Jon DiPietro is Domesticating IT

Weekly High Five lists the most interesting, compelling, and/or useful links of each week.

This was a tough week to select five stories; there was lots of tech news worthy of mention.  In the end, it was three articles about Facebook and two about growing up geeky.

#5: The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s

This was fresh take on the “old news” of obsolescence.  We all know that each generation grows up under a different paradigm from its previous.  What’s changing is the definition of a “technology generation.”  We used to think (at least I did) of this as linear – that the gap between us and our parents is about the same as the one between us and  our kids.  The reality, however, is that this gap is growing and that behavioral differences (as influenced by technology adoption) that used be evident in age differences in the range of 15 to 20 years are now shrinking to as little as 5 to 10 years.  This will have profound implications on how businesses adapt their workplace environments and adjust their marketing paradigms.

Link: New York Times

#4: Darpa: U.S. Geek Shortage Is National Security Risk

This story came out before the news of the major, sophisticated cyber attacks against Google, Adobe, and more than thirty other companies this week.  Many trade organizations are working to address a shortage of engineers that will provide workforce challenges in the manufacturing and critical infrastructure (water, wastewater, power, gas, etc…) sectors, and now we see concern growing over national security issues due to low enrollment in the computer sciences.

Link: Wired

#3: Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over

This story has more moving parts and metaphors than a Rube Golberg contraption.  There is the minutia of Facebook’s user interface and the relative difficulty of setting up the privacy settings to one’s liking.  There are overarching principals of privacy versus transparency in a Web 2.0 world.  And then there is also the business argument of the degree to which Facebook can, should, and will continue to emulate Twitter.  My take tis that this sound a little bit like Zuckerberg trying to rationalize that Facebook’s evolving business strategy of transparency (read: search and advertising revenue) is all for the greater good.  Meh.

Link: ReadWriteWeb

#2: Twelve Steps To Creating A Bootylicious Facebook Page

John Haydon has a great series going right now on his blog, “Social media and inbound marketing for non-profits ,” but don’t think that the tips are only useful for those audiences.  This article, in particular, contains terrific tips any business or individual who wants to improve their Facebook fan page.  I’ve definitely learned a few tricks (and been reminded of a couple of outstanding items to be done).

Link: John Haydon dot com

#1: Facebook Releases Their Version Of Retweets As Twitterfication Continues

Normally I detest Facebook’s attempts at “Twitterfication” as this author describes it.  I use Facebook and Twitter for two different purposes and the number one difference between them is privacy.  When I want to interact with a private, closely-knit network I use Facebook. When I want an open, more transparent relationship I use Twitter.  Having said that, this new feature is a long-time coming and doesn’t erode that privacy I’m looking for in Facebook.  It does, however, make it easier to discover who the content generators are in your extended network and to find others you may wish to connect with and to spread your ideas more effectively.

Link: All Facebook

Feel free to provide your thoughts and/or contributions…

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Or perhaps more importantly, should you? I want to explore the very common situation of a manager or small business owner who does not “speak geek” and needs to outsource a software or web development project. I was recently asked by someone in such a position what the “best way to talk to a web developer” would be, since their requirements discussions were ending up in what he described as “Babylonic confusion,” hoping to find a book or course he could take in order to be able to better communicate his needs to the developer.

I don’t know that anyone has found a real live Babel Fish yet, so you’d better figure out another way to get your point across to the geek(s).

It’s Not Me, It’s You

At a moment like this, it’s time go and get yourself a new developer. The project is doomed to fail. While it is your responsibility as a project manager to clearly articulate your requirements, it should only have to be done so in your own comfort zone and business terminology and not involve learning a new language. Here are some inherent problems with taking this approach:

• First, this assumes there is a single language to be learned. There are typically multiple technologies involved in any project (e.g. database, server operating system, programming language(s), scripting language(s), hosting platform, external API’s, etc…) and hoping to become conversant in all of them is going to take an incredible effort at best and is futile at worst.
• Second, merely speaking the language is not enough and could, in fact, exacerbate the problem. The reason is that there is such a thing as “knowing enough to be dangerous”. Without experience in architecting a solution, talking about the technical aspects of a solution is premature. It would be like specifying what type of tires you want on a new car before even deciding whether it will be a sports car, sedan, or SUV!
• Third, this leads to the real possibility that you will end up with what you asked for and not what you wanted. This is quite common in software development. It’s something like asking for a “kick ass” sports car and then getting a car with a mechanical arm on the front of the car with a boot mounted to it. It may be what you asked for, but it’s not what you wanted.

Tell Me What You Want, Then I’ll Tell You What You Need

I’ve sat down with users many times in requirements meetings and asked them what they want the system to do. Often, they find it very difficult to answer because there have not been any boundaries or parameters established for them. It’s like when my wife asks me, “What do you want for dinner tonight?” When I’m feeling particularly sarcastic, I’ll say something inflammatory like “How about Peking duck with an orange glaze and chocolate soufflé for dessert?” and then run for cover. What I’m actually saying is, “What are my choices? What are the parameters? Are you going shopping or do we need to find something in the fridge? If so, what do we have? What about take out?” You get the picture.

When you alter this scenario and instead put a prototype or screen shots in front of users, then you’ll get bags and bags of feedback. That’s because the parameters have been set and they can visualize the inputs, the manipulations, and the outcomes. In the end, that’s what information technology is; stuff goes in to a box, something happens to the stuff, and new stuff comes out the other end. It’s all about defining the inputs, the manipulations and the outputs. But that still doesn’t answer the fundamental question here. How do you deal with a contract developer who doesn’t get it? I’ve already said you go and get yourself a new one. But how do you make sure the new one will work out differently?

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know

Developing a software application is a lot like building a house; it’s the design, architect, build process. You’re the designer and ideally you’d like to find the architect and builder in the form of one person. As a last resort, you are better off hiring both if you can’t find one person to do both jobs. And remember this – you’re a designer, not an architect and certainly not a builder!

The bottom line is to try to find someone with experience in the business arena in which you operate. If you’re the owner of a small chain of sandwich shops, don’t just hire someone who’s developed a web site before, try to find someone who’s developed a web site for a restaurant. And not just one restaurant; a chain. Experience is golden here and there is one rule of thumb that I also mentioned in an earlier blog (Yes, Virginia, You Need a Web Site). When or if you find a developer who can tell you something non-technical about your business that you didn’t know, then you know you’ve got yourself a winner.

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