cards42.org
Cards for Analyzing and Reflecting on Doomed Software
Dream project's checklist
As developers, we often can’t wait to start a new software project. But too rarely we ask ourselves: “Are the fundamentals for a successful software system known to us?”
If this is not the case, no matter how hard a team tries:
- The motivation will steadily decrease because a common goal is missing in the team.
- Nasty surprises in the guise of risks lurk everywhere because they have not been anticipated.
- You will encounter constant conflicts and tensions because necessary trade-offs have not been assessed and disclosed.
- The goals for the relevant stakeholders will not be achieved, as neither of these are known.
This checklist will help you assess whether you have thought of the most critical matters in the initial phase of your project and give you food for thought about what you might be missing.
More information
- Michael Keeling provides many hints for successful software projects in his book Design It! From Programmer to Software Architect
- The software architecture documentation toolkit arc42 provides space to record the most important things about the architecture of a software system