Flashback: A Year Ago This Week on Tyner Blain [2006-10-27]

mirror

A look back at the best from a year ago.

Does Your Product Have Soul?

soul soul or solesole

Does your product have soul? Michael Shrivathsan asks this question, and we take it in a slightly different direction.

Design is Soul

Michael uses an interview with Steve Jobs to build a strong argument for the criticality of design. Along the way, he quotes Steve as saying that “design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation…” It is a great argument for the importance of design. And the Apple imagery Michael invokes drives home the power of design. We agree with that. We just don’t think design is soul.

Monty Python and Software Requirements

monty python

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of the funnier movies ever made. It was rereleased a couple years ago with digital remastering, deleted scenese, and lots of extras in a two-disk version. The rest of this post will make you chuckle if you’ve seen the movie.

Another Use for “Why?”

why me?

“Why?” The question is our inspiration and our muse. “Why?” is the justification for our requirements. The key to identifying “What?” and “When?”, which lead to “How?” and “How Much?” But there is another use for “Why?” – communication of intent (with stakeholders and implementers). Requirements documents are artifacts, but they are also dynamic documents. By documenting “Why?” a requirement is a requirement, we make it easier for future readers to understand.

  • Scott Sehlhorst

    Scott Sehlhorst is a product management and strategy consultant with over 30 years of experience in engineering, software development, and business. Scott founded Tyner Blain in 2005 to focus on helping companies, teams, and product managers build better products. Follow him on LinkedIn, and connect to see how Scott can help your organization.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.