All of us have had challenges with IT projects and the “fluid” nature of requirements. Having frozen requirements is a fallacy. I was reading about Six Sigma and found this interesting piece of data that I thought I would share.
Donald Reinertsen from the California Institute of Technology has been collecting data from product development managers who attend his classes. (Basic data are from Thomke and Reinertsen’s “Agile Product Development,” updated via personal communication with Donald Reinertsen, December 11, 2006). Note: I got this from a book on Six Sigma and am sharing since I think it will be exciting for all us software professionals.
Out of hundreds of projects, how often did the requirements remain stable throughout design?
Never
How many developers had complete specifications before starting design work?
5 percent
On average, what proportion of requirements were specified before design commenced?
54 percent
For each developer who waits for at least 80 percent of the requirements, how many have already started designing?
Five
