Pro Web Project Management (eBook)

Justin Emond is a Consultant at Pantheon. Justin has worked on both sides of the technology world, both in internal technology departments and as a consultant delivering services to those on the inside. Prior to working at Pantheon Justin was a Senior Project Manager at Urban Insight. He has also taught a variety of technology courses at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, from web programming to project management. He occasionally writes at MissingFeatures.com on topics ranging from usability to interface design to project management. In addition to his work at Urban Insight and Pantheon, Justin created Droptor, a web application that helps teams manage sites powered by the Drupal content management system, and Droptopia, an online visual portfolio of expert Drupal agencies. Justin has a degree in Psychology from the University of Southern California.

Title Page 2
Copyright Page 3
Table of Contents 4
About the Authors 5
Acknowledgments 6
Introduction 7
CHAPTER 1 The Project Life Cycle 10
CHAPTER 2 The Project Definition and Scope of Work 13
What Is the Problem? 13
Be a Trusted Advisor 14
Be Honest. Really. 15
Can We Help Solve the Problem? 16
Outlining the Solution: The Scope of Work 17
Project Name 17
Contacts 17
Date and Version 17
Background 18
Scope of Work 18
Timeline 19
Investment Budget 19
Approval 20
Don’t Go Chasing Methodologies 20
Agile Methodology 22
Waterfall Methodology 22
The Document Formats Rule 23
Preparing Client-Ready Documents 24
Send PDFs 24
Hand-Edit Your Document 24
Double-Check the Attachment 24
Configuration vs. Customization 25
Configuring Software 25
Customizing Software 25
Cost Implications 27
Wrapping Up 27
CHAPTER 3 Meetings,Meetings,Meetings 28
Don’t Do This: A Disastrous Kickoff Meeting 28
Project Kickoff 31
What Should Be Covered? 31
One Hour or Five Days? 32
How Big? 33
Traveling for a Big Project? 33
Preparing for a Meeting 34
Don’t Waste Time: Write an Agenda 35
Why Do I Need an Agenda? 36
The Agenda Clothing Rule 36
Topics, Topics, Topics 37
Agenda Throwdown 38
Running a Meeting 41
Take Charge 41
Starting the Meeting 42
Introduce the Agenda 42
Guiding the Meeting 43
Winding Down the Meeting 44
Meeting Wrap-Up 45
What About Minutes? 46
Wrap-Up E-mail Example 47
Wrapping Up 48
CHAPTER 4 Discovery andRequirements 49
Why Discovery? 49
The Sitemap Document 51
Example Questions 51
Sitemap Workflow 52
About Requirements 53
How to Gather Requirements for Fun and Profit 54
The Requirements Document Structure 57
Requirements-Writing Principles 59
Principle #1: Protect the Scope of the Project 59
Principle #2: Mention Every Settings Screen 59
Principle #3: Mention the Audit Logging 59
Principle #4: Be Clear What the Search Will and Will Not Do 60
Principle #5: Specify the Compatible Browsers 60
The 80/20 Rule 61
Getting the Requirements Approved 62
Dealing with Out-of-Scope Requirements 63
Wrapping Up 63
CHAPTER 5 Project Scheduleand Budgeting 65
Oh, the Horror of Just One More Delay 65
Estimating Time (It’s Hard!) 66
Principle #1: Account for Unknowns 67
Principle #2: Break the Task into Parts 67
Principle #3: A Task is More Than Development 67
Principle #4: Ask a Developer (But Add Time) 67
Principle #5: Know Your Bias (or, Review Your Actuals) 68
Principle #6: Use Software to Help Report on Your Estimation Performance 68
Principle #7: Resist the Temptation to Underestimate 68
Preparing the Project Schedule 69
Principle #1: Identify Each Major Phase (but Be Concise) 70
Principle #2: Identify Critical Deliverables 70
Principle #3: Add Some Padding 70
Principle #4: Learn Your Team’s Bias 71
Principle #5: Alert the Client to Deadlines 71
Principle #6: Include the Client’s Critical Path Deadlines 71
Formatting the Schedule 71
Keeping a Close Eye on the Project (without Micromanaging) 73
Handling Out-of-Scope Client Requests 75
Principle #1: Be Clear from the Start 76
Principle #2: Don’t Stifle Enthusiasm 76
Principle #3: Don’t Let Them Sit 76
Principle #4: Maintain a Feature Request List 76
Principle #5: Do Not Be Afraid to Use Change Orders 77
Principle #6: Resist the Urge to Do Everything 77
