Development Methodology

For development projects my primary goal is twofold: a) figure out whether something is worth actually building into a complete product and b) identify what functionality will be most impactful to the user base.

From Concept to Tangible

I use various tools on my website but I start with the diagramming and analysis techniques chronicled in Web Business Engineering by Nick Flor. I was taught to just dive into writing code or to use engineering-specific digramming techniques (UML, etc.) but over the years I realized that lots of functionality is driven by a) who asks for it the loudest or b) (semi) educated guesses. WBE solves those problems. You draw a directed graph where the edges have container:content annotations; assign costs to the interactions, then refactor and compare the financial results. Done correctly you can identify big wins that you can translate directly into white papers post initial deployments.

There may be some time and several iterations between raw concept and what I refer to as 'model readiness.' These will result in aforementioned diagramming but also some scratches of the UI built in various tools. Depending on how much feedback I am getting from prospective users I may (or may not) be able to publish all of this intermediate work. Do not be surprised if a diagram or two changes drastically.

From Tangible to Market Fit

There's an old saying that no plan survives the first minute of battle so there is a temptation is to pivot the MVP depending on who shows interest. However, after watching some interesting videos from Harvard Business I learned about a new term -- a minimum viable (market) segment (MVS). The idea behind an MVS is to avoid changing the product at all -- even to resist changing it and look for customers that have the same or nearly identical problem instead.

Market Timing versus R&D

This weblog is more about research and development than 'external market psychology' and 'entry windows' that one would expect to find in most discussions about product development. The focus here is on capability building and long-term innovation. Some projects take months, sometimes years, to get the 'green light' which is 2-3x cost/benefit ratio which covers all of the adoption costs (training, migrating data, etc.).

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The Blog About the Blog

• This weblog was originally about learning by teaching people things.
• I may actually create a sub-site with that aim in mind but I have a different need at this point.
• I need a way to communicate with product collaborators on designs and prototypes so that is the major thrust of the site nowadays.

Upstream and Downstream

Topics on this site are in two main sections -- upstream or downstream. I borrowed some terminology from my days in petrochemicals -- upstream means raw materials; downstream means finished products. My investigation cycle is as follows:

Upstream

• Problem Identification
• Cost/Benefits Analysis
• Proof of Concept and Dependencies
• Market Identification
• Minimum Viable Product

Downstream

• MVP Refactoring and Market Alignment
• Sales and Marketing Activites

A lot of older content from the previous site was of the 'upstream' variety so it will now go under that folder from now on. For (many) years I was a 'developer for hire' which meant whatever I produced belonged to my client(s). I have not worked in that capacity for some time and am free of those constraints so now I am now producing solutions for the public at large.

RSS

Every folder has an RSS file at the index.rss so it is easy to keep up to date on anything at this site. Here are some online resources for different RSS readers available online for free.

Disclaimers

Things at this site may cite cases or legal documentation. However, nothing on this site is meant to replace qualified legal advice. If you are in need of legal help seek the advice of a licensed attorney. You might start your search at Lawyers.com

This site does not provide investing advice. Articles may discuss securities or trading opportunities purely from an informational point of view. All securities involve risk. Seek qualified financial assistance before making investments.

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