Product Articles

We’re curious people by nature. And we love to teach others what we’ve learned. So explore our blog to gain fresh insights from our expertise in areas ranging from culture to AI.

SEP Wins TechPoint’s 2024 Innovation Service Partner of the Year Mira Award

SEP Recognized as Indiana’s Top Innovation Service Partner, Winning TechPoint’s Prestigious Mira Award Westfield, Indiana - SEP has been named the Innovation Service Partner of the Year by TechPoint at the 25th annual Mira Awards. The Mira Awards, Indiana’s largest…
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The Anatomy of Event Storming

Here at SEP, we are continually toying with practices to help us learn from our clients. Learn about their worlds. Learn about their problems. And in this case, learning about their domains. Event storming is a “cross-discipline conversation between stakeholders with different backgrounds” (from https://www.eventstorming.com/). Said another way…event storming is an activity that we use as […]
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So a UX Architect and a Software Engineer Had a Baby

On St. Patrick’s day this year, life forever changed for me and my husband, Aaron. A baby arrived in the world after months of planning. But nothing could have prepared me for the joy my heart would feel for our Little Man. Oh, we got this. We’re gonna nail this parenting thing. I’m an Experience […]
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Software Producer: What’s in a name?

SEP had an interesting time establishing the title of Software Producer. We wanted it to mean something, like “Software Engineering Professionals” is not just our name; it’s who we are. Not a Product Manager When looking into the activities that our Software Producer perform, there is a lot of overlap with a Product Manager. That title is […]
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SEP hex pattern overlay of person working on laptop

Meet the Software Producer

It isn’t every day that a new title is introduced around here. And I get to have the fun of helping define it, because I’m one of the few on the block with that new title: Software Producer. Why do we need a new title? SEP grew out of an engineering focus from its inception. Do the […]
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Shades of Grey

As professional football gets back in the swing of things, I’m reminded of one of the iconic plays from the sport: the Hail Mary. You have to score, but you have no time left and you’re on the wrong side of the field. So, what do you do? You throw the ball way up and […]
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Diagnose, Deliver, Delight

Burger King used to have a marketing campaign for “Have It Your Way”. For a restaurant setting, it’s nice to be able to customize the normal menu for our tastes. But what does “Have It Your Way” really mean for our software clients? What’s on the menu for a successful project? Diagnose the Problem When […]
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Beware of Assumptions

We’ve all created a persona. We spend time empathizing with this future user of our product to ensure we see the product and experience through their eyes. We think through and focus on their skill sets, goals, opinions, biases, and limitations. We think though all the things a user might not even be aware they […]
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Beware of the Simple Things

Beware of the Simple Things: 3 Flags to Look Out for in Domains Your new client already has a requirements document, and has been doing work in the domain for 10 years. They use simple concepts: reports, studies, projects, updates, project IDs, owners. They ‘just’ want to transfer their Access data into a relational database, […]
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graphic of iceberg above and below water line

Course Correction: Beware of Icebergs

A coworker and I were discussing issues that impact a project’s delivery or feature set. While throwing ideas around, I mentioned that we get hit by icebergs that disrupt our flow. He said, “What’s an iceberg?” Knowledge Iceberg When I typically think of an iceberg on a project, I think of a feature or epic […]
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