Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
while conducting the business of continuous feedback. We believe
these devices demonstrate how seriously the team takes their work, not
the opposite.
Wide-Screen Monitors
You can use a wide-screen monitor to provide high visibility to what
your project team considers important. What's more, the information
is automated. When thinking about implementing a wide-screen moni-
tor as a feedback mechanism, consider the following.
Requires:
A network connection and video projector or large-
screen monitors.
Advantages:
Automated, real-time “actionable” information.
Disadvantages:
Some upfront costs depending on the type of
information you are automating.
Alistair Cockburn uses the term
information radiators
to describe
communication mechanisms that “radiate” information. When he first
conceived this idea, this meant posting a large item that everyone
nearby could see (called BVCs—big visual charts). They originally
used colors and large writing, but we can step way beyond that techno-
logically. BVCs are not effective for distributed development groups,
and they require repetitious manual updates to keep information fresh.
Since CI can generate much of this information, you can leverage the
reports generated from the CI server for much of this.
I can't count how many times I've heard conversations at work that
begin, “Did you receive my e-mail?” or “I checked the latest version of
the file into CVS the other day,” or “Did you check the latest project
schedule?” In my experience, communication is typically the number
one challenge on software projects. The typical problem is not that we
don't communicate; problems arise when we don't communicate in
the right way.
Information radiators make project schedules, metrics, build
results, and other information visible to all project members, and they
are updated automatically. When people view them, and for what
