Software Projects

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Software Projects

• CSC 394 / IS 376

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Primary purpose

• Work in a team to complete a software project
  by delivering a good-sized, working, software
  system.

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Secondary purpose

• Enable the next stage of the project --
  enhance or replace the delivered system.

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A team is necessary because

• the software project will be so large and so
  complex that a single individual cannot
  accomplish the work.

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Criteria for a Successful Project

• Meet business objectives
• Meet requirements
• Meet quality expectations
• Stay within budget
• Meet its time deadline
• Deliver actual benefits
• Provide the project team with professional
  satisfaction and an opportunity for learning

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What if the environment is extreme

• fast-paced
• competitive
• full of uncertainty

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Criteria for a Successful Project (Extreme
environment)

• The product gets shipped
• The product approaches its mission profile
• The project team is healthy at the end.

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Project conceptualization

• Develop a goal
• some business objective worth doing.

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Why search for a Goal?

• Every project needs at least one good goal to
  exist.
• Many projects have multiple goals.
• The goals also are known as the
• project mission.

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Project Goals can come from

• Brainstorming sessions among colleagues
• Researching market trends and literature.
• Analyzing the competition
• Interviewing customers
• Surveys at conventions or trade shows
• Feedback from user groups

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Lets Brainstorm some project goals
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Goals are clear if they

• are a deliverable
• are measurable and testable
• state the action needed to achieve the goal
  (build, deploy, etc.)
• are conversational (can be explained).
• are reasonable and doable.
• are communicated and published as part of the
  project charter

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The project goal becomes the project mission

• Developers must determine whether the project
  mission
• is purposeful
• develops a sense of excitement and commitment
• is clear (know what to do)
• has other developers that can be good teammates
  (trust, collaboration, etc.).

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The project goal becomes the project mission

• Customers must determine whether the project
  mission
• identifies the business functions to be automated
  
• has clear benefits (fills a need or takes
  advantage of an opportunity).

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The project goal becomes the project mission

• The Executive Sponsor must get a good sense of
  the
• intent of the project
• project scope, schedule and resource utilization.

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The Team should determinethe Scope of Work

• Uncover hidden assumptions among team members
• For each goal, brainstorm
• what it is and make it a list
• what it is not and make it a list
• Use both lists to
• clarify assumptions
• set boundary conditions

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The project mission also helps determine the
software requirements

• A software requirement is a capability that
  someone wants

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Good software requirements are

• Correct (match customer needs)
• Possible (feasible)
• Necessary (rather than nice-to-have)
• Prioritized (very important, important, optional)
• Unambiguous (users language )
• Concise
• Verifiable (testable, measurable)

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Since requirements will be used for development,
they should also be

• Complete have all significant requirements
• Consistent all documents internally consistent
• Changeable changes are a fact of life
• Traceable a requirement can followed from its
  source to its fulfillment in design and code.

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A list of requirements further helps

• Form agreement on what the system should do
• Provide a basis for planning the technical
  content of software solutions
• Give developers a better understanding of the
  system

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Requirements are elicited from

• Users
• Stakeholders
• Customers
• Sponsors
• Focus groups
• Use-case scenarios

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Output of requirements elicitation

• a prioritized list organized by function
• a set of use case scenarios and prototypes, where
  applicable

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Creative teams have a mix of individuals with
different personality types

• One Model of Personality types is the
  Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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MBTI Type Dimension

• Introvert (I)
• Extrovert (E)

• Source and direction of energy
• I From internal concentration (is drained of
  energy by being around others)
• E From external contact (derives energy from
  others)

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MBTI Type Dimension

• Sensing (S)
• iNtuitive (N)

• Preferred method of information reception
• S Sensory, empirical data
• N Meaningful patterns and abstractions

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MBTI Type Dimension

• Thinking (T)
• Feeling (F)

• Way of processing information
• T Makes decisions according to their impersonal
  logic
• F Makes a decision according to their personal
  values

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MBTI Type Dimension

• Judging (J)
• Perceiving (P)

• Way of living out processed information
• J Organizes all life events and acts strictly
  according to their plans
• P Inclined to improvising and seeking different
  alternatives

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Another model of Personality Types

• Kahler Process Communication Model (PCM)

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PCM Type -- Dreamer

• Characteristics
• Imaginative, reflective, calm, introspective,
  directable.
• Motivated into action by others rather than self
• Motivators
• Solitude and Direction
• Time alone to reflect and to be creative

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PCM Type -- Workaholic

• Characteristics
• Logical, responsible, organized, time-oriented.
• Perceptions through logic, things
• Motivators
• Work recognition awards, bonuses, pat on the
  back.
• Structured time and a plan

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PCM Type -- Reactor

• Characteristics
• Warm, sensitive, compassionate, kind, empathetic,
  nurturing.
• Perceptions through feelings and emotions
• Motivators
• A pleasant environment (both places and people).
• Comfort and relaxation

