Summary

The most important points to take away from this chapter are the following:

• Understand who your users (both internal and external) are, and listen to what they have to say while gathering and documenting your requirements.

• Define the problem you are trying to solve before you define the solution. Again, the key is listening and making sure you fully understand the problem you are trying to solve.

• While documenting and analyzing your requirements, be thorough, but don't get so bogged down that you don't see the forest for the trees. Don't get so wrapped up in a single issue that it blinds you to the project as a whole.

• As you pursue the project, know your options, and use the tools (such as project management methodologies) that make sense to you and you are comfortable with.

But don't put all the emphasis on project definition. Don't be afraid to prototype solutions as “solution spikes” (in the XP terminology); show them to your users to gauge their response. Transparency, allowing your customers to see what is happening within the “black box” of the development team, is essential in project management. This kind of participatory approach includes the customer; it breeds respect and “buy in.” And there's no greater asset to have when things go wrong, which they inevitably will.

Now that you have an understanding of what you hope to accomplish, it's time to start thinking about your data—what is it going to look like, and how is it going to be structured? We'll get into these questions in Chapter 4.