MIS41020 - Stop the lifecycle, I want to get off

Module - Design, Development and Creativity

Class or Article - Article

Lesson or Name - Gladden, G. R. (1982) Stop the lifecycle, I want to get off.

Additional Info - N/A

Precis

Gladden in his research ' Stop the lifecycle, I want to get off presents the case that the life-cycle approach does not accommodate peoples natural tendencies to invoke change and this exacerbates the problem during a project. Elapsing time erodes customer confidence and such eroding of customers confidence  leads to expanding requirements and modified tasks. As a result Gladden present the argument that ' the concept that the "software Lifecycle" is no longer helpful but rather harmful". Gladden proposes that there is a  lack of flexibility in the lifecycle and as a result change adds time to a project. He proposes a 3 step new approach to circumvent the lifecycle, they are :

System Objectives - these are more important than system requirements as you know the objective that the system would meet and are not focused on the requirements to enable that.

Physical Objectives - Conveys more information than any written specification

As a result combining these two you will complete a more rounded image of what is required and in such have much more successful projects. New areas of expertise are emerging as a result of poor development lifecycles and the reason for poor lifecycles is primarily non-existant, vague, incomplete or poorly thought our requirements.

once the user has a good idea and feeling for what they will receive at the end point their confidence and trust will rise and if they see it and like it they are less likely to care how it is developed. Prototypes and pictures are easier to change early on that code in development.

Reflection

Again as mentioned in the blogpost MIS41020 - Life cycle concept considered harmful I said ' While agreeing that there needs to be an element of fluidity in project to allow for some user/client change is a necessity. It is inevitable that this will happen and it is fuelled either by advancements in technology or a growth of knowledge in the end-user/client as they begin to understand the problem more in depth.' and I still feel this is true. However I find alot of merit in what Gladden is presenting here to use protodypes that outline the soft and hard aspects in an objective manner. This allows you to focus on what is expected rather than requirements and in turn both the developer and client speaking the one language. Customers dont care how you build it once it delivers their expectations and while expectations can change so can requirement but the benefit to objective based outcomes means that the focus is always on the end product and not requirements which in turn become redundant and an obstacle for projects either when delivered or during development

Use objective outlines deliverables, leave the coding to the developers and the outcome experience expected to the business and meet in the middle with a common understanding and trust, allow fluidity and the project will be worthwhile for both.

Quotes

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