G&W Chapter 7: Getting the Right People Involved Software Specification Lecture 14

1. G&W Chapter 7: Getting the Right People Involved Software SpecificationLecture 14 Prepared by Stephen M. Thebaut, Ph.D. University of Florida

2. Relevant Context-Free Questions Perhaps the single most common mistake in development efforts is to leave an essential person out of the process. Thus, several of G&W’s context-free questions focus on identifying people whose input will be useful: • Who is the customer / client? • Who should be on the team? • What problems does this product solve (that is, for whom)? • Are you the right person to ask these questions? Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

3. Customers / Clients vs. Users • Customers / Clientspay for the requirements work. • A user is any individual who is affected by, or affects the product being designed. Therefore, every customer is a user, but not every user is a customer. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

4. Then why include non-client “users” in requirements work? • When the product is put into use, the users are the people who will make or break the product. • Potential users who feel they have been excluded from the process will feelno commitment to give the product a fair evaluation. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

5. But Identifying Potential Users Can be Difficult… • Consider the Railroad Paradox: • A proposal to establish a new stop on a train schedule is under consideration. • Analysts visit the proposed location at the designated time but find no one waiting to catch the train. • Since there is “obviously” no demand for the new stop, the idea is dropped. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

6. But Identifying Potential Users Can be Difficult… (cont’d) • Similarly, when an (existing) product doesn’t meet the needs of some, they may not be identified as potential users of a better product. As a result, they aren’t consulted, and the product stays bad. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

7. Products Can Unintentionally Create New Users • Railroad Paradox also suggests that products can actually create new user constituencies. • Consider the 55 mph speed limit. • It was created to save fuel – something safety advocates didn’t care about. • But when traffic fatalities began to fall, they became strong supporters. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

8. Products Can Unintentionally Create New Users (cont’d) • Consider the introduction of new tax laws designed to benefit a special interest group. • Unintended Winners: tax attorneys, accountants, and tax return preparation businesses / product developers • Unintended Losers: tax payers NOT in the special interest group Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

9. Products Can Unintentionally Create New Users (cont’d) • Pareto(“change should leave some people better off and no people worse off”)was a dreamer. • Veblen(“every change adversely affects some and benefits others”)was a realist. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

10. Losers are Users, Too • “User-Friendliness” is highly touted today, but you may want to intentionally treat some users in an unfriendly way. Examples? • It may even be desirable to hide the existence of a product from some user groups. Examples? Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

11. G&W’s User-Inclusion Heuristic • Brainstorm a list of potential users. • Identify different constituencies or categories. • This can lead to highly innovative features and functions. • Classify each as friendly, unfriendly, or ones to ignore, according to how the design is to treat them. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

12. G&W’s User-Inclusion Heuristic (cont’d) • Develop a strategy for dealing with each user group you don’t want to ignore using the three dimensions of participation: • Who: will representation be by surrogate,sample,orexhaustive? • When: will participation be continuousor only atdiscrete intervals? • How: will information be based on experience / perception, and/orexperimentation? Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

13. G&W’s User-Inclusion Heuristic (cont’d) • Use your imagination and tact in carrying out the inclusion plan to get full participation. • Consider how each user – including all “friendlies” and “unfriendlies” – is to be handled. • Consider using a broadcasting technique for capturing users – you might tweak the interest of someone in a group you overlooked! Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

14. Some Other Nuggets • To avoid dealing with criminals, some organizations sponsor legitimate competitions inviting people to try breaking through their security systems. • A powerful surrogate method is… “participant observation.” (analysts work alongside users for a time) • Whenever you hear, “Nobody could possibly be hurt by this product,” immediately initiate a “loser identification” brainstorm. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

15. Group Exercise Apply steps 1 and 2 of G&W’s User-Inclusion Heuristic to the design of an on-line course evaluation system. Software Specification: G&W Chapter 7

16. G&W Chapter 7: Getting the Right People Involved Software SpecificationLecture 14 Prepared by Stephen M. Thebaut, Ph.D. University of Florida