16 votes

Is it a problem when many stories start with: "As the system,..."

Yes. Using 'the system' as a user in stories is bad. The whole point of the "as a ... I want ... So that ..." Format is to give the developer an insight in to the reason for the requested feature. ...
Ewan's user avatar
  • 926
10 votes

Is "citizen development" <software development> an old thing with new name in the project management field?

Yes. From the perspective of software development, there is no such thing as "low code/no code development". Because then it's not development. Development means you can make the computer ...
nvoigt's user avatar
  • 8,436
8 votes

What is the definition of Product

The Product is the thing that you are building, or the service that you offer, or the need that you want to satisfy, or the vision that you have. The Product is first and foremost an idea "to do ...
Bogdan's user avatar
  • 15k
7 votes

Is it a problem when many stories start with: "As the system,..."

User stories are an Agile approach to requirements that emphasise end-user value. All user stories are written in the language of the end-user such that they can be understood by a non-technical ...
Barnaby Golden's user avatar
6 votes

Changing priorities and focus every days. What name for that?

Management by surprise. One thing you might try is each time your boss comes in with new urgent tasks you ask him: "Which of the tasks we have already agreed on should I drop in exchange for the new ...
kritzel_sw's user avatar
6 votes

How is a project's governance different to its strategy?

I really love Wikipedia for definitions: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy In summary: Governance includes everything to rule the project while ...
Tob's user avatar
  • 1,767
6 votes

Self-organizing teams: team as a whole or every team member?

Self-organizing teams is a trend in the professional world for some time. An increasing amount of organizations are turning to self-organizing teams to increase ownership, teamwork and collaboration. ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 161
6 votes

Is Backlog a list of items or a status of those items?

It's a good question. From a Scrum point of view the product backlog and the sprint backlog together encompass all the things that are being done or that are on the list to be done in future. So the ...
nvogel's user avatar
  • 6,216
6 votes

Is "citizen development" <software development> an old thing with new name in the project management field?

It's just old stuff packaged in a shiny new wrapper. Nvoigt has provided a good answer. It mentions the way the abstraction of the low/no code platforms fails. These platforms are not generic ...
Bogdan's user avatar
  • 15k
5 votes

Is it a problem when many stories start with: "As the system,..."

User stories should be vertical slices that deliver value to an end user. The system is a mindless machine that doesn't care about value so user stories that start with 'as the system' generally will ...
WBW's user avatar
  • 3,932
5 votes

What is an "e zero" estimate

Ask the person asking you. This advice applies in general - whenever someone uses a term with which you are unfamiliar, ask them what it means. This carries a slight risk of making you seem ignorant....
Sarov's user avatar
  • 14.8k
5 votes
Accepted

Efficiency vs effectiveness in an example - isn't it wrong?

Effectiveness is doing the right things. Efficiency is doing things right. This is something I heard from Scott Hanselman. The larger quote goes like this: Effectiveness is doing the right ...
Bogdan's user avatar
  • 15k
4 votes
Accepted

Requirements vs User stories

While user stories can absolutely be considered a type of requirement, there are distinct differences between user stories and other requirements that I don't see here or in the accepted answer on the ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 16.9k
3 votes

Changing priorities and focus every days. What name for that?

By this brief description, it sounds like you company is busy, has a strong client base and healthy demand; it sounds like your company is staffed lean and mean; and deadlines are not a critical ...
David Espina's user avatar
  • 37.1k
3 votes

Changing priorities and focus every days. What name for that?

Disclaimer: This comes from my experience on the financial sector. It may or may not be applied to other areas, as some expressions are very common on specific industries but not used in others. Fire-...
Tiago Cardoso's user avatar
  • 8,615
3 votes

Caution or Waste?

I don't believe that the two are mutually exclusive. Something can be wasteful to varying degrees and be cautious and be valuable. While not completely subjective, I'm not aware of a particular ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 16.9k
3 votes
Accepted

What is the definition of Product

Barnaby Golden's answer points to the trust associated with a product, which is very interesting and goes hand-in-hand with what Tom Graves writes in Product, service and trust: A product ...
Tiago Martins Peres's user avatar
3 votes

What is the definition of Product

I like to think of a product as having a distinct set of end users who derive value from its use. end users -> People that derive final value from the product, not people that will use the thing to ...
Barnaby Golden's user avatar
3 votes

Requirements vs User stories

It's best to think as user stories as a sub-class of requirements. IEEE and IIBA both use a three-part definition for what a requirement is: a condition or capability needed by a user to solve ...
DPH's user avatar
  • 489
3 votes

Difference between Project and Process

From a great article on the subject at https://theprocessconsultant.com/process-project-even-matter/: Processes are repeatable. Projects are one-offs. In detail: Projects are one-offs. At the very ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
3 votes

Is it a problem when many stories start with: "As the system,..."

Yes, as a product owner who writes user stories all the time for a VERY large project that is considered an agile pioneer in our industry, I can say that we would never write "As a system..." A user ...
JBiggs's user avatar
  • 221
3 votes
Accepted

What is the purpose of a milestone?

Milestones: Terminal Nodes of Major Project Activities Think of milestones as major markers along your path to project completion. Much like mile markers along the side of the road, a project ...
Todd A. Jacobs's user avatar
  • 50.1k
3 votes

Is Backlog a list of items or a status of those items?

Disclaimer: The first time I read the question, I thought it'd have a straight answer. After reading it again, it may not be as straightforward as I originally thought (or maybe I'm overthinking). ...
Tiago Cardoso's user avatar
  • 8,615
3 votes

Is Backlog a list of items or a status of those items?

I think that having an answer to the question is more important than what the answer is. Decide on what you believe is the purpose of the backlog and make sure it is communicated widely. Work with it ...
Barnaby Golden's user avatar
2 votes

Is it a problem when many stories start with: "As the system,..."

In short, not necessarily but it does have a "bad smell." It sounds as the root issue is that they might be poorly written and, more importantly, are poorly understood. I sounds like there needs to ...
Alan Larimer's user avatar
  • 1,624
2 votes

Is it a problem when many stories start with: "As the system,..."

The point of saying "As a .., I want to" is to show who the story helps, and give info to the developer on who to ask to complete it. Saying "As a system" implies the system cares (really?) and is ...
The Wandering Dev Manager's user avatar
2 votes

Boss came and said "The system is broken". Would this be a project?

All tasks are projects. If you start to plan "Fix the problem", you're going to fail. If the problem is "Someone has unplugged the server", the WBS is going to be short, the quality tests are clear,...
MCW's user avatar
  • 8,728
2 votes
Accepted

Boss came and said "The system is broken". Would this be a project?

Sounds like it's just a way of teacher's teaching style. They seem to imply, in basic terms, any non-repetitive task can be called a project. In the book's case, from what the question includes, ...
Gürkan Çetin's user avatar
2 votes

Caution or Waste?

Assuming you have an established QC/testing method and reliable and valid pass or fail criteria, and you conducted the test, anything beyond that is wasteful. That's not to say you won't find issues ...
David Espina's user avatar
  • 37.1k
2 votes

Is there a terminology for projects spanning across multiple time zones?

There's the term Virtual team (also known as a geographically dispersed team, distributed team, or remote team) which defines the ones made up of people in different physical locations. One can also ...
Tiago Martins Peres's user avatar

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