Last week, we had 3 days of training. Jeff Patton came in to talk to us about usability, and how to work with our clients to make sure we produce something they actually need. He introduced ideas and concepts that weren’t entirely new…he simply put the ideas and concepts together in a process that makes sense, and applies to SEP. Some of Jeff’s methods seemed a little strange, but after doing some hands-on activities, we all could immediately see the value!
The most memorable quote I took away from the 3 days was this…
Software practitioners need to stop acting like waiters, and start acting like doctors. We don’t just take orders, we are here to help people.
…it makes sense, but it’s an extremely loaded quote as well! The mental shift of facilitating the discovery phase, instead of simply doing what the client says to do…it’s flat out different! It will take some getting used to, but I’m excited to try it. I’m excited to help out our clients! I’m excited to make better, more useful products…and with less “fat”, as Jeff called it.
Instead of blogging in detail about what we learned, I will try to blog about experiences I have when applying what we’ve learned.
Stay tuned…
