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CONCURRENT S E S S I O N S 1 PDU per Session Wednesday, June 10, 11:30am BETTER SOFTWARE BW1 PROJECTS & TEAMS Seven Deadly Habits of Ineffective Software Leaders Ken Whitaker, Leading Software Maniacs As if releasing a quality software project on time were not difficult enough, poor management of planning, people, and process issues can be deadly to a project. Presenting a series of antipattern case studies, Ken Whitaker describes the most common deadly habits—along with ways to avoid them. These seven killer habits include mishandling employee incentives; making key decisions by consensus; ignoring proven processes; delegating absolute control to a project manager; taking too long to negotiate a project’s scope; releasing an “almost tested” product to market; and hiring someone who is not quite qualified—but liked by everyone. Whether you are an experienced manager struggling with some of these issues or a new software manager, take away invaluable tips and techniques for correcting these habits—or better yet, for avoiding them altogether. As a bonus, every delegate receives a copy of Ken’s full-color Seven Deadly Habits comic. BW2 BUSINESS ANALYSIS & REQUIREMENTS Business Analysis: From Interviews through Implementation Barry Harvey, Florida Virtual Campus The keys to delivering better software lie in understanding what customers want—even when they are unable to articulate what they want—and being able to create a system that will improve the end users’ work. This is why your starting point should be understanding the differing, and sometime conflicting, needs of the customer and the end-users. Analyzing user needs, developing clearly defined requirements, and managing stakeholder expectations are three areas of business analysis that lead to greatly improved customer and end user satisfaction. Barry Harvey details his experience analyzing the system needs of a culturally and geographically diverse statewide academic support organization; explains how to translate those needs into detailed requirements; and most importantly, shares proven strategies for managing stakeholder expectations throughout the development and implementation process. Transparency and traceability allow both customers and users to understand how specific features and functionality came to be included in the final system, and how their particular needs are being addressed. BW3 BW4 PERSONAL EXCELLENCE GOING MOBILE This Is Not Your Father’s Career: Advice for the Modern Information Worker Mobile App Testing: Design Automation Patterns You Should Use James Whittaker, Microsoft In an era where college drop-outs run successful companies and creative entrepreneurs out-earn corporate vice presidents, working smart is clearly the new working hard. James Whittaker turns on their head the career rules that guided past generations and provides a new career manual for working smarter that speaks to the need for creativity, innovation, and insight. James teaches a set of skills designed for the modern era of working for companies— big or small. Learn how to avoid a one-sided relationship with your employer and ensure your passion is working for— and not against—you. Discover how to manage your technical skills and professional relationships for maximum effect. James introduces common career hazards and how to identify and avoid them. Think more creatively and examine how to adopt specific career management strategies designed to supercharge your success. The modern age requires more modern ways to succeed. James has them for you. Jon Hagar, Grand Software Testing In mobile app development, better test design is important to project velocity and user satisfaction. Jon Hagar explores underused or poorly practiced test design automation approaches that you should employ in development and testing. Jon begins by defining the domain of mobile app software and examines common industry patterns of product failures. He then shares three approaches you can use to speed development and improve quality for native, web-based, and hybrid apps. The methods examined—each supported with detailed checklists—are combinatorial testing, modelbased testing, and user experience testing. Jon explains when, where, and how each testing approach can be used to support improved testing and to benefit the whole team. In addition to mobile apps, you and your team can use these same three approaches in other software environments to reduce technical debt during development. T O R E G I S T E R C A L L 8 8 8 . 2 6 8 . 8 7 7 0 O R 9 0 4 . 2 7 8 . 0 5 2 4 O R V I S I T A D C - B S C - W E S T.T E C H W E L L . C O M 21