By Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 2/4/2009 8:11:17 AM
When you are sponsoring a custom software development project, a lot of things can go wrong. And they will. You may not need super human strength, but there are certainly programmer super powers that will help to save your project from death and destruction.
Laser vision
Some programmers can be easily distracted by cool, shiny technical “stuff”. The developer with laser vision can focus on the task at hand and the ultimate objective: completing the project. Laser vision can also help them to see and anticipate what’s coming because it can see through obstacles.
Nerves of steel
There are ...
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Comments (0)
Publication Date: 1/26/2009 9:50:08 AM
One of the questions on my new client questionnaire is "What is your budget for this project?" Sometimes buyers are uncomfortable sharing their budget amount. Usually they are concerned that the price quoted by the vendor will be inflated to fit their budget, but there might be other reasons (like they honestly don't know yet.)
I won't say that price inflation doesn't happen. But there are legitimate reasons why you should disclose your budget amount to the vendor:
Are you a fit for them? It allows the vendor to decide if you might be a good fit for their services. ...
Publication Date: 1/19/2009 9:40:57 PM
Recently a prospective client contacted me about upgrading her e-commerce site. She had been researching e-commerce options and had found one that she thought was a good fit. Unfortunately she was having trouble finding a local vendor who supported it because there are lots and lots of e-commerce choices and everyone has picked something different to support.
My suggestion: stop focusing on the shopping cart or technology choice, and instead focus on the features that are important for the business. It is likely that there are many different choices that will meet her needs, and by settling on one without ...
Comments (1)
Publication Date: 1/18/2009 10:00:18 PM
One of my customers has a web application that uses the out-of-the-box exception handling instead of a custom error page. So every time a user encounters an error, they see information that is useful to the developer, but isn't understandable by the end-user. There are several reasons why this is a bad practice:
Publication Date: 12/10/2008 9:36:44 AM
Frank Kelly has published some good ideas about how to motivate developers. If you manage programmers, you will find it valuable.
I think one of the things vastly overlooked in some large, complex corporate environments is the drag that non-programming activities can have on productivity. In my experience, the more busy work to be done (meetings, status reports, team-building exercises, etc.), the more productivity can take a major hit.
What many don't realize is that it isn't just the time these activities take that suck the productivity from the programmer. It is also the illogical aspects of some of ...
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Avonelle is an incredibly talented software developer. She works fast, is economical, and offers great insights into the project at hand. She is also not afraid to speak up when she has concerns about a decision or approach. We’ve utilized her talents on many of our software development projects over the years.
Carrie Rocha, Chief Operating Officer @ HousingLink
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