So What’s This iRD Thing Anyway?

We’re working hard to overcome the status quo in software requirements. I truly believe there are many out there that have resigned themselves to just having to “deal with” the challenges of ambiguous requirements, slipping deadlines, reduced feature sets, and the like. There are reams of documentation that is expected to be read, understood, and approved.

Most of the time, the project team needs to seek this documentation from a central repository, such as SharePoint. While all the documentation may be there, it’s often left to each team member to determine what needs to be downloaded and read. Documents that support other documents are referenced, but the team member is left with the daunting task of trying to keep it all together.

What if there was one “document” that provided all of the information stakeholders needed? What if this document was delivered on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet or e-reader that could be taken anywhere? What if stakeholders, development, QA and others had a customized version with just the documentation they needed? What if the documentation was interactive with software visualizations, walkthrough videos, and collaboration?

Introducing the iRD™ or Interactive Requirements Document™.

Instead of disparate Word & Excel documents, Visio diagrams and other document types uploaded to some sort of repository, the iRD encapsulates everything in a very easy-to-use and very portable format that is targeted to each set of stakeholders. Because no two projects are exactly alike, the iRD is customized for the client, the project and the technology the iRD will be used with.

For example, we are currently delivering an iRD™ for the Department of Homeland Security which will be delivered via Apple iPads. Stakeholders will be able to view and comment on all project documentation, experience a high fidelity visualization of their software, watch walkthrough videos and much more all within a single experience. They will be able to take the entire project with them wherever they go. The feedback so far is nothing short of amazing.

Why settle for the status quo on your next project?

The problem with upfront requirements

Prototyping and visualization technology is starting to improve the way companies define and build software applications. However, requirements management and documentation of those requirements is still antiquated. Most tools on the market are outdated and cumbersome to use. 83% of companies still rely on Microsoft Word and Excel to communicate requirements. OneSpring has worked on over 50 projects ranging from small $20K projects to over $2 million dollar requirements definition projects and has seen first hand what works and does not work.

Most companies follow a documentation centric path to defining software applications where a lot of time is spent writing out text-based requirements. In 2005 we discovered a disconnect exists between what a client said they wanted and what they actually received. We call this the Clarity Curve.

The Clarity Curve depicts the understanding stakeholders and users gain as they start seeing their software project come to life. The problem with this model is that there is a very high cost associated with it. In most cases, once the stakeholder sees what is being developed they typically want to make changes. Changing developed software is 100 times more expensive than catching changes upfront in the lifecycle before code has been written. This is the value proposition we have been successfully selling. Our goal is to create software that allows users to rapidly define, organize, and distribute better and more accurate requirements thus allowing companies to build the right software the first time.

The below illustration shows a traditional software development lifecycle. Notice the increase in understanding at the end of the cycle. It is commonly said that stakeholders and users don’t really know what they want until they can see and interact with it. This holds true for software development as it does for most products.

So how do you improve the Clarity Curve?

The goal is to shift stakeholder and user understanding to the beginning of the elicitation phase. By building visual models, visualizations, and rapidly documenting requirements, you can start to shift the curve to the left. The illustration below depicts what we always try to achieve on projects. This will help you reduce cost, increase clarity, and produce better and more usable software. Use visual representations of your requirements to improve understanding and consensus among your stakeholders.

About the author: Jason Moccia is the President, COO, and Co-founder of OneSpring. Jason has over 14 years of experience in the software development field. In addition to operating as President and COO, he also runs the company’s Federal side of the business. His philosophy of doing one thing better than any other company emanates throughout OneSpring’s core strategy. Jason has worked with numerous Fortune 1000 companies including but not limited to Ernst & Young, General Electric, SAIC, Florida Power & Light, InterContinental Hotels, Deloitte, and SunTrust.

What is Previsualization?

Clarity at the Speed of Thought

We understand that trying to build the very best, most successful software application using traditional software requirements methodologies can be a challenging adventure. Using Previsualization from OneSpring, you can experience the success of your project, before you even start it.

Previsualization is a collaborative process that generates preliminary versions of application features, functionality and process flows in a low-resolution format. This approach enables the project stakeholders to more effectively communicate a shared vision and understanding of a project through visual exploration.

NEW VIDEO:

Previs Documentary – Part 1 from Previsualization Society on Vimeo.

Previsualization works in a low-resolution format as seen on the left
and gradually matures to a high-resolution format once the key
components have been agreed upon by the stakeholders

Previsualization or previs further accelerates the benefits of visualization by rapidly bringing clarity and understanding to a project at the foundational stages of definition. As such, the cost and time savings are very significant to the overall planning, management and definition of any project.

Previsualization is widely recognized and used today in the motion picture industry to help facilitate and and accelerate communications in the process of creating multi-million dollar feature films.

Previs Documentary – Part 1 from Previsualization Society on Vimeo.

Watch the movie above to learn how previs helps the motion picture
industry. The same benefits of enhanced communication are also
realized in the software design and definition industry.

With over a year of successful usage on a variety of projects, we have placed previsualization as the baseline of our widely recognized Stream Process™.

Previsualization now plays a pivotal role in delivering unparalleled value to our customers. We believe previs will become equally significant to our highly successful JAM Session® for its ability to bring clarity to complex enterprise projects.

At its most basic level, previsualization is an enhanced process for rapidly and effectively bounding the parameters of an application definition project.

At an advanced level, it is the ability to explore creative ideas, plan technical solutions, and communicate a shared vision without incurring the costs and timeframes normally associated within a traditional requirements gathering and management life cycles.

Previsualization is comprised of these essential ingredients:

• Working in a low-resolution format
• Mapping the experience via scenario storyboards
• Rapid collaboration with real-time feedback loops

To learn more about previsualization at OneSpring and how this process can benefit your organization, please contact us at PreVis@OneSpring.net.

Webinar: Close the Requirements Clarity Gap

Are you happy with your IT projects? Do you find they never quite meet expectations? During this webinar, we’ll demonstrate how our JAM Session® helps our clients be more innovative, save time and money. We deliver this through gaining technology requirements clarity early using visualization.

Slides