Looseideas.co.uk - Ryan Mitchell

Open up to better project tools

Jul 10, 2011 @ 01:45pm

Project tools are there to support the project. If those tools are sub-standard then it's likely they will cost your team time and raise their irritation levels. An annoyed developer is a dangerous thing, we're fully capable of complaining about minor things for hours so imagine what seriously crap bit of software can do.

When working as a team, solid, clear and simple communication is paramount. Whether it be about initial requirements, planning, defects or delivery, the task should be the focus and the tool is just the medium. Customization comes later, the Project Manager has different priorities than a Developer, they can tailor their own views and then everyone gets to see what they need and get past the noise.

Info in, detail out

Email is not a good project communication tool, email is a very bad project communication tool. In email all messages are equal; your email with client changes is probably sandwiched between an email about IE6 and an invitation to drinks. When i try to find it again the only word that describes that process is trawling.

CC your email to your project tool and it'll be tracked there, anyone with access can find it, and I'm less likely to delete it when Entourage tells me I've no space

Track tasks and defects in the tool, create sub-tasks, allocate them to developers and have them update the status as it changes. If we did this then status meetings get shorter and our productive working days get longer, and your status report becomes a link to the tool. Even with the burn-down filled in if that's your thing.

Use SVN or Git, because not doing is irresponsible, dropbox is not a replacement for SVN, it's a lazy insecure shared space. Think of those shared drives we used to all have. The only "improvement" that dropbox has over them is your sysadmin doesn't have to be involved and it's got an icon in the taskbar.

Most of all, just because you have tool you've used for ages, investigate alternatives. Basecamp is good, Assembla is better, because it's got an SVN. Both can be bought and stored locally, useful when your systems people complain about where the data is held. Don't settle for crap tools.

Author: Ryan Mitchell · Tags: assembla, basecamp and tools · 0 Comments

Looseideas in 2011

Jun 20, 2011 @ 11:21am

I've made a few changes to this site recently, the blog is now upfront and the old "content" has gone. Previously I maintained this site to pad out my portfolio, but since working at Sapient I've ignored and patched it until the code is mush

From now on it's going to have a change of emphasis. I'm going to write bits and pieces, rambling through a topic with a couple of decent links. I don't expect anyone to read it but it's better out of my head than bubbling away in there.

Love and hugs,
Ryan

Author: Ryan Mitchell · 1 Comment

Game Dynamics and Life Data

Jun 19, 2011 @ 04:53pm

When the Xbox 360 launched it brought with it Gamerscore, a cumulative score based upon the earning of achievements. I use the word 'earned' purposely, the larger scores often require a lot of time and dedication. On Xbox Live I have just shy of 3000 achievement points, I spent an hour this morning trying to score from over 35 metres on Pro Evo 2011. Other than a the points and a small icon in my profile I gain nothing for all this time, except presumably some level of self satisfaction, but I did it anyway.

After another of my efforts skimmed the corner flag I recalled an article from the Financial Times I caught last week, Invasion of the body hackers. The story covers how individuals are collating data about themselves, analyzing it, and using the results to optimize themselves.

It seems clear to me that these people are just the pioneers, over the past couple of months I've seen apps to track your sleeping patterns, apps to track your exercise, apps to suggest reading topics and the usual million apps to track what you eat. They're all broadly made for the same purpose, to try to help an individual improve their life.

Lots of these apps have included a social aspect, sharing the data they have collated, but the better ones are also including competition. I can challenge my friend and give myself extra incentives to push on and run faster (and the level of detail in the data will show him i caught the bus).

Game dynamics are a powerful way to motivate people, collecting badges is all well and good but I never was a scout. Give me points for every Italian lesson and let me run a race against a ghost like in Mario Kart.