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Ellen: Have you ever tried to use it?! Please! The CFO thought it looked
great—and on paper it did. But that user interface makes it almost impossible
to be productive. And it's as slow as molasses. 3
Bob: But back to this new application . . . I'm assuming you'll want a GUI
on this?
Ellen: Of course. Give it a standard, simple GUI. Something like this.
(She begins to draw on her whiteboard.)
For any given department there will be a “pool” of money. Those dollars
are displayed and can be subdivided into smaller pools of money by creating
subaccounts.
But as the money is subdivided those new accounts and associated dollars
should become visible by others. And as dollars are spent during the year, we'll
want to track those dollars, so those amounts should be visible, too, and
subtracted from the overall pool of available dollars.
Bob: Wait . . . back up. What needs to be entered to subdivide an
account?
Ellen: The user just picks an account, then chooses to subdivide it, enter-
ing the amount to put in each account . . . or even just a percent of the larger
pot of money.
Bob: So if he picks one account to subdivide, does it split into two, or
three or how many?
Ellen: Let the user choose, but maybe two as a default.
Bob: OK, but we may need to take a harder look at that interaction.
Ellen: So how long will that take? Can you have it ready by the end of this
month?
Bob: I'd like to try the “spiral” approach on this project. I can have
something for you by the end of this week— from which you can tell me if I'm
heading in the right direction. It will just be a beginning, but you'll be able to
see something run. By the way, is this tool only for our group?
Ellen: For now it is, but I could see other departments wanting to use it
some day. Who knows how far it could go?
3. Remember, this is a fictional account. We are providing justification for why they can't use
the corporate application. Anyone's use of such a tool can be less than optimal, reflecting more
on themselves than on the value and usability of the tool.
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