That’s the Way to Go
Get a codin’. We’ve found something that’s working really well - a way for teams to work together and get things accomplished quickly and effectively.
This does not involve the use of 593 page requirements documents or extremely detailed & complex workflows. Nope. What’s needed is a few simple things:
- Vision
- Code
- Wireframes
- To-do list
…oh - and lots of iterations.
When you are trying to get a product up & running, I’ve found the natural thing to do for people is to lean more towards a “corporate” style approach. Trying to identify every detail is OK when it’s necessary. It does hinder the ability to move quickly.
…with the caveat to this being, “you must have intermediate -> senior developers that know what they are doing.”
Taking up time to do usability studies? Not required prior to launch - especially for a Web app. Usability studies, when done right, are OK - but they are so easily done wrong. Also, definitely not something that’s totally needed for a product being constantly iterated on. Watching the audience use it in their natural environment is beneficial, as is listening / gathering market feedback and cycling iterations.
As an aside, I prefer feedback to come in to me directly, which I folder in Outlook using rules. This includes anything from the market via either an e-mail address or form. I like to get as much as possible, and being prioritizing by way of a spreadsheet right away - the data is very intriguing to me.
Get coding. It’s OK if the code gets ahead of the wireframes. Get the functionality implemented and tested. The wireframes then serve the purpose of cleaning things up so developers don’t have to worry about how form elements will be aligned, or the copy to use for error messages and other things that geeky product managers like me are really into.
I’m now part of a team that’s got this type of structure working. Let me tell you - it friggin’ rocks. Agile, rocks!
