Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
organizes one's thoughts or presentation as a tree, one struggles with
familiar issues. Does a new point (issue) deserves its own branch? If
variations of that point are required in two or more places, does one put
them in two places? Issues of horizontal and vertical continue to exist.
For example, if one has to file status reports for many projects, should
one have a separate folder entitled “Status Reports” containing status
reports for each project, or have sub-folders under each project's folder
called “status reports?”
One resolution mechanism that we have found useful is to think in
terms of a “delete” function. For example, if the status reports are kept
within project folders, then when the node folder — “Project A” — is
deleted (it could actually be archived; delete is being used in a logical
sense), all information including the status reports is likely deleted or
archived. If that is what is required, then status reports belong within
project folders.
How to Get the Message across Efficiently
There are two important aspects of sharing information:
1.
Keep the format simple.
2.
Repeat the message as often as necessary.
Keeping the format simple is not so easy. One must work along two
vectors: (1) form and (2) content. This is a design problem. Paul Rand,
the noted designer, says, “Design is relationships. Design is a relationship
between form and content.” Whether you are conveying schedule infor-
mation, technical information, budget information, or any other kind of
information, there is content and then there is form. The same content
has different degrees of effectiveness when presented or worded differ-
ently. There is a lot that software designers can learn from graphic
designers and advertising experts who know how to get their message
across efficiently.
Content
The Minimal Set
What is the minimal set of documentation that one needs to build a
software system? Let us apply the house-on-fire paradigm. One has just
30 seconds to pick up one document and run out of the building. One
would naturally like to pick the document that will allow one to recreate
