Jim Hertzfeld – Area Vice President, Strategy

In the classic documentary This is Spinal Tap, crack documentarian Marti DeBergi captures a textbook case of requirements specifications gone awry.  The dialogue went like this: Ian: When we get the actual, uh, set, when we get the piece,  it’ll…it’ll follow exactly these specifications. I mean even these contours and everything? Artist: Um, I’m not […]

This is the fourth entry in a series on what constitutes good requirements, regardless of how they are written, stated, shown, or otherwise intended.  In this entry, we offer a gentle reminder that requirements should also be verifiable. When requirements are verifiable it simply means that they are expressed in a way that our product […]

This is the third entry in a series on what constitutes good requirements, regardless of how they are written, stated, shown, or otherwise intended.  In this entry, we cover how language affects the ambiguity of requirements. When requirements are unambiguous it means that they have one and only one interpretation by everyone involved. How would […]

This is the second entry in a series on what constitutes good requirements, regardless of how they are written, stated, shown, or otherwise intended.  In this entry, we cover two characteristics that go hand in hand and are generally the responsibility of the customer and user: correct and complete. You probably haven’t tried my grandmother’s […]

I recently had a discussion about a proposed web architecture with a client who was making the request to “keep things simple.” I interpreted this as a plea to “keep things cheaper,” but played the Einstein-quote-card reassuring him that we will keep things “as simple as possible, but no simpler.”  I’ve always liked this quote […]

“I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” -Robert McCloskey, former U.S. State Department spokesman Regardless of how your software project is organized, how it is being run, or what you are building, sooner […]

In the film “Up in the Air,” Ryan Bingham makes his living traveling to clients and laying off their employees with his own special charm (he is played by George Clooney, after all). His upstart colleague, Natalie, proposes a new method via videoconferencing. But before the new system can go into place, their boss convinces […]