Blog

In almost every aspect of our lives poor communication is often the root cause of problems that result in misunderstandings and inconsistent expectations. Software development teams comprised of multiple individuals, many with other responsibilities who are working part time on a project, are no exception to being prone to communication issues. Numerous studies, such as a web survey in March 2007 by the Computing Technology Industry Association, single out poor communications as the number one cause of project failure.

What is the key to a seamless thought process? Take control of your committed development time. It’s no surprise that anyone will increase productivity by reducing distractions. And what’s the major difference between average developers and those who really stand out? In a word: productivity. Developers who excel have learned to get the most out of their coding time. They’ve mastered techniques enabling them to continuously focus on delivering working software.

One of the principal values of Agile Software Development is the priority given to working software. Agile development teams value working code over documentation, complex architectures, and other extraneous artifacts. This does not mean that Agile teams disregard these artifacts; it only means that they value working software more.

While the value of working software translates into many design and development practices, none may provide a more significant productivity boost than the practice of “Simple Design”. Whether you work in an agile or more traditional environment, simple design can be key to giving your team a major productivity boost.