Pete Theisen wrote: > Hi Everybody! > <snip > > Recently I was told by a programmer I deeply respect that my application > can't > work because I haven't defined what I want it to do. Of course, this is true, > I've discussed what I want, but not *defined* it. <snip> > Is this defining purpose, or must a definition take another form?
Pete- Being an alleged neutral observer I'll try and take a stab at this... Your programmer person may just be being snooty - you haven't shown him any documentation that states in fundamental terms what the purpose of the application is. When I do consulting projects I always start off with a yellow pad and pen and ask the client "What problem do you want to solve?" or "What need do you want addressed?". I stipulate that they can't use the word computer, program, software, print.... in other words - people don't want computer programs - they want a problem solved. If they can't state the problem into a few simple sentences, then they either don't understand the problem, haven't thought it thru all the way, or just want to throw money at a problem to make it go away... You have a list of some features... in the most loose terms it might even be called a spec... but you don't define it's purpose. For example: "I want to help my fellow professionals assist in the treatment of patients by collecting information suitable to tracking their treatments and response to such treatments. We will then use this information for future research and treatment options." On the other hand, what your programmer person might have meant (and pardon me for being blunt) is a polite way of saying that what you have written for an app is a total mess lacking any sort of logical flow or consistency. It may do a lot of 'stuff', but it doesn't meld all of that into anything cohesive. Trying to be as critical and unattached as you can - would *you* want to use your program? I'm just being wordy since it's a near-Friday for us here in the US... Happy 4th everybody! Matthew S. Jarvis IT Manager Bike Friday - "Performance that Packs." www.bikefriday.com 541/687-0487 x140 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
