When designing a new product of any kind, you cannot overestimate the importance of knowing – and speaking to – your target users. Without them, you can be reduced to designing and producing something based on conjecture and hearsay, so you really shouldn’t be surprised when nobody wants to use it. Despite this, talking...
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If you are unfamiliar with the term, Kanban is a system introduced at Toyota Manufacturing. It is a Lean methodology for indicating when operations need more materials, using coloured cards. In 2009/2010 it was co-opted for use in software development to improve efficiency and flow. Kanban is not a process like Scrum, it is...
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When thinking about accessibility, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of unique and complex requirements that some people have, just to get them through the average day. It can also, unfortunately, be easy to pigeon-hole all disabled people together and assume that they are some sort of minority user group...
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If you are engaging with a development partner you may be given a timeline of months, or even years, to complete your project. This is due to the linear nature of the work. You will want to make sure that the developers have the correct requirements. This usually means that a “design phase” will...
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A major feature of agile development is the user story. As the name suggests, agile is characterised by speed and flexibility; user stories help by speeding up design and making sure everyone involved agrees on what the end result should be. However, if you are new to agile development, or are hiring an agile...
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Minimum Viable Product (MVP for short) is a term you will hear thrown around a lot if you are looking into building a software product. It is an Agile principle, which allows companies building a new product to focus on what is necessary to deliver working software. What is a Minimum Viable Product? The...
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So, what’s this Scrum that everyone is talking about? Although it’s sometimes mistaken for one, Scrum isn’t an acronym. So, what is it then? Scrum is a widely used framework for managing work. It is a collection of values, team roles, and rituals, used in combination to create working products iteratively. This is achieved...
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When you are ready to engage a software company, you’ll need to agree a commercial arrangement with them. I’m going to explain why we think working on a time and material basis with your software development partner is a good idea. We have worked with many businesses that started off believing that fixed price...
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