1. Project Points Software Specification Lecture 8
Prepared by
Stephen M. Thebaut, Ph.D.
University of Florida

2. Think of the project as the major production of the course
Think of the project as the major production of the course. Remember, there are 3 stars: you, your team-mates, AND your customer!

3. When choosing a client consider:
 Accessibility – Does he/she work on campus, in Gainesville, somewhere else? Are face-to-face meetings possible? Does he/she have enough time to meet with you?
 Responsiveness – How quickly would he/she be able to respond to , voice messages, etc.
 Motivation – How important is the system to be developed? When is it needed and what factors contribute to its importance?”

4. Other considerations
 Is the requirements problem hard enough / easy enough / “rich” enough to learn from?
 Is the potential client a friend, roommate, family member, SO, employee, or boss?
 Some good sources for potential clients: faculty members (especially outside CISE), medical professionals, small business owners, non-profit organizations, UF offices/departments.

5. What might you learn from an initial exchange of this sort?
Suggestions
 Ask the potential client to you a brief description of his/her desires; or
 After meeting with the potential client, him/her a brief description of what you understand his/her desires to be and ask whether or not it adequately summarizes the important points.
What might you learn from an initial exchange of this sort?

6. Project Timetable
 Week 0: Identify a suitable requirements problem and customer and then prepare a half-page written description of the requirements problem to be addressed and the negotiated arrangements for involvement with your customer.
 Week 1: Prepare a one- to two-page Process Plan that includes a preliminary week-by-week schedule of planned activities and interactions with the customer, users, other stakeholders, etc.

7. Project Timetable (cont’d)
 Weeks 2-6: Work with customer/users/stake-holders using appropriate techniques/strategies described in G&W according to your plan.
 Week 7: Requirements document wrap-up.
 Weeks 8-9: Customer and peer evaluation forms, post-mortem reports.

8. Project Deliverables
 Half-page written Description of Requirements Problem and Negotiated Arrangements with Customer. (Following Week 0)
 One- to two-page Process Plan. (following Week 1)

9. Project Deliverables (cont’d)
 Process Log: bi-weekly updates by noon every other Wednesday
Chronological record of all project-related group and individual activity (include dates, names of participants, description of activity, results, etc.)
Should also include description of issues, problems, analyses, and postmortems related to activities.

10. Project Deliverables (cont’d)
 Final Requirements Document (following Week 7)
- Format to be developed in consultation with customer/instructor.
 In-Class Post-mortem Report (Weeks 8-9)
 Customer and Peer Process Evaluation Forms (following Week 9)

11. In-Class Post-Mortem Reports:
Three pages ("slides") suitable for presentation should be prepared: (1) Brief description of project and overview of process
(2) Description of "successes" -- i.e., activities/ techniques/strategies/procedures found to be effective
(3) Description of other activities/techniques/ strategies/procedures used and why you think they were less than effective

12. Some Criteria for Project Evaluation
 Creative, productive, and professional application of techniques/strategies from text and class to appropriate project activities + evaluation of same after the fact,
 Documentation/communication of process and results, and
 Customer and peer evaluations.

13. Anticipated Weightings
Problem Description
10%
Process Plan
20%
Requirements Document
Process Log and Post Mortem Report
Peer Evaluations
Client Evaluations

14. Project Points Software Specification Lecture 8
Prepared by
Stephen M. Thebaut, Ph.D.
University of Florida