The Task Analysis Grid is an interesting alternative to the standard requirements doc. I think I may give it a whirl at my next opportunity. As noted on the site, it’s a “single document allows anyone looking at it to see the entire scope of a project, figure out what’s in this release (1) as well as what we’re planning for future releases (2, 3, and 4). It’s an extremely effective artifact for getting everyone on the same page.” The numbers (1 – 4) map to priority levels assigned to each requirement.
Product Management
Software Development's Evolution towards Product Design
From Lost Garden comes Software Development’s Evolution towards Product Design a great explanation of how software development should flow, with an excellent, tongue-in-cheek illustration of the entire process.
With a great flourish, I whip out my gold nibbed pen and draw a little diagram on a napkin that explains concisely how modern software development works. In the grand finale, I circle one of the little scribbles buried deep in the entire convoluted process and proudly proclaim “And that is what I do!”.
Write That Down
Write That Down is a great blog, documenting Adam’s move from the role of developer of Web-based applications into product management. His posts are very informative and reassure me that my choice to shift towards product management will prove fruitful and challenging.