Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Should we be using systems engineering on this project? Here is a simple test. I think systems engineering is useful and brings many benefits. That is why I wrote a short book on the topic. The book is free here. Should we be using systems engineering on this project? Here is The […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Of course we want to communicate. That is a basic. Nevertheless, here is a small test to measure the actual desire to communicate. Here is a quick test to measure a person’s desire to communicate to others. Here is a blank piece of paper. Here is a pencil. Write three things (plus […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Data entry, one of the lower-paid professions, is prone to errors, and some can be fatal. During the aftermath of the recent Hurricane Ida, a person close to me needed an essential service. By “essential” I mean if the service did not arrive, someone would die. I repeatedly called the service provider. […]

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by Dwayne Phillips When delegating a task to another person, clear communication is key. It is unfortunate that clear communication is also rare. Here is a simple test. Person A: Are you doing task such-and-such? Person B: Not myself. I delegated task such-and-such to Person C. Person A: Oh, good. Task such-and-such is intricate and […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Good tests and experiments provide useful information. Sometimes the information isn’t what we want to hear, but we need to keep the two separate. In France recently, tests were performed to learn if roadways could generate electrical energy from the sun. They learned that roadways were not a good place for solar […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Really smart persons continue to blunder. How? I read this article recently about how women are hurt more often and more severely than men in automobile accidents. Why does this happen? The crash dummies used in safety tests work well, but are almost always the size and shape of a man. Crash […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Before embarking on a new database, or any new system, learn what it is we want and need. “Let’s create a database to track this,” said an eager and well-meaning person. “But,” interjected another well-meaning person, “do we know what we need or want or anything?” My livelihood has been technology. Of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Try to test the system as the user would use it. This isn’t easy, but it is necessary. We tested this!!! Great. On what machine? In what room? In what area of the world? At what time? Under what conditions? Do the answers to these and other questions resemble what the user […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Sometimes I fill the role of the “just notice-er.” Perhaps that should be an official title in systems development. I was preparing a demonstration of software we developed in house. Something wasn’t happening as I expected. I asked a couple of the programmers to look over my shoulder. “Look at this,” I […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Nothing is so cruel as to learn that the system we built doesn’t do what we thought it would. We are good, smart, caring people. We work diligently to build good systems that serve others. We test. We really test—no kidding, no fooling around. We really test. Then one day, someone walks […]

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