Science and Technology:

Software engineering, Agile,

UML, MODELING and more . . .

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The gap between Customer's explanation and his real needs


Have you ever heard about the gap between the Customer's requirements and the point of view of the project team's members?

All the people involved in a software project have heard about the gap between: 
  • Customer explanation
  • Project leader's understanding
  • Analyst's design
  • Developed code
  • Business description


And the unfortunately very common poor software results:
 Project documentation
  • Operation installation
  • Support


In my opinion, one of the most astonishing and even striking differences is between Customer's explanation and his real needs.


My work as Functional Analyst has shown me that very often, the customer doesn't know what he wants or, more precisely, he does not know how to explain it. It gives the opportunity to any unscrupulous marketing agent to sell him any kind of solution.


One of the tasks that I really like is the work with the customer and final users in order to help them representing (or even better, modelling) their needs. All this, in the form of graphical models, requirement specifications, user stories, storyboards, use cases, mock-ups, sketches, etc. This is a a very valuable work since it allows the customer to finely adapt his budget to target:
  • All of the "Must-have" requirements
  • Some "nice-to-have" requirements

We have also heard about these stories where a marketing guy sells something that cannot be developed. Moreover, with a ridiculous delay and price. Then, the dev-team shall deal with all those restrictions and try to do it in the assigned time, quality and budget. A have written a post on Answering to Impossible Requirements.

The following video illustrates some of these problems:
  • Customer doesn't know exactly what he wants
  • Customer requirements are
    • contradictory
    • fuzzy
    • impossible to implement
  •  Marketing agent pushes the expert guy to accept any requirement

        At the end of the sketch, everybody agrees on a "seven perpendicular red lines drown with green ink" project!


I really laugh at the "perpendicularity" question:
        - ....
        - Seven lines, all strictly perpendicular
        - To..... what?
        - eeuuhhh...... to........ everything!
           ....... among ........ themselves !
           I assume you know what perpendicular lines are like !
        - Of course he does! He is an expert!
        -  ...
        - Why are they blue?
        - Indeed, over it was that myself
        - I have a blue pen with me
        - This was just a demonst.....
        - That's the problem, the lines are blue, draw them with red ink
        - That wont solve the problem
        - How do you know before you've tried?
           Lets draw them in red ink then lets see...




Thursday, January 8, 2015

Working in an Inspiring Company



Motivated people make Successful Companies.


If you could chose any company in the world, where would you like to work?

I have asked  this question to many persons around me and the answer was Google.

Then, I have asked: WHY?
The answers were mainly that they would like to work for on of the biggest and more inspiring companies.
Indeed, this company is inspiring for workers and for customers.

What makes this company to be "Inspiring"?


The main answers were:
  • Because I can improve my skills by working in that company
  • Because it seams that they have a lot of fun
  • Because they are leaders in new technologies
A company like this receives hundreds of applications every month and they can have the best workers and propose them to their clients.

There are huge advantages for a company to be Inspiring:



  • Make their clients to desire to work with them
  • Make other people to envy they workers


First of all, the company need to be known by everybody. The best way to do so is by using the modern Social Media. All the people working on new technologies, experts and potential clients, usually read publications from social networking. Moreover, a real Expert, can only be expert if he is present in the social networking.
However, the best broadcasting tool you can use, is the oral "peer-to-peer". Of course, it is not about file sharing, bit about letting Passionate and Inspired people to talk about the company. Passionate people will find the correct way to inspire others.

So, let people talk about your company, but what shall they say?


Why not letting your employees to explain why are they inspired?

Inspire your Expert Team, give them the time, the tools and the scene and they will inspire the others!
For this, many different strategies are possible:
  • Regular technical internal presentations will allow them to share their knowledge with other internal consultants. This could inspire other internal workers.
  • Exceptional external presentations oriented to customers would allow them to display their inspiration and to have a more extended impact
  • Training. A good expert can on be called so, when he can transmit his knowledge to others. And, of course, every customer wants an expert to work in his team
  • Social networking widely and regularly spread their knowledge. An expert is the one being part of the international references on a particular subject
Maybe you company has only few Inspired Experts. But everybody can be an Inspiring Expert, all that you need is to find the correct motivation for every kind of personality: for some of them, there is the money, for some others there is the prestige and for some others is just the "fun". Find the motivation for every employee as I explain in Team Building / Corporating People.

Another solution could be to provide a more Experimented Inspired Expert to guide them on how to transmit their inspiration. Or even to work with them on writing social-media content or public lectures..

Even if the success is not guaranteed, remember that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.



ISSUU presentation





GOOGLE Slides:

Or try the PREZI version:





Further reading: