Re: Interviewing/getting info

["Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- STARBASECORP -dot- COM>]

> On Wed, 23 Aug 1995, Marilynne Smith wrote:

> > >> Do you at least get a feature list from the developers?
> >
> > The developers should be working from something that states the goal of the
> > software and its hoped-for features.  Now days most companies design the
> > software first and have a clear idea what their goals are *before* they
> > begin to code it.  If the developer knows what he or she is designing to,
> > you should be able to find out as well.


And Rosie NorthCrowe asked...
> Where is that, Marilynne?  California?  <gr>

Nope, not here, anyway! Time and time again I see development
teams with all the best intentions develop prototypes and
functional specs and marketing requirements and a whole
battery of plans and specs -- only to abandon them all in
the heated throws of development! What comes out the
"deliverable" end is seldom the same as what went in the
"planning" end -- sometimes not even close!

Getting on to the original question (we've all done this
before, haven't we??? ;-)  ) -- how do we manage to stay
on top of the development process???

Actually, having lunch with the developers and evesdropping
are good suggestions. I've used them myself, many times.

Here are some other thoughts...

Depending on the programming language (and your own personal
spirit of adventure) -- try to get your hands on the file
in which the screens and dialog boxes are defined. They
can't hide anything from you in there! I make it a point
to have a full development environment on my desktop and
check-out the C++ resource file periodically to see what's
new. It's a great way to make sure that each and every
dialog and message box has a help topic. Bonus - you'll
get the help IDs directly from the source so you'll never
have to wonder which ID goes with which dialog.

*Try* to train the programmers to notify you when they
make changes. OK, so some of them can't be trained (That's
a joke, guys!!!). Some of them aren't particulary articulate
(mail message: I changed the check-out dialog. Sue's
grumblings: How? Did you translate it to Russian???). But
some of them actually write fairly detailed reports for them-
selves and their collegues that they never even think to
share with us!

Make yourself available and easy to talk to. I've assembled
a collection of fidget toys (I call them programmer lures)
that I keep in my office. Sometimes guests are so busy
playing with my slinky, they stay to talk longer.  ;-)

Play to your audience. Some people want to set aside time
to answer all your questions at once. Others will maintain
that they don't have time, but if you catch them on the way
out of the bathroom and fire off one quick question, they'll
answer it on the way back to their desk without even realizing
that you've taken up their time. Still others get all uptight
about answering questions and need pacing room and a white
board. Once you've gotten to know the programmers you need
to interface with, it'll be a lot easier. (And once they
get to know you, too.)

Hope this helps. I'm sure you'll get a thousand other
suggestions as well.

Sue Gallagher
sgallagher -at- starbasecorp -dot- com