Out Of The Mouths Of Clients

[SimonMac]

Talking to one of the third party suppliers, trying to get a grasp of the documentation etc for the client (kinda knew the answer as I had been brought in to try and reign in some of the processes), asked about what happens if an error is found and a new version of code is created?

Word or word answer is:

The technical design documents are all created at the end of development

I am not a BA or a Dev, but can anyone please tell me how is this even possible?!

I have gone back and asked how do they know what to build, but I am scared of the answer to be fair!

[MicrosoftBob]

It's usually worse, I've had we haven't got a spec yet but can you start development...

[northernladuk]

It's usually worse, I've had we haven't got a spec yet but can you start development...

Isn't that Agile???

[MrMarkyMark]

Word or word answer is:
The technical design documents are all created at the end of development

I have only seen this before on projects that were totally FUBAR.

This is only suggested by people that have no knowledge of software development, or the SDLC.
Total losers, in other words.

Isn't that Agile???

He hasn't been on that Yorkshire Agile course, yet

HTH.

BIDI.

[MicrosoftBob]

Isn't that Agile???

Yup with a lot of clients, or at least what they take to be Agile

[PurpleGorilla]

[DimPrawn]

My understanding of Agile is that static documentation (such as requirements) is replaced by unit tests and integration tests. In other words, your software is specified by the testing framework. If it passes all the up front tests, it meets the technical requirements.

User requirements are in the stories and use cases.

Design documentation is replaced by much more detailed communication, and most of the design is in the heads of the developers and testers. A few diagrams maybe and that's about it.

That's my experience anyway.

[d000hg]

At least design done after the fact is more likely to be accurate

[DimPrawn]

It's usually worse, I've had we haven't got a spec yet but can you start development...

Two months on the Splash screen.

[MrMarkyMark]

My understanding of Agile is that static documentation (such as requirements) is replaced by unit tests and integration tests. In other words, your software is specified by the testing framework. If it passes all the up front tests, it meets the technical requirements.

User requirements are in the stories and use cases.

Design documentation is replaced by much more detailed communication, and most of the design is in the heads of the developers and testers. A few diagrams maybe and that's about it.

That's my experience anyway.

What could go wrong?