Principle #7: It Will Not Be the Last Request 77
Principle #8: Do Not Feel Bad 77
Understanding Change Orders 78
Negotiating Out-of-Scope Changes 80
A Wretched Experience 80
Be Transparent 80
Negotiating 81
What to Do in the Worst Case? 82
Wrapping Up 83
CHAPTER 6 Running theProject 84
The Blindsided IT Manager 84
Maintaining Project Momentum 86
Technique #1: One-a-day Productivity 86
Technique #2: The Monday Morning Checklist 87
Put Yourself in Your Client’s Shoes 89
Proactive Project Management 89
What Defensive Driving Teaches Us About Project Management 90
Quick Tips for Getting Work from Clients 92
Wrapping Up 93
CHAPTER 7 TechnicalDocumentation 94
Picking the Right Format 95
Design Mock-Up, Wireframes, and HTMLMock-Ups 95
Don’t Mock Me Up 96
When to Write a Technical Specification 98
All Together Now 102
Preparing Screen Mock-Ups 103
Sharing Your Work with the Client 110
The Design Process 111
Creating a Database 114
Writing a Specification 116
The Meat and Potatoes 116
Think Through a Feature 117
Be Specific: An Example 118
The Side Dishes 120
More Reading 121
Wrapping Up 121
CHAPTER 8 Development,Communication,Documentation 122
A Developer Out of Control 122
Keeping the Client Updated 124
Replying Quickly 125
Tips for Writing E-mails 125
Professionalism 125
What’s in a CC? 126
Don’t Be Rude 126
Your Vacation Auto-Response Message Is Probably Wrong 126
The Power of Checklists 127
Don’t Avoid the Pain Go Toward It
Keeping Documentation 131
Documenting Code 131
Documenting the System Architecture 132
Documenting System Administration Settings 133
Documenting Changes over Time 135
Use Version Control 135
Case Tracking 136
The Weekly Developer Meeting 137
Wrapping Up 139
CHAPTER 9 Quality Assuranceand Testing 140
The Developer Who Refused to Test 140
About Testing 141
Your Software Is Only as Good as YourTesting 142
The Bug 143
Test, Debug, Refine, and Repeat 143
Creating a Testing Checklist 143
Testing Checklist Format 146
How to Manage a Beta Test with a Client 148
Homework Is for the Little People 149
Horror Story: Who Is the Real Client? 150
Usability Testing 152
So What Do You Test? 153
Wrapping Up 155
CHAPTER 10 Deployment 156
A Failed Deployment 156
Deployment Process and Planning 157
Pointer #1: Create a Launch-day Checklist 158
Pointer #2: Double Your Estimate for the Time Needed to Launch 159
Pointer #3: When Possible, Perform a Soft Launch 159
Pointer #4: Be Leery of Time Estimates for Data Imports 159
Pointer #5: Meet with the Development Team Several Days Before Launch 159
Pointer #6: Update the Client When You Start and Complete the Launch 160
Pointer #7: Double-Check Your Third-Party Integration 160
Pointer #8: Test! 160
Training 161
The Launch Checklist 162
The Web Site Launch Checklist 162
The Importance of Defining Post-Launch Support 165
Wrapping Up 166
CHAPTER 11 Support andOperations 167
Sam the Entrepreneur 167
Providing Support 169
Long-term Support 170
Support Orientation 172
Be Responsive 175
Supporting Projects Developed by Someone Else 175
Challenge #1: The Project Is a Mess 176
Challenge #2: The Client Has Unrealistic Expectations About the Schedule 176
Challenge #3: The Development Workflow is Not Set Up Correctly 176
Challenge #4: The Site Lacks Stability 176
Challenge #5: The Client is Not Well Informed 176
Pointer #1: Start Support with a Project Review and Recommendations Document 177
Pointer #2: Don’t Overtly Blame the Previous Development Team 177
Pointer #3: Use Regular Patches to Maintain Momentum, but Save Time on Deployment 178
Pointer #4: Take the Time to Set Up the Right Workflow 178
Pointer #5: Provide Regular Updates 178
Bonus Pointer: Use a Monthly Checklist to Proactively Identify Issues 179
Pretend You’re Leaving 179
Wrapping Up 180
APPENDIX A 182
Project Management Software 182
Reading List 183
Document Templates 184
Web Site Kick-Off Meeting Agenda 184
Web Site Requirements Document 185
Technical Requirements Document 199
Web Site Technical Specification 206
Change Order Request #1 214
Project Training Agenda 216
Testing Document 219
Launch Checklist 225
Support Subscription Orientation 232
Index 237