[TriZPUG] How about a talk on our development methodology?

[Josh Johnson]

On 04/11/2011 10:33 AM, Chris Calloway wrote:
>
> Ah, the sound of the shotgun being cocked.
Yes, I believe very strongly in the shotgun rules, but I thought it 
would be best to solicit a little feedback since I had some qualms about 
the subject.

I tend to forget how awesome of a group we are and was unduly paranoid 
about backlash. :)

Qualms officially squashed.

> So, would you have a two or three sentence blurb to explain what you are
> going to talk about?

I call it "the blitZEN method". It's a SCRUM variant that breaks some 
rules, but has served us really well. We've[1] used it in a group of 2 
primarily but up to 4. I think it would scale up the way SCRUM typically 
does[2], but also scale down to a team of 1, which could be the best 
thing about it (scaling is theoretical right now!). We've also developed 
ways to deal with a variable level of 'Product Owner' participation, 
which happens a lot in the university setting (or, has happened to me a 
lot in that setting).

I think it has applications for independent contractors or collaborative 
groups too. Again, this is mostly theoretical, but I will definitely 
talk about it!

It's flexible by design, sort of a toolbox for keeping your project 
manageable (as opposed to managing your project[3])

The process can be done with paper and pencil (we started out that way), 
but we were able to adapt the process to a Plone product. The plone 
product mirrors the flexibility, and beyond a few assumptions it could 
probably apply to any of the application scenarios. It's in need of a 
billing and MOU-building add-on component(s), but it will still work as 
a way to project initial project costs and convey an understanding of 
requirements to your customer. Plus being plone, it's pretty easy to 
extend or customize if needed.

D'oh, that's more than two or three sentences. This talk may last hours ;)

In short:

------
'the blitZEN method' is a SCRUM-variant toolbox of project management 
approaches that makes you love being a developer again. It's not 
philosophy or methodology so much as it's a way to get stuff done, done 
well, and with minimal developer stress.

I will also present blitzen.management, a Plone product that assists in 
the collection of requirements and planning process.
------

OK, that's three sentences!

Cheers,
JJ

[1]'We' being Rob Lineberger, Mark Biggers, Dave Ray and myself :).

[2] By that I mean it doesn't :) I think the SOP is to use multiple 
smaller teams on a big project, but I'm more about practicality than 
philosophy.

[3] OOOOH I think I just shifted my paradigm! Can you feel the dynamism?

-- 
Josh Johnson
Applications Analyst
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill