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Subject:re: What do people work from - more From:Sean Hower <hokumhome -at- freehomepage -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 29 Jul 2005 06:58:51 -0700 (PDT)
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Partridge, Robert wrote:
What I'm most interested to know is of those that have access to specifications, how complete are they? Are they minimal? Do they at least describe every function? Are they packed full of useful information?
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The short answer is yes and no.
I've worked from docs that span the minimal to the achingly detailed at the same job, on the same application, written by the same developer (for different functionality). I've found that the depth and accuracy of a spec depends on:
* the developer's deadlines
* by-in/support from the head of development
* the stability or usefulness of the functionality once it's implemented
* the developer's deadlines
* my own understanding of the product and tech
* the developer's deadlines
I say my own understanding because without understanding of the product and tech you're reading about you really can't make informed decisions about the usefulness of the spec. Of course, and this should go without saying, that if I don't understand something I learn it. BUT, until one reaches that understanding, a spec can seem completely useless when actuality it is a treasure trove of info.
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Or do you sometimes find yourself coming up to a deadline and suddenly realising that there are sections of the product unknown to you because you lacked the information to ask the right questions?
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In ...... 6 years, this has happened maybe twice. But it's not a shortcoming of the spec, it was me missing functionality. Generally, though, I'm so very thorough when I'm exploring functionality--reading design docs and bugging SMEs--that I don't miss much. There was a departmental failure, once, to document a feature, a very obscure feature that no one in something like 5 years had ever noticed, including users I'll wager. If I remember correctly, our manager is the one who caught the omission. I suppose when you're dealing with a product line of nearly 200 applications and 2 GB of info, something is bound to slip through the cracks though. :-)
Hope this is the kind of info you were looking for.
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