• Don’t be a Dick!
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18. Survivors
• Michael Blakesley : Michael.Blakesley@gmail.com : @mikeblakesley
• Michelle Childs : MichelleLChilds@gmail.com : @michellechilds
• Rob Kotchick : RobKotchick@gmail.com : @robkotchick
• Benno Schmidt : ABennoSchmidt@gmail.com : @abennoschmidt
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