Introduce yourself
Robby Russell
We're only a few people shy of 50 subscribers on this list and things
have been pretty quiet with the holiday season and such.
I thought that it might be a good activity to take a few moments to
introduce ourselves to the list. I'd love to get to know more about
who you all are and what brought you to the d3 community in the first
place.
Since this was my idea... I'll should go first.
Hello, my name is Robby and I work for a Ruby on Rails Design,
Development, and Hosting firm in of Portland, OR. I am also authoring
Programming Rails for O'Reilly and have written several articles
about my thoughts on DIalogue-Driven Development on my blog, http://
www.robbyonrails.com. I wanted to help start a community so that I
could have a place to share my project stories, learn from others,
and collectively enhance the overall quality of the work that teams
in our trade deliver to user markets.
The areas that are really exciting to me when it comes to projects
and d3 is client <--> development team interaction, and internal team
dialogue. Currently, I am working on a few articles on these subjects
and if anybody would like to discuss these topics with me in more
detail, feel free to post to the list and/or email me off-list.
Please provide a short introduction, share how you came to the d3
community, and what areas of project interaction is currently of
great interest to you.
I look forward to learning more about you!
Thanks!
-Robby
--
Robby Russell
http://www.robbyonrails.com/
http://www.planetargon.com/
Mike Pence
walks on the beach, knitting, and hope to cure poverty and end war. :)
David Goodlad
>
> Hello!
>
> We're only a few people shy of 50 subscribers on this list and things
> have been pretty quiet with the holiday season and such.
>
> I thought that it might be a good activity to take a few moments to
> introduce ourselves to the list. I'd love to get to know more about
> who you all are and what brought you to the d3 community in the first
> place.
Hi all
I'm Dave Goodlad, a software developer based out of Vernon, BC,
Canada. I have been working with Ruby (and Rails) for about 2 years
now, and came to the d3 group through discussions with Robby and Brian
from PA at various conferences last year.
My development is almost 100% in Ruby now, jumping to C when called
for. In the course of my work, I've found a real need for improvement
in communication and interaction between myself and my client (or
employer, or...). This deficiency has led me to my interest in d3.
I'm looking forward to many more interesting discussions in 2007!
Dave
--
Dave Goodlad
dgoo...@gmail.com or da...@goodlad.ca
http://david.goodlad.ca/
Brian Ford
My name is Brian Ford and I work with Robby (I know, guilt by
association). I've been using Rails since around 0.10 or so, first
clandestinely and since May 06 with PLANET ARGON.
Ruby is my language of choice for just about anything I can do in it.
However, I'm a language buff (human languages, math, computer
languages) so I try to learn about a lot of languages. I've done quite
a bit of C programming, so that's probably my second strongest
language.
My interest in exploring what we're calling dialogue-driven
development, or d3 for short, derives from my interest in communication
and agile processes. I'm intrigued by how we often handle ambiguities
well in interpersonal communication but typically have a very hard time
dealing with them in programming projects. I'm also interested in
better understanding how facts about human cognition impact our
communication, understanding, and success in development projects.
One of our big goals with d3 is to get more communication going between
developers and clients on this list and in a community, rather than
just another thing that developers talk about. So, we look forward to
hearing from people who are not necessarily developers, but who are
involved in development projects in some capacity.
Looking forward to good conversations.
Cheers,
Brian
Looking forward to
Gary Blessington
Robby Russell
On Jan 11, 2007, at 9:15 PM, Mike Pence wrote:
>
> My name is Mike, and I am a Rails programmer in Boca Raton, FL. I like
> walks on the beach, knitting, and hope to cure poverty and end war. :)
Great, the next time I am near Boca Raton, FL... I'll see if you're
free to knit "No War" sweaters on the beach with me. :-)
Brasten Sager
> Hello!
>
> We're only a few people shy of 50 subscribers on this list and
> things have been pretty quiet with the holiday season and such.
>
> I thought that it might be a good activity to take a few moments
> to introduce ourselves to the list. I'd love to get to know more
> about who you all are and what brought you to the d3 community in
> the first place.
