DesignLog principle

DesignLog case 2:
"We don't have time! - We've only 7 days left to deliver!"

One day we were having a chat after a long day of finding out the real goal of a certain project.

James came in with Louise and said:
  Niels, this is Louise.
  Louise, this is Niels, who taught me about DesignLogging. Tell what happened.

Bad cycle

coding, testing, coding, testing

Louise:
We had only 7 days to finish some software.
We were working hard: coding, testing, coding, testing.
James said we should stop coding and go back to the design.
"We don't have time! - We have to finish the code! - We've only 7 days left to deliver!"
James insisted.
We designed, found the problem, corrected it, cleaned up the mess. Done in less than 7 days. Thank you!

It's always nice to experience that the techniques that worked for me, and for many others in the past, still work today. Many old techniques never get out of date.

We see, however, that it's not so easy to convince people to do something that seems counter-intuitive: going back to the design rather than grinding on in code, leaving a lot of dangerous scars in the process. Delivering quality often needs counter-intuitive measures.

Later, James provided even more intriguing details:

Conclusion:
Design - Review (repeat as needed) - Code - Review (repeat as needed) - Testing doesn't find issues - User doesn't find issues. A great technique to move towards Zero Defects!

DesignLog case1: "You're delaying my project!"