Comments on: Test-driving those “non-functional” stories http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2008/10/26/test-driving-those-non-functional-stories/ Effective software development Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:01:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: William Pietri http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2008/10/26/test-driving-those-non-functional-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-54383 William Pietri Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:41:39 +0000 http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2008/10/26/test-driving-those-non-functional-stories/#comment-54383 Yes, this is exactly how the teams I coach do it. One of them is an Internet startup that has gone from 0 users to millions in under 2 years, and they have had quite a number of stories like this. The nice thing about phrasing it in end-user terms is that doesn't lock people into one solution. Many's the time they've ended up optimizing something different than the engineers initially expected because they found a better cost/value payoof. I also agree that the "non-functional requirements" distinction is a dubious one. If nobody on a team can figure out why something matters to a real person and express it in a way an executive can understand, then I don't think they know enough to start work on it. Yes, this is exactly how the teams I coach do it. One of them is an Internet startup that has gone from 0 users to millions in under 2 years, and they have had quite a number of stories like this.

The nice thing about phrasing it in end-user terms is that doesn’t lock people into one solution. Many’s the time they’ve ended up optimizing something different than the engineers initially expected because they found a better cost/value payoof.

I also agree that the “non-functional requirements” distinction is a dubious one. If nobody on a team can figure out why something matters to a real person and express it in a way an executive can understand, then I don’t think they know enough to start work on it.

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