http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Cronin,_Dave A bibliography of works by Cronin, Dave in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Cronin,_Dave http://tc.eserver.org/33363.html http://tc.eserver.org/33363.html One of the most significant realities about offshore developers is that they will build exactly what you tell them to build. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that they are likely to take your specification very seriously--not merely as a suggestion or starting point from which to improvise. The bad news, of course, is that if you don't clearly plan and articulate every aspect of your product from user interface and product behavior to business logic and algorithms, developers are forced to rely on their own experience and judgement to determine an appropriate solution to an unforeseen problem or vaguely documented feature. The reality with offshore resources, however, is that they are very unlikely to have that experience. http://tc.eserver.org/33364.html http://tc.eserver.org/33364.html A critical component to the success of an interaction design project is close collaboration with clients or stakeholders. Without careful planning and structure this type of collaboration can turn into a significant barrier to project success. Dave Cronin's article, originally presented at the DUX 2005 design conference, discusses the strategies and methods Cooper has adopted to get maximum benefit as a consultancy from clients' feedback and expertise while maintaining creative momentum and achieving deadlines. http://tc.eserver.org/28513.html http://tc.eserver.org/28513.html One lesson we've learned over the past several years here at Cooper is that on the vast majority of our projects, intimate client collaboration is a critical ingredient for success. This is a lesson that we have sometimes learned the hard way; collaboration can be messy, unpredictable and has often forced us to compromise what we thought was a supremely clear and elegant vision. http://tc.eserver.org/26077.html http://tc.eserver.org/26077.html Although as an Interaction Designer I'm not involved in the actual development of the products I design, I find it increasingly clear that outsourcing creates a significant impact on the entire software design and construction process. Offshore development is in its infancy, but will continue to evolve to become an increasingly effective way to go about certain kinds of software construction. Based on recent project work, this article describes a number of observations worth considering as you ponder how outsourcing and offshore development may fit into your plans. http://tc.eserver.org/26076.html http://tc.eserver.org/26076.html To offset this sometimes irritating tendency to critique and redesign everything we see, I'd like to offer a selection of software that I consider to be truly well-designed. To avoid creating a list that is simply an expression of my personal taste (which of course it is, to some extent), I devised some criteria as necessary aspects of a well-designed software product. http://tc.eserver.org/23968.html http://tc.eserver.org/23968.html Interaction design methodologies, such as Goal-Directed Design, tackle the software development process from the top down by defining specific product requirements and interface behavior based on research and user needs. The Rational Unified Process (RUP) and other agile programming methodologies attack software development from the bottom up. RUP creates fluid efficiencies for iterating product development during the construction phase in order to react to changing product requirements while still producing shipping code.