The other day I was talking to someone about release processes. Specifically, about convincing non-technical stakeholders that frequent releases are more desirable than less frequent ones. My friend said his … Continue reading Diagramming an argument about the release process
There are a couple of practices I value greatly, and which many engineers struggle with, usually for the same reason. One practice is planning for value in small increments, which … Continue reading There are many things to optimise for
There was a time when user testing wasn’t particularly practised. There was a general view—sometimes not explicitly stated—that we could devise a product or interface within our offices, launch it, … Continue reading Don’t let user testing promote ignorance
The other day I was discussing with Tom Gilb my approach for breaking out of black and white thinking. I was saying that when presented with two undesirable options it’s … Continue reading Escaping black and white thinking—in pictures
A while back I read an article about the hit 1997 Nintendo game GoldenEye, and it was notable how one of its key software developers didn’t rush to take too … Continue reading Seeking alignment of the stars
The other day I was discussing with a friend the collapse in value of the pound brought about by a prime minister and chancellor who launched a significant, sudden and … Continue reading The benefits of a second class mind
Some time ago I got talking to a colleague about “ownership” of risks. Now I don’t like the idea of a risk as a tangible thing that can be counted … Continue reading Owning cyber risk
I was once working with a very large organisation helping deliver a new online service. As we were going through the first project phase we were linked up with an … Continue reading Security is for our customers
I discovered the other day about the etymology of the word “decide”. The “de-” comes from the Latin for “off”, and the “-cide” is from the same word that’s found … Continue reading When it’s difficult to decide
I’ve written previously about the importance of talking about reward alongside talk of risk. Risk (in practical conversation) is a discussion of negatives. But we can only consider negatives if … Continue reading Have you considered your reward profile?
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