JB Weekly Digest (07-44)
A random sample of my readings for the past week.
Humor
Developers are in tremendous pain. Have a look at their desperate call below.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=SE7gzecA43U[/youtube]
Apparently, this is from a Devshop commercial. Hey, if there product is nearly as sharp as their commercial, it may be worth a look!
While we’re having a little fun with developers, why don’t you take a look at 10 types of programmers you’ll encounter in the field, by Jody Gilbert? I won’t go into detail about the various types, but I will give you some of their “names” to pique your curiosity; Gandalf, The Martyr, Fanboy, Vince Neil, The Ninja, The Theoretician, The Code Cowboy, The Paratrooper, Mediocre Man, and The Evangelist. Go have a look. This is good stuff. Even the most stoic software developer is going to have to admit to having met some of these guys..
If you can still handle another chuckle or two, have a look at a list of The Best Geek Quotes. Do check out the complete list, but here are a few of my favorites as a teaser:
“If at first you don’t succeed; call it version 1.0″
“Be nice to geeks, you’ll probably end up working for one.”
“It’s a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages.”
“Life would be so much easier if it were open-source.”
“Some things Man was never meant to know. That’s why we invented Google.”
“There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.”
Relationships
I’ve read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” probably at least 3 times that I can recall. What a great resource to help you succeed with relationships – whether professional or personal! If you haven’t read it, I advise you to do so. Either way, I think you’ll find this very brief, quick-hit summary of use. It includes bulleted lists including Carnegie’s counsel on:
- Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
- Six Ways to Make People Like You
- How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
- How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
Written Communication
List of Commonly Misused Words, NoSlang.com.
As authors of professional documentation, there is an expectation – and I think it’s a valid one – that business analysts use correct grammar and word usage in their deliverables. At its purest, natural language tends to lend itself to a certain level of vagueness. Misusing words certainly doesn’t help matters. While there are lots of good resources available on the web, I came across this site recently. I may share others if there is an interest. I just found this to be brief, and it covers several of the most common confused and misused words.
Usability
Into usability? 30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of from Smashing Magazine includes information that may be especially useful to web developers or bloggers.
Ever heard of the 7±2 Principle? How about the 2-second rule? The 3-click rule? These and many other concepts are included in the article. I also appreciated the fact that they threw in a very helpful glossary of usability terms and concepts. Anyway, I included it here because I found it a nice primer on a topic that probably doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.
Staying with usability, Sim D’Hertefelt asks and then answers [w]hy user experience disasters happen at the start of web projects. Per D’Hertefelt:
Requests for proposals for web projects describe the desired solution but often lack basic information about the problem that will be solved by the application. To design a usable user experience you have to understand the problem first: who are the future users, what are their current practices and what are their needs? The main barrier to this understanding is that some corporate cultures lack the courage to really listen to users… How do you understand users, their needs and their current practices? By really listening to users. Really listening does not mean asking multiple choice questions. It means that you listen to the story you didn’t ask for. It also means that you observe. Because what people say they do and what they actually do are sometimes very different things. And finally, it means leaving the safety of your office and going out to meet users in their context: their home, their office, the shop, etcetera. Because what people explain to you outside the context of their activities becomes distorted and rationalized.
I agree heartily on these points. In fact, I’ve been traveling a fair portion of this past week to meet with users of one of our systems to make sure that we understand how the process works and how users interact the system before we make some important decisions on how the work should be done in the future. You just can’t beat talking firsthand to the people who do the work. In my experience, users typically really appreciate the opportunity to share information – even if you’re just observing them. It helps the business analyst capture and document user need better, and gives the user a sense of involvement and ownership in the systems development process.
Well, that’s enough for this week. Please let me know if you are aware of other good resources on these topics, or if you have a particular comment on any of the articles I’ve referenced in this post.
Category: Weekly Digest
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