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Requirements Don’t Have to be Hard
Drrs. Kelly Shaw & Rick HubbardSerena Software
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The First Step
• Given this year’s theme of Innovation…
• The first step to creating an innovative & achievable solution is to…• …form a well-crafted—and authoritative—statement of the
problem…• …which is attested by the Economic Stakeholder
• Let’s start with a simple list and progress from there…• …what aspects of requirements do you believe are hard, or
problematic?
• Now let’s delve a little deeper into the nature of innovation
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What is “Innovation?”
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Nature of Innovation
• What is the fundamental nature of innovation?
• Something new?
• Necessary, yet insufficient answer
• Innovation is something new…
• …in the presence of an apparent contradiction(s), and…
• …typically bounded by an assumed constraint(s)
• For Example: A Special Diet…• Story about a college Computer Science project
• Let’s apply this idea to you…
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Cardstorm Prototype Candidates
• 5x8 Index Cards• Write Name & Contact Details in Lower Right
• In Quiet• In 15 words, or less, please describe a problem, any
problem, in your organization which is bounded by a contradction(s) and a constraint(s)
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Collect Cardstorm Results
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What Can Be Done?
• What can be done later in a project to overcome deficiencies—failures—in requirements practices?• Spend More Money
• Rework
• Take Longer
• Higher Risk
• Lower Quality
• Deliver Less
• Reduce ROI• Squander Opportunity Cost
• Disappoint Business/Customers
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The Value of Prototyping
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With Innovative Thinking—Requirements Don’t Have to be Hard
• Problem: Customer’s Don’t Know What they Want and They Think Requirements Capture Takes Forever
• Recall: What is the Nature of Innovation?• Something new, apparent contradiction & constraint
• Let’s find a way to collect requirements when customer’s don’t know what they want in short periods of time…especially with respect to:• Surfacing Assumptions• Surfacing Tacit Knowledge
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Kano Model
Extremely Satisfied
Extreme Dissatisfied
Absolutely Unfulfilled Absolutely Fulfilled
Over Time
Excited
Assumed
Stated
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With Innovative Thinking—Requirements Don’t Have to be Hard
• Problem: We don’t know if the solution technology is feasible• Let’s find a way to collect requirements and test a technology
stack in a short period of time
• Problem: What’s the best way to decide to build or buy?• Let’s find a way to collect sufficient requirements to
authoritatively conduct a build/buy decision in a short period of time
• Problem: Customer’s are always changing their minds; especially when they learn the cost of a feature• Let’s find a way to quickly collect, assess and validate
requirements
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Could You Apply This Approach to Requirements
and Prototyping?
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PDSA/PDCAShewhart/Deming Cycle
Frequently Misunderstood
“D” Really Means…
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Ultra, Ultra-Brief Discussion ofPID Controllers
PIDProportional—Current ErrorIntegral—Sum Prior ErrorsDerivative—Rate of Change of Errors
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Let’s Find a Way…
• Let’s find a way to collect requirements when customer’s don’t know what they want in short periods of time…especially with respect to:• Surfacing Assumptions• Surfacing Tacit Knowledge
• Let’s find a way to collect requirements and test a technology stack in a short period of time
• Let’s find a way to collect sufficient requirements to authoritatively conduct a build/buy decision in a short period of time
• Let’s find a way to quickly collect, assess and validate requirements
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Prototyping
Let’s See How Shaw is Doing…
Let’s Surface Assumptions…
Let’s Surface Tacit Knowledge…
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Questions