My turn!
I'm Brasten Sager, Ruby developer/contractor/consultant, etc. I live
and work in Seattle, though I haven't had a client actually IN
Seattle since switching to Ruby. Made the Java-to-Ruby jump a little
over a year ago now -- which has sparked an interest in better client
communications. I've discovered the ability to develop faster means
I need to have a broader understanding of the project more rapidly.
I like d3's willingness to look at outside sources for insight into
the development process, and I hope that continues. Developers have
used analogies for years to try and explain the quirks of software
development. I think there are many areas where we can start looking
at and adapting various solutions from other fields -- much like d3's
embraced Dialogue.
I'll throw something out for discussion -->
We've already discussed some of the challenges we face in the
planning phases of a project. One challenge is thinking about
implementation too early. Discussion too often focuses on the
client's idea of what the software should look like and do, instead
of the need (or pain) they're trying to solve.
This problem seems very similar to 'self-diagnosis' in the medical
field. While I have not done any in-depth research on this, I have
to imagine that there have been many books and articles published on
how to best work through a patient self-diagnosing -- directly or
indirectly -- and discover the actual symptoms being experienced. In
essence, we need the patient/client to say "my wrist hurts" instead
of "I think it's carpal tunnel," or maybe we just need to *hear* the
former when the latter is said.
I think there could be some insight waiting to be applied here!
Thoughts?
-Brasten
Robert Dempsey
My name is Robert Dempsey, and I am the project director at Atlantic
Dominion Solutions, a Ruby on Rails development firm in Winter Park,
Florida (http://www.techcfl.com). In addition to being a hardcore
Rails advocate, I am a night time student at Rollins College (going
for a B.S in computer science) with plans on getting an MBA (starting
January 2008). And as if that wasn't enough, I am starting a non-
profit organization dedicated to the promotion of Ruby on Rails to the
developer and business communities. We have launched the initial site,
located at http://www.railsforall.org, with a full launch planned
within the next month or two. Visit the site and sign up to be
notified of the official launch.
Railsforall.org needs your help! We are looking for case studies. Case
studies will show the business community at large that Ruby on Rails
works, and is useful for a variety of applications. Not only does a
case study lend more credence to Rails and its uses, it also provides
an advertising opportunity for you, your firm, and the application.
Shoot me an email(robertonrails at gmail dot com) for further details
on what is required.
What drew me to this group was purely the name. At ADS, we stress a
high-level of client involvement in every step of the project. As we
deal with many non-technical clients, education is a big portion our
discussions. Continuous and open dialog is, as everyone knows,
critical to the success of any project, and key to managing client
expectations. I have enjoyed the discussions occurring and look
forward to more.
I look forward to your responses, your case study inquiries, more
dialog here, and seeing you all at Railsconf.
Sincerely,
Robert Dempsey
Get Linked In :: http://www.linkedin.com/in/techcfl
Robby Russell
This seems to be something that we should always be prepared for in
our line of work. Most people find themselves fairly clever and self-
diagnosis themselves... I know that I'm personally guilty of doing
this in areas that I'm no expert.... like plumbing, auto mechanics,
and my health. ;-)
With the internet, people can spend much more time researching their
symptoms and I'd guess that their intention is to help the doctor
speed up the process. Will it help the doctor speed up her
process? ... I'm not sure. However, it is possible that it allows the
patient to feel more in control of the situation, which comes with
having more understanding of the problem area.
How well does this apply to software development? It's really hard to
say. Some clients are much more savvy than others and their
implementation ideas could be exactly what they need. What's
important is that the doctor would hopefully follow a typical process
for diagnosing the patient... just like we should have a process for
discussing the symptoms with our clients before we agree to design
and/or develop their cure.
Part of our process involves helping a potential client understand
this process, and to guide them through the process. Some of them
don't want to budge on their pre-defined list of features and/or
really elaborate on the original motives behind their glorified wish
list. Like a patient that only wants to hear what they want to
hear... some potential clients aren't going to work out. It's
important to spot the anti-collaborators early and wish them luck.
