Planning

As the old adage goes, “Bad planning on your part doesn’t make it an emergency on mine.” This is exactly what your developer is thinking when you make last minute feature requests that were not in the original work scope.

Planning is about setting expectations. If expectations are spelled out up front, there should be no surprises. This is an ongoing process and expectations will need to be revised as you move forward. Your developer may lack the skills to proactively set expectations, but you can take on this responsibility. The developer will probably thank you for doing so.

The Statement Of Work

The most critical document you need for any size project is a Statement of Work (SOW). The SOW needs to contain a detailed description of the project, the milestones, a timeline and payment terms. Depending on the complexity of the project, your SOW may need to contain specific details about each feature and how that feature is supposed to operate. Include as many specifics as it takes so that little is left to interpretation later.

This is the time to address code ownership. Who owns the code that is generated as a result of the project? Different developers have different points of view on this subject so it is important establish this early. In my work for hire contracts, our clients own the iteration of the code that we develop for their site. This means that we are able to re-use our routines on other projects, but we cannot re-use an entire project elsewhere. If you want to own the code, then you will need to negotiate this in advance and the SOW is a perfect place to do this.

Take your time creating the SOW. Your developer should not write one line of code until this is finalized and agreed upon. When I create an SOW, it typically goes through several drafts. I will submit a draft to my client for their review and then they will make edits and submit it back and so on until we both agree that it is final. You can use Word, Pages or Google Docs for this process. Whatever software you use, make sure you use the “Track Changes” tool so that you can see the progression.

Once the SOW is complete, both parties need to sign a copy of it to signify that they agree. For larger projects, my SOWs get attached as an exhibit to the work for hire contract.

A couple of important notes:

• You can never over-plan! Good planning and documentation reduces the guesswork as your project gets developed. Anything you can do to cut down the margin for error will save you money in the long run.
• Always try to avoid doing anything as a rush. You are always asking for mistakes when rushing.

Project Management Site

Your developer should use a project management tool like Basecamp. This will allow you to track your deliverables and project schedule. The site needs to have a good commenting system so that your conversations around a particular task are centralized in one place.

DO NOT use email or instant messenger to track tasks! These conversations tend to get lost in the shuffle. I have found that important parts of the conversation get lost when someone accidentally forgets to cc the group.

The SOW should become a road map for your project management site. All of the deliverables from the SOW need to be converted to tasks on the site. This can be done by you or the developer. In addition to task tracking, your project management site should be used as a central place to post feature discussions, technical notes and design comps. Your project schedule and major milestones should also be tracked on the site.

At Zeek, we use a site called GoPlan. GoPlan is similar to BaseCamp, but we switched because it has a good bug tracking ticket system built in.

Take an active part in the project management, but be careful not to micro-manage your developer. And when possible, ask your developer to use a screen sharing site like GoToMeeting.com to explain when you don’t understand something their saying. So many communication issues can be solved if a little extra time is taken at those critical moments in the project.

Up next: Part 3 – Version Control

My session was appropriately scheduled as the last session of the day. The title was “How to Speak Geek – Communicating with a Developer.” The sessions leading up to mine were about WordPress techniques, creating meaningful content, and some primers on how to dive into code. My goal for the session was to give the audience a bit of a reality check on how to go about working with a developer to get a custom WordPress site (or any digital project) built. It was also well received, so I’m turning the content into a series of posts, broken into these parts:

Interviewing Your Potential Developer
Planning & Project Managment
Version Control
Bug Reporting

Much of what I am about to write refers to boutique developers. These are typically smaller shops or freelancers where you will be dealing with the same people that are working directly on your project. Larger firms will typically have a project manager that acts as your point of contact. The project manager is responsible for overseeing the schedule to make sure deliverables are met on time and on budget. However, even some larger firms are guilty of the problems I am about to describe.

I asked the audience to share some of the problems they may have encountered working with a developer in the past. The answers were thrown at me fast and furious. Here are some of the common threads that I jotted down:

• “My developer delivered something that was not exactly what I had in mind. I then had to pay them to change it to match my expectations.”
• “My developer missed the deadline.”
• “My developer has gone AWOL. They refuse to return my phone calls and emails.”
• “My developer does not communicate effectively.”
• “The costs are spiraling out of control with no end in site.”
• “My developer takes suggestions personally.”
• “I found out my developer was outsourcing my project to another resource. They felt dishonest.”
• “My developer does not understand my industry.”
• “My developer does not have the core competencies to complete every aspect of my project.”

While the audience had a good laugh at some of these responses, none of them surprised me. I have heard them all before. The good news is that many of these problems can be avoided up front with proper planning and a bit of leg work on your part (as the client).

