Stevey's Blog Rants: Business Requirements are Bullshit
Popularity Report
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Rank
URL Tag Cloud
Bookmark History
Saved by 18 people (-2 private), first by anonymouse user on 2008-08-12
- Mavrik on 2009-06-10 - Tags no_tag
- Davidmiller on 2008-10-14 - Tags no_tag
- Thomasmartin on 2008-09-29 - Tags projectmanagement
- Arrix_ on 2008-08-19 - Tags no_tag
- Philsci on 2008-08-14 - Tags software , business , management , productivity
Public Sticky notes
Some CEO emailed me the other day. I don't remember who it was; people mail me all the time about their blah blah yawn product service thingy, and on the rare occasions I bother to read mail from strangers, I don't usually remember anything about the email, even if I respond to it. I can remember broad categories of questions I get, but everything else is just a blur. That's senility for ya.
Highlighted by rahulvohra
Ideally the product you're building for yourself should be simple to describe, so that other people can quickly evaluate whether they, too, want this thing. It's often called the "elevator pitch",
Highlighted by mavrik
You can almost always make a product better by trimming the requirements list. We're talking brutal triage: throwing out stuff that's really painful to lose, such as the ability to change the battery.
Highlighted by mavrik
When you're trimming the business requirements, then you're exhibiting healthy project behavior. This contrasts directly with gathering requirements, which has both the connotation that you're clueless about the product and the connotation that you're inflating the requirements list in direct conflict with schedule, usability and fashion. Trimming: good. Gathering: bad.
Highlighted by mavrik
Who was it who said that you're done writing not when there's nothing left to
add, but when there's nothing left to take away?
Highlighted by arrix_
Who was it who said that you're done writing not when there's nothing left to
add, but when there's nothing left to take away?
Highlighted by arrix_
You don't need an original idea to be successful. You really don't. You just need to make something that people want. Even if someone else appears to be making something popular, it's usually possible to improve on the idea and grab market share. And it's painfully counterintuitive at times, but the best improvements often come from simplifying.
Highlighted by mavrik
The easiest way to build a product that kicks ass is to start with someone else's great idea (camcorders, for instance), and take stuff away.
Highlighted by mavrik
It's easy to come up with new product ideas if you start with the understanding that everything sucks. There are no completely solved problems.
Highlighted by mavrik
Everything can stand improvement. Just think about what you'd change if you were doing it for yourself, and everything should start falling into place.
Highlighted by mavrik
We always used to joke about a product so simple that it only had one button,
which we pressed for you before it left the factory.
Highlighted by arrix_
We always used to joke about a product so simple that it only had one button,
which we pressed for you before it left the factory.
Highlighted by arrix_
We always used to joke about a product so simple that it only had one button,
which we pressed for you before it left the factory.
Highlighted by davidmiller
In this case, the fundamental marketing force that the company failed to take into account was fashion. People don't often think of mountain biking (or programming, for that matter) as a fashion industry, but failing to understand the role of fashion is a recipe for random disasters.
Highlighted by mavrik
In any event, originality is overrated. Coming up with something completely
original isn't just hard to do: it's also hard to sell, because
investors (and possibly customers) will need to be educated on what this new
thing is and why people would want it. And when it comes to buying stuff, nobody
likes to be educated. If the product isn't immediately obvious, investors and
customers will pass it up.
Highlighted by davidmiller
Fashion is generally hard to predict, but it usually means "sacrificing comfort or convenience for the sake of style". Take another look at the iPod: it has almost no features. It doesn't have an "off" button. Heck, you can't even change the battery. Not exactly convenient in many ways. But it sure has style!
Highlighted by mavrik
If you don't already know exactly what to build, then you're in the wrong business. At the very least, you should hire someone who does know. Don't gather business requirements: hire domain experts.
Highlighted by mavrik
If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that, at least working on something that you know really well.
Highlighted by mavrik
Don't gather business requirements: hire domain experts.
Highlighted by arrix_
Don't gather business requirements: hire domain experts.
Highlighted by arrix_
If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you
personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your
company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what
level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that,
at least working on something that you know really well.
Highlighted by arrix_
f you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you
personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your
company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what
level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that,
at least working on something that you know really well.
Highlighted by arrix_
If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you
personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your
company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what
level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that,
at least working on something that you know really well.
Highlighted by arrix_
If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you
personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your
company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what
level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that,
at least working on something that you know really well.
Highlighted by arrix_
If you can't think of anything in your company's "space" that you
personally would use, then you should think seriously about (a) changing your
company's direction, or (b) finding another company. This is true no matter what
level you're at. You should be working on something you love, or failing that,
at least working on something that you know really well.
Highlighted by arrix_
Public Comment