Brian Ford
> I'll throw something out for discussion -->
>
> We've already discussed some of the challenges we face in the
> planning phases of a project. One challenge is thinking about
> implementation too early. Discussion too often focuses on the
> client's idea of what the software should look like and do, instead
> of the need (or pain) they're trying to solve.
>
> This problem seems very similar to 'self-diagnosis' in the medical
> field. While I have not done any in-depth research on this, I have
> to imagine that there have been many books and articles published on
> how to best work through a patient self-diagnosing -- directly or
> indirectly -- and discover the actual symptoms being experienced. In
> essence, we need the patient/client to say "my wrist hurts" instead
> of "I think it's carpal tunnel," or maybe we just need to *hear* the
> former when the latter is said.
>
> I think there could be some insight waiting to be applied here!
> Thoughts?
>
> -Brasten
This is a terrific point to explore. One of the common misconceptions
I encounter is that "agile" means we start throwing code out the door
in bucketfulls within moments of meeting the client and getting their
long list of "wants". We've had a client complain, "But we hired them
because they're agile. That means their fast, right?" Pretty much a
direct quote. We've experienced that some of the most confounding
errors in a project have occurred because we starting coding too early.
So, yes, +1 for talking about this more in depth. Another area to
explore perhaps, which probably has a lot that parallels the self-
diagnosis problem, is tech support. I've done customer service for a
wireless provider and troubleshooting a device is SO fun when the
person is telling you what's wrong rather than what is actually
happening. Same for PC tech support.
Brian
Robert Dempsey
say "well, we should be able to do it in x days using Agile
techniques," as if agile = increased speed of development. I have been
guilty of focusing on how an app should work rather than the business
problem it solves, as at one time, that was the main point of
software. Does anyone have any experience with attempting to keep a
client's focus on the problem they are solving rather than what the
app should do?
- Robert Dempsey
Atlantic Dominion Solutions, LLC
http://www.techcfl.com
Shane Schulte
My name is Shane Schulte. I am passionate about software development
and agile methods. I currently work for Wells Fargo and am involved
on large scale enterprise-wide IT projects.
I've been working with software for a very, very long time. Not IBM
long, but long. I remember hacking into the StarTrek word game
application on my Apple IIe in the eight grade and changing the text
so the klingons would swear at you when they blew up the Enterprise.
Okay, at least me and my other eight grade friends got a kick out of
it.
I've since moved up to larger efforts. I have an accounting degree
(don't ask) and an MBA. I've worked in the Telecom industry, did the
books for an Internet Service Provider, then moved to consulting and
implementations for Great Plains accounting software. Next came
independent consulting contracts (temp work?) with WellMark, NCMIC,
and Wells Fargo. I've been managing and leading software projects for
the last 10 years. I tend to find myself on the real biggies. I
helped migrate Wells Fargo from Windows 95 to Windows XP (as part of
the PMO), also helped organize a Charter change. Kind of a big deal to
change your company's name. Everything has to change, including
accounting. My biggest accomplishment so far has been replacing the
Mortgage Application system from a client based app and lots of file
transfers, to a J2EE based web application. Read Edward Yourdon's
'Death March', been there, done that. But we did it. There should be
no reason why that was successful, but we became very agile, very
quickly and made it happen. Actually, I don't think anyone would call
it agile, but it was. Now, after two years, we're over-hauling the
new application system to talk to a new back end processing system.
About 10 times more complicated than the last effort. We'll get it to
work.
My strengths lie in bringing people together to solve problems and
get results. This means collaborating between Business, Technology,
Data, Testing, and Implementation. I sense that everyone wants to
succeed and are just looking for the opportunity to do so. I put them
in a room together and try to remove anything that might prevent them
from doing just that.
I'm interested in what this group has to say. I'm not a developer,
but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Seriously, I'm
more of the product owner, Business Analyst, Project Manager with a
technical background that understands, or tries to understand, what
developers need from the business in order to be successful. Its
truly about people, collaboration, and dialogue.
Lately, I've become very interested in tools and techniques to promote
collaboration and community at an enterprise level.