The software company fires up its custom-built software application on the laptop sitting in the middle of the conference table.  Colleagues play with the application as it runs through its paces; flashes of color, content display, functions, features, bells and whistles. It is truly a magnificent thing to behold or, is it smoke, mirrors, bubble gum, spit and duct tape?

Your company purchases the custom-built software application; it was sold as “Thee Silver Bullet” that forever makes production easier and faster.  Completed, the software is deployed throughout the company - employees are receptive as final glitches in operation are eliminated. Simultaneously, employees begin to encounter difficulties with the custom-built application, and productivity drops off.  Suddenly, all the software’s warts, blemishes, winkles and pimples start to appear. Management reacts - calls the software company to do a quick cosmetic fixes and face-lifts to return the application to its former beauty.  These fixes and improvements go on for months but the software is getting uglier, production dismally slower and productivity dreadful.

The ubiquitous personal computer is fact of the corporate officescape and omnipresent applications govern work life supporting the profit backbone.  We are well aware of developmental costs, production disruptions, training, money, time, energy, upgrade and maintenance efforts that go into keeping those custom-built software applications in production, functionally current and competitive.  Having had numerous opportunities to witness different types of custom-built software applications in production chose the service, help desk and call center applications.  This model could pertain to any custom-built software applications and was chosen because it epitomes the most interesting in complexity, time driven, metric sensitive, monitor laden, database warehoused, high user interactive operational curve, client intensive access, service level demanding, and knowledge content management application currently in production.

Back to the question, how does one know if their custom-built software applications are costing too much to own and operate?  The question can be answered in the subsequent manner; compare your existing application alignments with the following standards: 

1. The application encumbers the user to follow an exact procedure.

2. The application as it appears on the monitor should not be too complex as to not be intuitive in operation to an untrained user.  That is, an untrained user should be at least get the application to function in the most minimal level.

3. User training for even the most complex and knowledge content intensive application should not exceed three 8 - hour working day sessions

4. The knowledge content portion of the application should not be dependent on the memory of the user to find the appropriate information.

5. The process is embedded and inculcated in the operation of the application.

6. The application should lead the user to the correct action to provide service.

7. No function will be hidden and total functional operation of the application should be readily apparent to the user at each stage of the process.

8. No more than 6 functions should appear on the monitor at any step in the process.  9. At each step of application operation the user if desired, must be allowed to retreat back to the previous step in the process.

10. The knowledge content portion should be decision driven by the application and not by the user.

11. Specific linguistics standards should be established for the user and application.

12. No abbreviations or acronyms will appear in the application as all words, terms, and titles will be completely spelled out on the monitor or documentation. 

How do you hire a software company to develop the custom built application?  First, it is not all about great Software Development Methodologies or having a company full of the best gurus and geeks.  Consider those as the experts who implement Software Development Methodologies that make the software function correctly.  Second, here it what it takes to build productive applications; the company you hire should have the following characteristics:

1. Have business, marketing or scientific research experience to ask the right questions to get accurate user information.

2. Be highly skills at communicating the versatility of the programming language to the user.

3. Have time, motion, and methods, ergonomic, and human factors and perceptual analysis experience to observe and evaluate the user’s activities as they relate to software use and requirements.

4. The company should not have an arrogant attitude; that is, among some software engineering persons a belief that no one outside of their discipline can contribute much to the software development process.

5. Does not promote society’s myth; “The personal computer and programming are both difficult to learn and mysterious.”

Lastly, the most important responsibility is yours; it is for you to conduct a pre-selection audit of the potential software development company’s employees, expertise, software philosophies, practices, and Software Development Methodologies…and there after during the project audit, audit, audit, audit…

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Please contact:

bryanralexander@productivityexcellence.com