Interviewing Your Potential Developer

Developers are a rare breed. At the risk of stereotyping, I have found that hardcore technical people are lousy business people. The best firms that I have worked with in the past have on board technical people as well as business people. Knowing this ahead of time should help you to communicate better with a developer. Be prepared to listen with a different ear. The developer may not offer up details about your future working relationship so ask a lot of questions. Here are some important questions that you should ask when interviewing a developer:

• What is your hourly rate?
• Will my project be billed as hourly or as a flat rate?
• Once my project launches, is there a maintenance fee?
• Where does my project rank with the other projects on your production schedule?
• Do you have the bandwidth to give my project the attention it deserves?
• What is your procedure when something goes wrong?
• What is your process for bug reporting and bug fixes?
• Are you using a project management system, like BaseCamp or GoPlan?
• Who will be my day-to-day point of contact within your firm?
• What kind of turn around time should I expect?
• What version control system are you using?

These questions are best handled in a face-to-face meeting if possible. If a face-to-face is not possible, conduct the interview on a conference call. Avoid handling the interview over email. When you are asking these questions, it is important not just to hear the developer’s answers. Listen to their tone of voice. Study their body language. Are they uncomfortable giving their answers or do they sound confident? Do they speak in “double talk” or do they seem like a straight shooter? This should give you an indication as to how they will handle themselves in a working relationship.

Make no mistake – if you hire a developer, you are entering into a relationship with this person. Take the time to find someone you can trust. If you need to interview a dozen developers until you find the right fit, do it! Finding the right person will save you a lot of headache and money in the long run.

Reality check moment. I am sorry to have to break the news to you, but no one will ever be as passionate about your project as you are. Most developers get off on creating cool technology. It’s a bonus if that can be married with cool content.

Feel free to post any additional questions you might have about interviewing a potential developer in the comments below. Part two in this four part series will cover planning and project management.

Here are a few of the reports:

• CNET
  Cisco launches iphone security app
• NetworkWorld
  Cisco’s free iPhone app grabs security feeds
• TechCrunch
  Cisco Lets You Access Network Security Information On The Go Via iPhone App
• CNNMoney
  Global Security Information Now On-the-Go With Cisco iPhone Application

“The app is designed for professionals and security geeks, not the average consumer,” Weir said in the CNET article above.  And there’s no doubt about that. The average consumer may not even understand some of the terminology used in the application, let alone why this app might be important. Network managers, however, will have easy access to  information about malware sigs, threat mitigation bulletins,  ways to see if sites are compromised, links to podcasts and videos, and can create personalized alerts to show security threats that could impact their network. Instant access to accurate information should make the job of dealing with the constant attack on networks a bit easier to manage.

An update to the app the provides additional features is already in progress.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/4

The Cisco Security Intelligence Operation.

The Cisco SIO provides a visual look at security and threat statuses on a global basis. And she announced that the Cisco SIO To Go iPhone application is coming soon. Zeek Interactive is proud to have been chosen by Cisco to build this iPhone app.

Curt Franklin, the online community manager for Interop, described the app in his Interop keynote review this morning. He said, “This will let security officers see the threats and responses so they can understand what’s happening and what Cisco is doing in response. The idea is that this will allow the staff in the companies to formulate their own response and rules to keep their network safe. From my point of view, this is a very neat concept, and not dissimilar to services that have been available on SEIM consoles for a while. The really new piece of this is its availability anywhere — a theme that’s starting to play out for all of this morning’s keynote addresses.”

The Cisco SIO To Go iPhone app will be free when approved. And while we’re very excited about the first version, we’re even more excited about the additional functionality of the update which will be submitted shortly.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/4

UPDATE: The Cisco SIO To Go App is now available via iTunes. App Store Link

Over the past few months we’ve been laying the groundwork for what Zeek Interactive will become. We’ve had the chance to talk to a good number of people about what it takes to bring an online product or service to life and we’re confident our vision for our future is the right one.

Zeek has spent the vast majority of it’s fifteen years in business doing “work for hire” projects. We’ll continue to do that. We’re good at it. We’ve won awards and built some effective sites for some great companies. We’d want to do more.

We got our first glimpse of what our future might look like when we solved a problem for Ben Martin and created Twext.me. Ben saw a need, communicated that need and we created Twext.me to meet that need. It was a taste of what could be and we liked it.

But we never saw Twext.me as a “business.” We didn’t think people would pay for it and we still don’t. So, we don’t intend to attempt to monetize it in any way. If we do, Ben will participate in any monetary gain that may come from his idea, even though all he did was communicate a problem. He didn’t come up with the name, the designs, or the workflow. He never wrote a single line of code or even participated in the development process. But if we decide to try and make money, he deserves some compensation. That’s the way we see it.

The value of an idea.

Ben saw a problem we never saw. I was using Twitter every day, just like Ben, but he and I used it differently. So he was able to see a problem I couldn’t see. This is where the magic lies. People use products and services everyday in ways we might never use them. As a result, they are often the ones best equipped to understand what is missing. And it’s just as true that they may articulate a solution that they can’t create on their own.

That’s where Zeek Interactive comes in.

We want to bring your ideas to life. And we want you to share in the success when we do. We have two ideas in the planning stages now, both brought to us by people who might never have been able to see their idea come to life any other way. Do you have an idea you’d like to see come to life? Just send me an email to jeff at zeek dot com or call me at 661.244.5812. We may be able to help.

