Methods and Models Choice of methods for Development of IT related products and systems SVINGSVING Conference held in Gothenburg, Sweden, October 2000

Ericsson mobile data design use RUP The biggest problem is to make management aware of the time it takes to implement and see results. The best thing is to try to be as simple as possible and evolve with time. Let the method grow with you. This will imply that the method will be more structured and effective as time goes by. A method like RUP requires that all people involved follow special training. This could imply that all projects would use the same method. However, all projects make an evaluation on what the needs are to choose the most appropriate level. It is important to question the method before the start of each major project. The biggest gain of RUP is that overall coordination is easy and one can give a clear picture to clients. Rather than having long descriptive documentation one has access to different levels of clear diagrams.

Inserve Inserve – small consulting company specialized in big server solutions. Small consulting companies rely on that they are cutting edge. They don’t have a formalized method. This makes them more flexible and can more easily adapt to the clients way of work. The most important aspect of work is communication despite if you work with a method or not.

Extreme Programming Extreme programming is a method that only is one year old. However, its content is not all new and not as extreme as one may think. It is based on:.Short iterations.Concrete feedback.Network organization Instead of starting with an analysis and design there are planning games, stories are written (case scenarios) work is done with a general metaphor. There are very short releases (several times a day). The most interesting part is that test programs are written before the programs. The tests have to be very easy to launch. This is in order to make changes and test very easily. The coding is done in pairs, collective ownership and continuous integration. In order to create and maintain simple design refactoring tools are used. The biggest project that has tested this method is with about 50 programmers. One can take part of this method, it is not essential to apply the method fully. The biggest problem with the method is that it seams to be difficult to have a good overall picture of the development situation. Intresting link: Java testing frameworkJava testing framework

Open Training Open Training - UML They assumed that most people knew about UML. They focused on the new applications or extensions to UML. There is a business extension for UML named Eriksson-Penke that enables you to make functional model of the organization all using UML. It uses UMLs standard mechanisms to adjust and extend the model language.

Cell Network A creative designer talked on this topic. He thinks that creativity is in direct contrast to the use of methods. That methods restrains creativity. He sees that most systems engineers only look at the functional and technical part of systems and their use. He would like to make work more fun. He presented examples where they had added an aspect of game to a normally repetitive administrative system. The users experienced that work was more fun and felt better. For web sites they had the these 3 rules they followed:.You have 4 seconds to inform the client and he should find the information he is looking for in those 4 seconds..80% never return. What will make them come back?.The information they seek should not take more than 3 clicks.

Conclusion One aspect that I thought was interesting is that in the implementation of a method the efficiency and result gets better with time. When one works in an ad-hoc manner and relies on experience this also gets better with time. Therefore, in a small organization or project group it is not essential to have a method. Then one may ask, what is a method? Everybody works in a special way. If it is not a method it is a structured way of work that has evolved with experience and time. A method is just that, a structured way of work, except that it also has a name. One talker said that for him, once you put a name to your method, you know that you are going down. For our part in AS I think that the bigger project definitely could gain a lot with the use of a clear method. The two main advantages are a good general structure and documentation. Both of these would make maintenance and further development much easier. However, for smaller project we should not have to formalize things too much. For more detailed information feel free to ask me!//Michael Karlsson