The software industry has developed rapidly in recent years. It turned out that everyone's understanding of informatization was very limited. Now, software users have their own understanding of software.
From the very beginning, the logic of programming is "predefined", the rules are pre-determined, the data structure is pre-determined, everything is pre-determined, just waiting for the user to "pull the trigger" on the interface, this extremely complex machine is so methodical and desperate Full steam ahead!
Now, people are beginning to be dissatisfied and begin to comment on various aspects of the software, requiring them to show various customizations. This requirement has developed from a beautiful interface at the beginning to a logical "unbelievable", and even developed "Technology is not a problem". The rhetoric, and then the almost "unreasonable" request that the software incarnate as a god to satisfy his fantasies.
Why don't we stop and think about why this is? This can be hard to figure out, let's start with a simple question:
1. If someone promises you: give you a gift, no matter what the price, buy it right!
2. You will consider the smartphone that you have been eyeing for a long time, such as the value of 6K, and then, that person really bought it for you.
3. Later, he also said: If you are not satisfied, you can change the requirements at any time.
4. You are so happy now, what this person really wants! Think of the phone as a ball, ask for a luxury car, so you ask for a BMW!
5. Although it is worth 500K, he really bought it for you. . . .
There are several issues that deserve our careful study
1. Why did you only want a mobile phone in the first place?
2. Why is it that you have been coveting the phone for a long time, but you are still not satisfied?
3. Are you satisfied with the new BMW you bought?
Maybe you thought it was ridiculous at first, how can there be such a good person? When we take these questions and slowly deepen, you will find that software development is actually like this! At first the user didn't know you very well, so he made some requests that were not carefully considered, and you did it! Then, since it can be modified without limitation, in the name of modification, the function of the software is changed and the qualitative change has taken place, but the customer is never satisfied!
You are too tired and have to work overtime. Whose fault is it? You must think it's the customer's fault, too harsh, too crap! But it's actually your fault, because you didn't communicate well with the customer! Let's go back to the assumption of giving gifts. If the person said at the beginning, in fact, I'm quite rich, don't say anything that costs thousands of dollars. Well, you can consider it at the level of 100,000 yuan! Do you think you will still consider cell phones? You will definitely think carefully and pick out what you want the most. For example, if you choose a family car with a price of 100,000 yuan, what kind of satisfaction do you feel that you have received this gift yourself?
However, in reality, we never do that. You are reluctant to tell your client your strength, and he doesn't know what you can do in software. So he can't stop him from doubting you and testing you! It is necessary to say a random request, because he is still not clear about your situation, will he take the time to seriously consider your cooperation?
The sad thing is: the software people at this time actually thought it was beautiful! They are thinking: these idiots can't come up with anything, just fool them and it's over!
However, the fact is that we have been slapped in the face time and time again by the "change of demand", and a lot of painful experience tells us the truth: it is really not as good as one-step change!
The story is not over yet, but I hope we can reach a consensus now: Communicating your capabilities with users is a wise choice for software development!
So, the question arises: how to communicate clearly? Countless experiences have told me that it is impossible for users to understand by means of principles. They do not understand technology, so naturally they do not know what can and cannot be! But the good news is that painting is actually a good substitute.
let's do this
1. Ask users to describe their thoughts and understand the overall business situation.
2. Give the user an EXCEL table and let him draw the business data in excel.
3. It includes the format of the main data, and how to implement each required function manually in excel (add a data here, insert a row here, etc.)
4. You will find the magical effect.
What is the magical effect? You won't know until you try it yourself, but I can't help but spoiler
1. Contradictions will be self-defeating, users can discover contradictions and unreasonable places by themselves in the process of demonstration, and find ways to correct them and bypass them in a curved way.
2. A common language has been established. The more specific the functional requirements are, the clearer the description of the structure will be. After a few rounds, the rows and columns in excel are actually the easiest thing to explain the problem clearly.
3. The understanding of complexity or difficulty has been strengthened. The more difficult it is to draw a table in excel, the more difficult it is to perform functions. You say to users all day: This is difficult! He couldn't listen to it at all. As long as he was asked to draw the table by himself, he would gradually realize which was difficult and which was easy.
The story could have ended, but I wanted to add a little more thought to the data. On the surface, it seems to have little to do with the data, but in fact it is determined by the characteristics of the data itself: the standardized data format is easier to be realized by the program, and the two-dimensional plane simulation relationship of each part of the data has a corresponding correspondence in the program. If the previous blog post emphasized that we should have data thinking, then this small article is to let users have data thinking too .
Come on, all efficiency is due to communication, please use the drawing data to communicate with your users! Don't be imaginative anymore, it's a mule or a horse, draw a table to yo!