If you recieved a lot of mentions, the Twext.me updates would dominate your text message screen and require you to delete each one individually. This was annoying at best.

Many of the newest smart phones “thread”  SMS messages that come in under one SMS short code. But getting a short code for Twext.me would have been cost prohibitive. And since this is a free service… that wasn’t an option.

Enter TextMarks.com.

Yesterday we used the TextMarks.com api and can now offer a standard SMS option without going through email. This will allow smart phones to thread the Twext.me updates, like this:

All of the individual Twext.me updates will be shown under the single 41411 short code and can be easily cleared if needed. This method requires one additional step in the sign up process.

To take advantage of this option, you must send TWEXTME to 41411 to initiate your subscription. This gives us permission to send SMS to your phone. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to go.

Personally, I had switched from individual messages sent via SMS to a summary message being sent to me on Twitter via DM. With this new option, I have switched back to the individual SMS messages and it works like a charm. Of course, for this to remain free, we all have to put up with the advertising messages, but we think the threading ability is worth it.

Let us know your thoughts.

Twext.me demo from Ben Martin on Vimeo.

He asked if I knew how to create that kind of link and I said I did, but that it would take more than 140 characters to explain. So, he sent me the text he wanted and I created the link for him. You can see how he used it on the link to “@realhughjackman” near the end of Matt’s post about MFFO.

In making the link, it occurred to me that there should be an easy way for anyone to do this.

So, today I passed the objectives on to Steve, gave him some links to a couple of API’s, and he built a simple tool that allows you to quickly and easily create a status update URL for Twitter. How simple is it? In the form window on the page, just type in the message you want OTHERS to send via Twitter, then hit submit. We then generate a TinyURL link that you can use in blog posts, or simply include in a tweet or direct message. You can use it anywhere you can place a link.

If your reader is logged into Twitter, clicking on the TinyURL link will automatically place your words into their Twitter status update window. They can then review the message and hit send. It makes it easy for someone to help you spread your message and gives you more control over that message.

Shortly after we created the tool, I used it to try to get the attention of Hugh Jackman again. This time via a Facebook. As you can see in the image below, I placed this URL – http://tinyurl.com/cw7o5j - in my Facebook status window.

Because it was so simple to do – click on a link, hit send – the single status message created a slew of updates on Twitter. Each update contained the exact message we wanted delivered to Hugh. Real people sending a real message.

The easier it is for your readers to do something for you, the more likely they are to do it. Create a status update URL and your readers will be more likely to help you spread your message.

Would you like to give it a try? Click here to create your own status update URL for Twitter.

Derek suggested that we provide an option to only track true replies, instead of an static default to a universal mention. So, we’ve added that capability. This will be presented when you set up a new Twitter account or when you’re editing an existing Twitter account. Each Twitter account your tracking can be set differently. The default setting is for both “true replies” and “mentions” to be tracked. See below.

You’ll notice that there is also an option to have the alerts sent in “digest” form. This is an option I requested because I often have many mentions in a short period of time. The individual alerts was simply annoying. I have set my updates to come to me in digest form. A digest alert tells you how many mentions you received and who mentioned you. It will look something like this:

Finally, you can now “pause” you alerts with a simple direct message (DM) to Twextme. What was as annoying as the number of updates, was getting updates while I was sitting at my computer actively engaged with Twitter. So, to pause the alerts, simply send a DM to Twextme with the word “off.” Turn turn updates back on, send a DM to Twextme with the word “on.” (no quotation marks)

We have a few more changes coming tomorrow. Let us know your thoughts.

Ben Martin, the Zen Master of Association Social Networking, approached me a few weeks ago about a need he was filling with a mashup of several different online services. The need was simple. Ben wanted to be notified via SMS Text message anytime there was a mention of @bkmcae on Twitter. Since this is a seemingly logical function not supported on Twitter, I was surprised something like this didn’t exist in the wild. After some research, we determined there was really only one service similar, Tweettrak. The difference, Tweettrack sends your notice via direct message to your twitter account.

As a heavy user of Twitter, I know having mentions sent to me via direct message is not an optimal solution. I want my private direct messages to be distinct from my mentions. So, on Wednesday, April 15 we began to build Twext.me and two days later we have it up for testing.

I’ve had it running since this afternoon and I can already tell some major changes are going to be required to make this a service that heaver twitter users might find valueable. My phone was bombarded by text messages today. I did a quick look and in the last 24 hours, Ben has had 42 mentions on Twitter. In that same time period, I ( @respres ) have 90 mentions. I haven’t talked to Ben yet, but each mention coming in as an individual SMS Text was a bit overwhelming for me. So, right off the bat, we have a few changes to make.

Here are two things we’ll need to do pretty quick:

• A pause button. Twext.me needs a pause button or a way to schedule when you want the updates to occur. For example, I don’t want to get updates while I’m at my computer and able to engage directly with Twitter.
• A digest option. If 6 people retweet the same information, I don’t need six differnt text messages. Even if the information is different, I’m really only looking for an alert that indicates that I should go take a look.

I know the service will be a lot more valuable to me when those two items are incorporated into the site. Stay tuned. More to come.