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>OK, question time. Do many of you really have such a
>hard time getting info from people? What's the
>hang-up?
>
>I'm being serious here. I've never had difficulty
>getting info from people, and I certainly never had to
>use a ploy to do so.
>
>So what is the situation that you cannot get info from
>people without going to elaborate lengths?
Generally speaking, I don't have any problems getting the information that I require from developers. Of course, there are factors that affect how easy it is for me to get the information, including:
* my working relationship with the developer
* the developer - their knowledge of the area, personality, coping mechanisms when under stress
* my own knowledge of the area
* the type and quantity of information I need
There are also factors that affect how many questions I have to ask in the first place: the availability and quality of supporting documentation (e.g. requirements), the extent of my involvement in the project and product design, and the processes in place for communicating information about the project and product during the development lifecycle. Also my ability to eavesdrop on the many informal conversations that take place around the office, often leading to design decisions ;-)
I like to find things out for myself wherever possible, and only when I have exhausted the avenues available to me (playing with the software - pausing to log a few bugs along the way, reading requirements, staring at the Rose model, trawling through third party specifications, ouija board, and so on) will I disturb developers, particularly when it gets close to a deadline. Their time is just as valuable as mine, and I like them to know that I respect that. Fortunately, the closer it gets to the deadline, the more I know about the product, and the less I have to disturb them :)
And I keep trying. If I don't get the information I need from a developer, I may try a different developer, or I may try a different day, or different medium (e.g. in person instead of email). Perhaps I'll break it up into smaller questions, or once I've learned something more about the product, I may change the question. Or perhaps I'll just write up the information as I interpret it without their help initially and then send it around for review. I think I've only ever had to schedule a handful of more formal "information extraction" sessions - and that was because I knew I needed longer than a few minutes. It's all good fun (seriously, I enjoy this part of the job). One way or another, I get that information.
For ease of comparison with other anecdotal evidence, I work in a medium-sized company; there are about 10 developers + me-the-tech-author. We have a very informal office environment, and the area I work in is open plan - no cubicles. I've been there for two years, so we all know each other well.
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