Better Software Magazine Archive:

May/June 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

Works as Designed
By Lee Copeland

How many times have you heard the phrase "works as designed" used to describe software that is flawed and in some cases not fit for use? While "works as designed" has become an acceptable response for some, for real professionals, it's not.

Business Analysis Career Paths
By Laura Brandenburg

Five or ten years ago, the common career advice to business analysts was that to be promoted, you should become a project manager. Today, business analysis professionals have myriad career options.

Documenting Exploratory Testing
By Jonathan Kohl

Exploratory testing projects can have documentation requirements, just like any other project. Jonathan describes various ways we can create documentation on our exploratory testing projects, including guidance documents, test-coverage reports, and video software to help create lightweight, powerful documentation.

Agile Planning and Analysis: Synergizing to Deliver Value
By Mary Gorman
Ellen Gottesdiener

Are your planning and analysis activities synergistic? Is their total effect on your project greater than the sum of the two activities? When done hand in glove you’ll see how planning and analysis can help groom your backlog and enable you to continuously deliver valuable software.

Deliver Applications that Meet Business Needs
By Filip Szymanski

A common mistake made when building applications to meet business needs is not properly defining business requirements from the get-go. Poorly defined requirements compromise the quality of applications and lead to projects that deliver marginal value or fail outright.

Make Your Tele-Team Work
By Lisa Crispin
Nanda Lankalapalli

Can software development teams that include one or more telecommuters work as effectively as collocated teams? Learn how to overcome common obstacles faced by "tele-teams," illustrated with real-life examples.

How Do You Write Good User Stories?
By David Hussman

Expert answers to frequently asked questions. In this issue, David Hussman explains how to write good user stories.

Long-Distance Relationships
By Heather Shanholtzer

A letter from the Better Software magazine editor.

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