by Dwayne Phillips When we build systems, build them to do and have no more and no less than we intend. A few pseudo definitions: The users says, “I want a system that does this and that is and like this and that.” The builders say among themselves, “We can do those things and a […]
Entries Tagged as 'Requirements'
No More and No Less
July 20th, 2023 · No Comments
Tags: Accountability · Design · Engineering · Requirements · Systems
What Question are We Answering?
December 26th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Find the right question. The answer will direct efforts. That is pretty basic, but it seems to work. The purpose of this blog post is… Well, let me struggle with the rest of that sentence. In my struggles, let me find the right question. How about, “Why would anyone read this?” or […]
Tags: Analysis · Design · Engineering · Questions · Requirements
Verification and Validation
December 15th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips This is yet another fundamental to providing systems that delight users. Have we validated that we verified before vacation? Or is it the other way around? There was a time when verification and validation were so commonly used that we called it “V&V.” Then we wanted independent persons to perform V&V so […]
Tags: Customer · General Systems Thinking · Requirements · Systems · Testing · User
The Compliance Matrix
August 1st, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips I take the time to describe an old tool that helps us do what is asked. There is room for doing more, but we should at least do what is asked. There is an old tool called a compliance matrix. For mathematicians, I apologize for the word “matrix” as this is a […]
Tags: Baseline · Requirements · Simple · Systems · Tools
Discovery as an Unintended Result
April 14th, 2022 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Doing something that goes beyond what is required often leads to discovery, and discovery may be a wonderful unintended result. Many years ago (in the last century), I was involved in an upgrade to an existing system. There were new requirements that required new capabilities. Some of the computing hardware was to […]
Tags: Alternatives · Design · Learning · People · Requirements · Solutions
Solution Probleming
June 28th, 2021 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes we find a small shiny object that we R E A L L Y want. Then we go about finding problems that it will solve. Yikes. Here is the traditional or accepted way to solve a problem: State the problem State several solutions to the problem Pick the “best” solution Go […]
Tags: Design · Problems · Process · Requirements
Light Bulbs, Anything Else, and Optimal Performance
January 13th, 2020 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips The humble light bulb reminds us that we want good things, but “good” changes depending on the person and the purpose. The light bulb is going to save the planet. Perhaps destroy it. I confuse the two sometimes. The incandescent bulb is inefficient. It is if we are considering the amount of […]
Tags: Choose · Government · Leadership · Requirements
Fool Proof…or should It Be?
September 23rd, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Makers of systems might consider an old, old list when considering the -ilities or non-functional requirements. “This system is fool proof!” said one person. The other person replied, “I know some pretty big fools.”—paraphrase from something written somewhere at sometime. Considering the “fool proof” system brought to my mind a few questions […]
Tags: General Systems Thinking · People · Requirements · Systems
The Database and the Floor
May 2nd, 2019 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips Take care how we state the requirements for a database. A spot on the floor often meets the requirements. I attended a meeting recently wherein a senior official with a long, impressive title stood in front of a crowd of several hundred persons and spoke at length (three hours). A major part […]
Tags: Analysis · Communication · Design · Requirements
Last In, Most Important
October 4th, 2018 · No Comments
by Dwayne Phillips We often use a simple yet silly algorithm for ranking requirements. It is easy. I guess that is why we use it. We have a lot of work to do. We have more work than resources. Hence, we have to rank requirements to work the more important ones first. Well, maybe we […]
Tags: Accountability · Choose · Decide · Requirements