Datasheet

14
Part I: Design Strategies
Understanding the Signifi cance of Experience
Unless your team members are joined at the hip, they’ve had different development experiences. A devel-
opment experience helps shape the way the team member views a particular application development
requirement and may help you achieve a better result. The developer experience includes these aspects:
Language ❑
Project type ❑
Project size ❑
Individual project task ❑
Tools used to write the application ❑
Individual or team effort ❑
Manager personality and management style ❑
Developer personality and management style ❑
Skills of other developers on the team ❑
Success or failure of the project ❑
All these project aspects affect the members of your team in some way. The more positive experiences
with projects of the same type that you plan to create, the better suited that member is for the project.
However, even negative experiences are helpful. A team member who has had a negative experience and
taken time to analyze what went wrong knows at least one technique that won’t work for your project.
Often, these team members can spot potholes in the road before they become a problem and can even
warn you about them.
Some managers have a hard time accepting input from the members of their team. It’s important to
accept such input without necessarily implementing it. Any input can help you create a better project,
but not all input is useful for your particular project. Likewise, it’s hard for some team members to
share experiences, especially negative experiences. A good manager can draw out these experiences in a
positive manner and use them in a constructive way to improve the project. Of course, as with any skill,
it takes time to develop this skill and practice is the best way to build the skill.
Defi ning External Resource Requirements
You may not know whether you need help from outside sources today. However, it’s a good idea to
begin looking for potential holes even at this early stage of the application development process in your
team’s language resources, skills, and experiences. The earlier you can identify the need for additional
resources, the better your chances of fi nding precisely the right resource. In some cases, you may fi nd
that you can’t hire the resource you need, which means that you’ll have to set up a consulting contract
with the individual as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may get to the point of needing help today only
to fi nd that the resource won’t be available anytime soon.
It isn’t uncommon to fi nd that a top-notch consultant is booked for a year or more in advance. The more
specialized your need, the further ahead you need to schedule time from a consultant. If you wait until
the last minute, you may obtain the consultant services you need, but at an incredibly high price. In
addition, because the consultant didn’t have time to schedule your project, you’ll fi nd that the consultant’s
time is divided, so you won’t get the full benefi t of the consultant’s experience for your project.
15962c01.indd 1415962c01.indd 14 1/23/09 5:45:00 AM1/23/09 5:45:00 AM