Guidance for Picking the Right Solution for Your Software Development Process Issues
An Organization has an issue with its software development process, but it is unsure how to proceed. That institution has many options. The correct one depends on that company’s specific situation. Different scenarios demand separate responses. A business can match the appropriate reply, to its circumstances, with this subsequent guidance.
Guidance
We Know We Have Specific Problems but we Don’t Know What They are
An institution knows that it has distinct, non-underlying headaches, but it unsure what they are. It needs to audit its software processes, to find them. That investigation identifies the obstacles. Once a company diagnoses its troubles, then it begins creating a solution for them iteratively and incrementally.
We Have Specific Issue or Issues
A business has identified a distinct trouble or troubles it wants to correct. That organization begins fixing those headaches, by working iteratively and incrementally on a solution. If it finds a more fundamental obstacle, then it can start repairing that problem, once it corrects the ones already diagnosed. An institution handles that foundational issue, using the tips provided in the “Sure we Have Underlying Problem” section.
Unsure Whether We Have an Underlying Difficulty
A company thinks it has an elemental issue, but it is uncertain of that fact. It needs a method to resolve that uncertainty. The technique described here tells a business whether it should begin investigating its foundational troubles. If that organization finds that it should do so, then it moves onto the “Sure we Have an Underlying Problem” section. Otherwise, it moves onto the “We Know We Have Specific Problems but we Don’t Know What They are” unit.
Sure we Have an Underlying Problem
An institution is confident it has a foundational difficulty, but it does know where to start fixing that trouble. That company should begin by determining which elements on this checklist are checked off and which are not. The unchecked items must be corrected in a minimal way, before moving forward. Once a company has checked every box, it can begin correcting its deeper issues.
Curated Content and Authors
Janaka Fernando discusses using t-shirt sizing for estimation instead of story points.
Avinash Ranganatha describes he iterative and incremental delivery of features.
Paul Butcher talks about fuzz testing and how it fits into software development.
Darius Vasefi meditates on how information architecture (IA) helps in software engineering.
Hanu Kommalapati and William H. Zack chat about the development lifecycle for a SaaS product.
Jonathan Blow discusses prototyping in the context of games.
We wrote an article describing how an organization can decide whether to investigate an underlying problem.
We wrote a piece stating that a model is the theory behind a strategy.
Endnotes
This article covers, at a high level, the process for handling an organization’s problems with its software development. Other pieces will delve further into the details. To read those works, subscribe to this newsletter and read the Software Development Journal. To get content as it is published, follow ExperTech Insights on Twitter.