Requirements Gathering

Requirements gathering is the first step on the "traditional" process of designing any new piece of software, and involves asking detailed questions regarding what the expected users of the system want to see in the finished product.
I have found, working as a systems or process analyst for some years, is that the end users rarely have a clear view of what they want and certainly not in precise details.

I have worked with many people over the last 40 years and I would put them into two broad groups - those that go for the "details" and those that go for the "big picture", or "helicopter view" as one Managing Director once described it to me.
Computer programmers tend to be in the "details" group, whilst managers tend to be in the "big picture" group. This is just by the very nature of the jobs, they attract people with that type of view. Of course, neither view is any better than the other, as both are needed.

The difficulty for requirements gathering then, is that of getting the requirements in enough detail to allow the programmers to write the code, without the managers or end users losing patience or retreating from the project.

I am prompted to muse on these thoughts as I prepare to become involved in "SCRUM" and Agile.

Energy saving, who me?

So, the Live Planet concerts have come and gone, with all the controversy regarding the 'carbon footprint' of the participants. However, I don't think that was the point. It has made people think more about energy consumption, conservation and so on.

Of course, those of us who surround ourselves with technology use quite a lot, so who am I to talk of energy saving? After all, I have a network of computers at home and all the other usual gadgets. Well I regularly switch off all the devices that are not in use. But that is nothing to do with any new "green movement", it is the way that I was brought up by my parents. I travel by public transport whenever I can (every day to work, apart from when I cycle), have energy saving bulbs throughout the house, and recycle all paper,cardboard, tins and plastic.

Some time ago, I replaced the old computer that was running my firewall (you do have a firewall, yes?). It's power consumption was concerning me, and the fan was getting noisy. So I went out and bought a new router device that has a 4-port hub and wireless device combined. Very easy to plug in and get going and it saves me having two separate devices (hub and firewall) as well as consuming over 300 watts less power.

Two laptop computers have replaced the desktop computers, again with a saving in power, and the family share one printer.

Will I get a new flat screen TV? Nah, they are wasteful on power and would only see my electric bill rise again. Now, a combined DVD and video player, that is a thought. Let's get the booklets out and see their power consumption. can I save anything by getting one device to replace the two of them?


"Be anxiously concerned for the age in which you live and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements" (Baha'i Faith)