bryc barrand - the art of project management in large-scale flex projects

Bryce BarrandThe Art of Project Management

CONTACT/S: Bryce Barrand TEL: 801 802 6464 eMAIL: [email protected]

THE ART OF PROJECT MANAGEMENTWhat are we in for?

- Who I am- Step through project process

- Talk through tips and tools for each project phase- Avoid pitfalls

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.mediarain.com





CREDENTIALS\me Should I listen to this guy?

What has Bryce done?- Logomaker versions 1&2- rainSVG- Ancestry Press- Zenprint- Top secret project “Dr. Zaius”








LOGOMAKER BY HPGet your own logo for $49. It’s canned, and it’s cool

- Over 1.5 million in sales- Over 1 million accounts- 5 year relationship- They are still working with us- 2 versions of the application- Maybe 1500 hours?








AncestrypressFamily trees turned into books made of real trees

- Probably the largest app made with Flex 2








Zenprint and Dr. Zaius(This guy should get on with it...)

- Other big big big awesome apps done with Flex








RAINSVGMaking the most out of an old technology

- Big sweet library goes from design to web to print- Used for HP, Dr Zaius, Aspire, Women’s Professional Soccer League, Realustrator, Zenprint, - 1000+ hours- Rain charges 200,000 depending on amount of library used








SCARE AWAY TIMEPolitely excuse yourself if not interested

- We are to the meat of the session- Step through the different phases of a project- Following tips are for enterprise scale projects








OUR INTERACTIVE APPROACHI love the buzzwords!

Discovery PhaseDesign/Prototype

Research/Usability TestingProduct Requirements Doc (PRD)

DevelopmentDeploymentVoilá! Happiness.








APPROACH: DISCOVERYOtherwise known as dating, and a channel on cable with shows like Mythbusters and Time Warp.

Discovery phase defined: From when the client walks in till you get a check in your sweaty handWho gets involved: Account manager, Salesman, Technical PM, a contact if applicable








APPROACH: DISCOVERYTesting the waters1st meeting: - We talk about their idea/project- Tell them how good an idea it is, or that we aren’t interested- *Give them a “scare away” price and timeline- Look for red flags- Ask for a feature list, or tell them you are going to write it

After 1st meeting:- Finish feature list- Do some research if necessary- Don’t count your chickens, and don’t put in too much time








APPROACH: DISCOVERY PT 2Getting ready to dive into the project

2nd/3rd meeting: - Come back with a decent estimate based on feature list

- Spend maybe an afternoon- Ask 2 developers to estimate it- Ask 2 managers to estimate it as well

- Sell them on the prototype phase- Take 25% down to start the prototype phase- Trade for ownership?

- Not great for service agencies- Don’t meet or do anymore research till you get money








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASEBut I like waterfalls...

Prototyping is the anti-waterfall: - Typical agency and contract work is based off a price given when you and they know the least about the project- Gimme iterations baby!- High level of trust and communication with client

Prototype Phase Deliverables:- Wireframes- Click-through Prototype- Designs- PRD/TRD- WBS








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: GUIDELINESThe distant future. The year 2000.

Prototyping Phase Guidelines- Avoid emotional attachment- Iterate weekly- Involve the business people (client), technical leads, UX, and designers

- This will help avoiding unprofitable, unstable, unusable, or ugly apps

- The whole phase should take about 25% of the total time

- If you go over, then just charge hourly








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: WIREFRAMESThe distant future. The year 2000.

Wireframes - Start with Wireframes or Flash Catalyst- Do at least 2 different approaches to elements- Involve the business (client), technical leads, UX, and designers- Get basic understanding of layout and functionality








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: CLICK-THROUGHThe distant future. The year 2000.

Interactive prototype- Smoke and mirrors- No db connection- DON’T DO DESIGNS OR SKIN ANYTHING- Change it like crazy- Try crazy things- This is the cheapest time to make changes








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: DESIGNSUmm. He is a “designer-type”

Design guidelines -Designs should be near the final of the prototype phase-Designer should understand what was tried and what worked








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE USABILITYI don’t need usability, all my assumptions are correct the first time

- Get a firm - Or pay somebody- Do it for realz- Iterate here if possible








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: WBSWBS: Weevil Balloon Submarines er... Work Breakdown Structure

Wombats Bite Sometimes, Wimpy Bryce Surprise, Wallabies BonBons Slapping, Workin’ that Bitty Skirt!, Warts are Bad-a Seriously.

WBS- Breaking down the project into bite size pieces- Now the hours have got to be very accurate- Word vs Omnigraffle vs Omniplan vs MS Project









Wombats Bite Sometimes, Wimpy Bryce Surprise, Wallabies BonBons Slapping, Workin’ that Skirt Baby!, Warts are Bad-a Seriously.









APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: WBS Estimating hours tips:

- Estimating hours tips- PERT formula- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)- Have 2 or more developers estimate the same piece of work- Holding the developers accountable (more to come on this)

(Optimistic Estimate + (4 times Most Likely Estimate) + Pessimistic Estimate)

divided by 6

PERT








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: PRDPotty-mouth Rocker Droids... er. Product Requirement Document

PRD defined: - Document describing specific features of the product- Simple, to the point- Doesn’t necessarily define how, but what. (doesn’t dive into interface but what a user can do)- Contains a definition of terms- Outlines responsibility- Should be written in tandem with the client- Meant to be a companion to the prototype to explain/examine/show what couldn’t be done in prototype

The Help Window will be a non-modal, in-application popup window.

o The window may be resized or dragged within the application window, so that the user may continue using the application while following instructions provided in the Help Window. o The window will consists of at least two panes: + A table of contents in tree form displayed on the left-hand side of the window. + The help content on the right side. o The help contents will be loaded from the database o Help content will be searchable. o When the help window is displayed, it will default to help content relevant to the current application state. o Help content to be created includes + How to create a new Project + Editing photos + Editing text areas + Changing Themes + Using different Colors + Organizing photos o If additional topics are to be added after the application launches, writing additional instructions will be an hourly cost if the project is paid for as a bid.








APPROACH: PROTOTYPE PHASE: FINALIZING What else do you put in the final estimate?:

- Estimating timeline- Plan on an individual getting in 6 hours a day

- Adding PM and testing- At least 25%

- “Top down” and “bottom up” pricing- Putting it all together

- What to pad?- New technology or first time doing something








APPROACH: DEVELOPMENTOh yeah, now you are talking my language

Tips:Tools:








APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT: TIPSDo I really need to leave 20%?

Tips:- Never launch on a Friday- Put your best foot forward

- Junior devs in showoff meetings is a bad idea

- Balance junior and senior devs- Focus on your strengths

- Hire the experts not the generalists- Be developercentric- Code Reviews








APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT: TOOLSLike a swiss-army knife, but without the stupid things that nobody uses like a cork opener

SubclipseUnfuddleCharlesAdobeConnectNow








APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT: TOOLS: UNFUDDLEoooh, I live in unfuddle








APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT: TOOLS: CHARLESHe is in charge


APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT: TOOLS: CONNECTNOWFour in a row and you win








APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT: ITERATIVE TESTINGGood QA is your friend

- When should you go into a testing cycle?a. About 75% the way done with developmentb. Early and oftenc. After feature complete on the code based. Testing?

- Who should do the testing?- The developers?- Internal team? External team?

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Thank You

bryc barrand - the art of project management in large-scale flex projects

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