Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Don’t forget the fun. Adding fun to a system can expand the possibilities of delighting to user.

Systems have functional requirements. The system will…add, subtract, multiply, divide.

Systems have non-functional requirements. The system will be…(see Wikipedia for more on this). These non-functional requirements are sometimes called the -ilities (ill-i-tees). They take the form of usab-ility, reliab-ility, maintainab-ility, etc.

When listing these -ilities, add “or fun” so that the list looks something like:

. portable

. maintainable

. teachable

. usable

. or fun

Consider how the last item changes the perspective on all the others. What is your system was fun? How would that change the look, feel, usage? How would that change the attitudes of the system builders? Testers? Designers? Marketers?

Add fun. It might be fun.