Notes on the process of Web Development
This post is mostly for me, since I have don’t anywhere convenient to put these notes.
Features
Every feature that gets implemented has to have solid answers to these questions
- Why are we doing this
- What problem does this solve
- Is it useful
- Are we adding value
- Will this change user behavior
- Is there an easier way
Time Limits
Every phase/version/release of a project needs a time limit, say like two weeks. The question would be, in two weeks will I have something to show for this. If the answer is no, split your release/version/feature in half and ask yourself again.
Stop Words
Words like need, can’t, quick, easy, everyone, nobody, simple, little, and big don’t need to used.
Focus
The focus sometimes needs to change. Don’t spend so much time focusing on the hard stuff, but more time on polishing the easy stuff. Trends are cool, but become too trendy to lose focus on unchanging things. Optimize for today, tomorrow has enough worries of it’s own. You can always do it different later.
Interruptions are the mortal enemy
Avoid interruptions at all cost. A focused man can do more in an hour, than an unfocused man in four. Use more passive collaboration tools, like wiki’s, project management web tools, internal blogs, etc.