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PCM Type -- Rebel

• Characteristics
• Spontaneous, creative, playful, expressive,
  energetic.
• Reactions through likes and dislikes
• Motivators
• Frequent interaction with others
• Personal contact and fun

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PCM Type -- Persister

• Characteristics
• Dedicated, observant, conscientious, tenacious.
• Evaluates through opinions
• Motivators
• Recognition of achievements due to strong
  commitment to a mission or goal

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PCM Type -- Promoter

• Characteristics
• Adaptable, persuasive, charming, resourceful.
• Action-oriented
• Motivators
• Risk taking,
• high finance

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Models of Individual Motivation Expectancy
Theory

• Victor Vroom
• An effort-performance relationship exists.
• People perform if they expect rewards

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Models of Individual MotivationPath-Goal Model

• Robert House
• Clarify the path to a performers perceived goal
  and they will work to achieve it

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Models of Individual MotivationGoal-Setting
Theory

• Edwin Locke
• Commitment increases if performers set their own
  goals.

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Models of Individual MotivationHawthorne Effect

• Elton-Mayo
• Just the act of measuring influences the outcome
  of social experiments.
• When watched, people perform as the watchers
  expect them to.

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Models of Individual MotivationForce Field
Analysis

• Kurt Lewin
• Status quo is maintained by driving and
  restraining forces in opposition.

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Models of Individual MotivationTheory X / Theory
Y

• Douglas McGregor
• Attitudes towards people
• X People are inherently lazy and must be forced
  to work.
• Y People will be self-directed and creative if
  favorably motivated.

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Models of Individual MotivationTheory Z

• William Ouchi
• A combination of American and Japanese humanistic
  management

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Models of Individual MotivationMotivator/Hygiene
Theory

• Frederick Herzberg
• Motivator
• An element of work that satisfies a performers
  needs.
• Hygiene
• Factors that must be present for any motivation.

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Models of Individual MotivationHierarchy of Needs

• Abraham Maslow
• People have a needs hierarchy
• Physiological (food)
• Safety (security, shelter)
• Love (social belonging)
• Self-esteem (ego)
• Self-actualization (fulfillment)

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A team needs individuals with a variety of skills
and work experiences

• HCI, domain programmers, database programmers,
  architects, system analysts, technical writers,
  work group leaders, customers, etc

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Functional Responsibility Matrix

• A team can sing at the same time but not talk at
  the same time.
• A framework is needed for working together.

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Team Formation Model

• Bruce Tuckman
• Teams go through developmental stages when forming

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Team StagesForming

• Members find out what they will be doing, the
  styles of acceptable leadership and possible
  kinds of interpersonal and task relationships.
• Characterized by courtesy, confusion, caution
  and commonality.

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Team StagesStorming

• Members begin resisting the influence of the
  group. There is conflict over competing
  approaches to reaching the groups goals.
• Characterized by tension, criticism and
  confrontation.

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Team StagesNorming

• Resistance is overcome as the group establishes
  its rules and standards, develops intragroup
  cohesiveness and delineates task standards and
  expectations.
• Characterized by cooperation, collaboration,
  cohesion and commitment.

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Team StagesPerforming

• The group is ready to focus attention on task
  accomplishment. Issues of interpersonal
  relations, member status and division of tasks
  are settled.
• Characterized by challenge, creativity, group
  consciousness and consideration of members

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Team StagesAdjourning

• The group has fulfilled its purpose
• Characterized by compromise, communication,
  consensus and closure

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Software Engineering Ethics and Professional
Practices

• Established by an IEEE-CS/ACM joint task force,
  the code is on the web at (computer.org/tab/code11
  .htm).

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Your Team Formation

• introduce yourselves,
• pick 1 or more project goals that you would be
  interested in working on
• explain how you can help a team build the
  software
• give other relevant background -- schooling, work
  experience, relevant domain experience, etc

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Your Team Formation

• Two 10 minute sessions (20 minutes altogether)
  will be set aside so to meet with others
  interested in working on the same projects
• Teams will be made up of 5 (1 or 1) individuals

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By next week, each team should develop

• Project Charter
• Prioritized list of software requirements
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix
• A web site containing all the above

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Before leaving today, each individual should hand
in a card with

• Team name
• Team members name
• List the tasks the team member is responsible for
  accomplishing by the next session.

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Project Charter

• Describe the environment that the project will
  affect directly or indirectly
• Objectives seize an opportunity solve a
  problem, increase revenue, decrease costs, etc.
• Product name and category
• Customers Who are they what are their needs
  and how will the product help them.

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Project Charter (Continued)

• Features major functionality and benefits of
  the product. Classify features as
• Strategic
• -- operating systems and hardware platforms
• Competitive
• -- stuff the competition has or might implement
• Customer satisfying
• usually requested by customers
• Paradigmatic
• changes the way people work

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Project Charter (Continued)

• Performance Generalized specifications
• Constraints Limitations outside the teams
  control
• Scope Boundaries of the project
• Costs/benefits Rough order of magnitude
  estimates
• Uniqueness of the product (does competition have
  anything comparable?)
• Risks to successful project completion