Requirement? Acceptance Criteria? Test Case?
Last week I taught our Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements class. Towards the end of class, one of my students asked how functional requirements related to acceptance criteria. I get this question frequently. I think there’s a lot of confusion about the difference between requirements, acceptance criteria, and test cases. Let’s start with some […]
Positive vs. Negative Test Cases: Don’t Get Confused
This is an old joke, but it’s still one of my favorites about testing. A software tester walks into a bar… Runs into a bar. Crawls into a bar. Dances into a bar. Flies into a bar. Jumps into a bar. And orders… a beer. 2 beers. 0 beers. 99999999 beers. a lizard in a […]
That’ll Never Happen: When Bad Risks Happen to Good People
How many times have you heard someone dismiss a potential risk? I have a list of “phrases to fear” as an analyst. On that list is this phrase: “That’ll never happen!” But what if it does? As I write this, it’s been almost exactly a year since our CRM conversion project nearly imploded. Why? Because […]
Fun with Non-FUNctional Requirements
Video Transcript Narrator: A new expense reporting package rolled out to the whole organization overnight. Max, our intrepid IT support team member, is settling in for the day ahead. Max: IT Support, how can I help you? Bob: Hi, hey, how ya doing? I need to submit an expense report and I can’t figure out […]
Product Owner? Analyst? Both?
In a small business, people often wear a lot of hats. The same thing can happen on small- to medium-sized projects. One person may end up filling multiple roles – product owner, business analyst, tester, and sometimes even developer. On our recent CRM conversion project, I ended up playing several of these roles. I frequently […]
The Four R’s of Progressive User Story Elaboration
Many teams use a “Definition of Done” to establish the criteria for being “done” with a user story. But does your team also have a “Definition of Ready” that defines when a story is ready for development? To get from idea to “ready”, a story (or other piece of functionality) is described in successively greater […]
Six Keys to Successful Project Team Startup
Here at B2T we’re blessed to have a stable, high-performing team. In fact, Ali and I have been working together for 20 years now, and most of our other team members have been with us for many years as well. On the Tuckman model of team development, we’d definitely be here: We all know that […]
The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of Project Prioritization
My former colleague Kate McGoey is fond of saying, “I can do anything, but I can’t do everything”. It’s true – with enough time and resources, we can develop software that does almost anything. Seriously – we’ve sent men to the moon and robots to Mars. The problem is that we don’t have unlimited time […]
The Seven Deadly Sins of Scope Skippers
I’m the first to admit that when I tackle a new project, I sometimes jump in and get started without a lot of planning. I think that’s a natural reaction for those of us who are “doers” and problem solvers by nature. You’ve got a problem? Let me find you a solution, right now!! I’ve […]
4-Step Approach to Managing Scope Creep
You’re in a project meeting; team members and stakeholders are having a great discussion when it happens…one of your key stakeholders says: “Our system is going to do live chat too, right?” You’re caught off guard. Some folks think “Sure, no problem”. Others strongly say “NO!” What do you do? (BTW, “panic” is the wrong […]
