Getting Real: Chapter 5

Obviously I’m defensive to the whole “Dump in more features” — and I’m not alone.

As empowering as it sounds, projects are made and supposed to be made simple. It always was. So why would we limit it to that? What if I want a promotion? A smile on my boss’ face? An award? A puppy? The answer lies within another broader and more complicated question — Why shouldn’t we? Limiting the project in the development phase is never a burden, actually, it’s a benefit on our part because hello, it cuts our work days in half! So why the sad face? Still want that cute puppy? Smile. Remember, breaking all the scope into pieces and picking only those the user wants is a good thing because once you finish it and of course, working properly — achieving the level of Six Sigma for the user — you can add as many features as you want. Think of it as ice cream. Once you ordered it, they’ll scoop and put in in a cup — but that doesn’t end there. They’ll now as you if you want to put toppings on it and of course, you’re tempted with all the bright colored treats so you say “Yes, I want those please.” Same goes with the development process of any web or software application, you have to strain it first to get the real deal, to identify what we REALLY have to deal with. Build that and you have a free ticket to Cobo! Yeah! Now, if ever you decide, under the summer heat and beautiful beach of Cobo, to add more things and create a massively capable application, you may do so. Gather you’re team again and conceptualize but never forget to say “No.”

Don’t be a pain, I didn’t tell you to say “No” to everything. Silly! Say No when you feel that all the brainstorming results to too much features which may seem inappropriate and a waste of code. Take control and now, limit the features because you can’t handle everything, you can’t entertain every pool of cool new ideas for features.

Ciao!