Stacy Randolph

Best of 2009 - Telligent Style

srandolph — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:24:00 GMT

1. What was your favorite work-related or field related or technical read for 2009 (white paper, book, etc)

Well, I keep trying to answer the question of how Agile works in a Client Services environment. This year, I tried to do a deeper dive on that with several projects (MS HSG v1 & 2, OLA, etc). My struggle with Agile in client services has been mainly two-fold:

Products vs. Projects. We're not building a product in client services,we're implementing an existingproduct with customizations. You could theoretically call the end result a product, but when you build a backlog for a customization project, we don't want to list all the possibleproduct user stories. There are too many and really we want to only capturethe customizations. Both for time's sake as well as for client understanding. But that doesn't give us (the project team) or theclienta full picture, either, so it feels like the user stories have huge gaping holes in them. Things like "As a User...I want to...create a blog post" are left out.

Building of the backlog doesn't get to happen as organically as it's idealized in Agile. In order to win a bid, you have to do some investigation and estimation, which encapsulates your scope. So, you're not really iterating and refining, unless the client wants to pursue that.

Client interaction with the backlog. I struggle with defining real user stories vs. project tasks in client services project. I often break down user stories into tasks. I understood tasks to be development tasks...so a breakdown of the work required to build a user story. But I struggle with how to present this to a client, I know that they don't care about the tasks, but the project team very much does. I am often faced with...how do we get a client to prioritize any of this?

I used a couple of resources that I already owned and some Interwebs resources for this research, including:

The new user story backlog is a map

Agile Project Management - Jim Highsmith

Use Cases - Requirements in Context - Daryl Kulak and Eamonn Guiney

2. What was your favorite project in 2009?

Microsoft Health Solutions Group.

Runner up: Outlook Live Answers with Azure integration.

3. What was your favorite Services developed custom feature for 2009?

Event blogs (see in action on AICPA's community)

Runners up: Self-registration for an invitation only site (HSG) and the blog curator tool for MS BIEB

4. What was your favorite enhancement for Telligent products in 2009?

Widgets in Telligent Community 5. The ability to drag & drop widgets around has opened up so much flexibility!

Runners up: Groups. Granular permissions in Telligent Community 5.

5. Favorite external app/product/feature you used in 2009?

I just can't live without SnagIt by Techsmith. I use it when creating Bugs, references in Email and when writing specs. The Windows Snipping Tool DOES NOT replace SnagIt, I need my full page scrolling and arrows.

Runners up: GoodReads.com for book sharing. I also can't live without MS Visio for wireframing and illustrating concepts.

Stacy Randolph

Program Manager & Senior Consultant, Telligent

The karma of scoffing

srandolph — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:12:00 GMT

Today, I had a two hour training presentation to give on the MSFT campus. It’s a beautiful day here in the Seattle area: blue sky, bright sun, a bit breezy. So, I wore my new green short sleeved blouse that I bought this winter dreaming of the day I could wear a nice blouse instead of a double layered sweater. Today was the day, the first of the season of bare arms.

I pull into the MS parking lot and I see my client pull in at the same time as me. We both get out of our cars and say our greetings. As we’re walking towards the building we need to be at, we were both surprised to see a gal wearing a surgical type mask. You know, one of those that you wear if you are afraid of catching airborne diseases. Or perhaps you’ve been on a first class train in Peru travelling from Puno to Cusco, where I once saw a family wearing their masks and scoffed at their germophobia…only to wake up to cha-cha-cha the very same evening. Anyway, we’re walking along and chatting about how our first thought was that she has the swine flu and at that very instant….a bird defecated on me! A full on splat. All over my nice new blouse, bare arm, pants and brand new purse. Just before a big meeting where I was the presenter!!

I cleaned up and the training went fine, but today, I’m grateful that: A) nothing landed in my hair and B) I didn’t have my mouth open.

Moral of the story…do NOT scoff at people wearing surgical masks!!! The karma bank will issue a deduction.

Why haven't I known about Balsamiq?

srandolph — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:15:19 GMT

I use Visio all the time and even started my own module type library. But, I learned about the Balsamiq mock-up tool today and that does it, I'm converting. Right now.

What do I like so much about this tool?

Pre made modules for Software mock-ups. Easily resize and move around
Drag and drop - easy schmeezy
Alignment controls. These are hidden in Visio, you have to know about them and then find which toolbar they live in.

Module specific controls. For example, the vertical tabs module has some configuration options specific to vertical tabs:
Full Screen view - it comes with a nice little pointer

Initial questions, though:

Can I create or download new modules? What if there is a new module that isn't in the Balsamiq library?
What if I don't like the cartoonish looking feel of the modules? Can I modify the style at all? Not sure I I really really want to, though, they do give a fun feel to the mock-ups.
Can I change the background in my work area? You can remove the notebook, but I'd rather have a white background than parchment yellow.

Contact the company to get your own copy of this great tool:

Winter snaps

srandolph — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:38:48 GMT

Here in the Seattle area, we don't normally get much snow...a few times a year we get 2-3 days worth of the white stuff. This last week +, we've had our fair share and I have so say...I'm done. It's pretty, it's fun to make snow people (or a snow octopus, like my neighbors), but driving around and shoveling the driveway to rescue your stuck car just isn't what it's cracked up to be. Plus, our X-mas plans are pretty well canceled...it's too difficult to navigate the icy roads with all the hills and back roads.

I have been taking some pictures, though, playing with my Canon G9, so that I don't lose my sanity in being cooped up in the house.

We've had a good 6-10 inches of snow since these were taken last week. These pictures look so...dainty, now.

Here's a magnolia bud with a snow hat:

Red thorny bush with berries:

Yes, apples..okay?

Snow on the grape vine:

Bird feeder with a snowy roof:

I'm kinda in love with blue sky, probably because we don't see it much in Seattle:

Ms raspberry bush has a friend. . .

Needle in a haystack:

Hello, grandmother moon:

Craigslisting with seniors

srandolph — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:59:02 GMT

I've been teaching classes at the Northshore Senior Center for the last year and what a joy. It's so fulfilling to witness folks feel empowered by knowledge.

Craigslist is the class that has generated the most interest and is always packed. The first quarter I taught this, we practiced searching (shopping) and then creating an ad. But I learned that there were a couple of things that the students stumbled on: transferring photos from the digital camera and confirming the ad in email. So, this quarter, I added another day to the class, which went really well. First we practiced creating a fake text only ad, checking the email from Craigslist and then how to publish it. Then, we practiced how to plug in the digital camera, find it within Windows Explorer and then move the images to the computer. This was more challenging because not everyone brought their cables and they had a hard time with the concept of Windows Explorer. But the main lesson here was to create folders, remember where they are at and to be able to upload the images to Craigslist. I'm thrilled with how well everyone did.

Working with people unfamiliar with computers is humbling for someone who works in the technology field. I'm always surprised by the number of folks who don't know how to open up their browser, or scroll a window, or pick up their mouse and move it after they run out of room on the desk. And Captcha...that's hard stuff to read!!! Especially for folks that have little patience. Actually, I think that been my biggest usability lesson...there is no patience for things that they don't understand why they are happening. While not everyone builds software products whose target user base are seniors, it makes the case for careful expectation management throughout the app/site and how important the proper flow is. UX professionals look through such a compassionate lens and I'm always grateful when they are part of my software team, especially when the entire team makes it a priority too.