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Featured Articles:

Building Myself a Kayak: Some Lessons for Requirements and Software Engineering (Part I)

During the summer of 2009, I decided to build myself a skin on frame kayak1. Being a complete kayaking fanatic, I wanted to learn more about the history of the kayak and to understand how design decisions impact a kayak’s behaviour on the water. What better way to do this than to go through the process of building a traditional Inuit kayak for myself? Having absolutely no practical skills, it was clear that I was going to have to learn to do this in a workshop setting under the watchful eye of a master kayak builder.

With my master kayak builder located, along with a very appealing workshop location (a waterfront boathouse on the island of Vinalhaven in Maine), I received a list of required tools. Given that I was clueless about woodworking tools, this was obviously going to be an interesting shopping experience for me. What is a Japanese pull saw exactly? What is a spokeshave used for? Does it matter if I get a plane that is not low angle? I was probably the first person to request photos of all tools. After having borrowed everything possible from friends, and having raided almost every hardware store in New York City, I finally packed up my bag of tools and headed off to coastal Maine....

By Olly Gotel - Click to read the full article!

Chaos is Bunk (allegedly)

Sometimes those queasy feelings of something not being at all right are entirely justified. Only, you don’t find out until years afterwards. According to J. Laurenz Eveleens and Chris Verhoef writing in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of IEEE Software, the much-quoted Chaos reports are seriously (for which read fatally) flawed.

Back in 1994, Standish created a sensation by claiming that only a “shocking” 16% of projects were successful, 53% were “challenged”, and an astounding 31% failed outright.

Further, Standish presented a small table of figures which purported to demonstrate beyond doubt that the overwhelming reasons for project failure were down to poor project management, and in particular to lack of proper attention to requirements.

The figures arrived at just the right moment for would-be vendors of Requirements Management tools to set out their wares. They quoted Standish to “prove” that SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE to improve requirements, and that something was their tool. It was far too convenient to question. ...

By Ian Alexander - Click to read the full article!

Latest RESG News:

- A Special RE Day in Paris! Organised by Agusti Canals (CS, President of the Complex Systems Committee of SEE) at the LIP6 on the 16th March. Details and Registration. -- 24th February 2009

- Places available on the RESG Goals Day! This is a major event aimed at providing requirements engineers and business analysts with vital expertise. The one-day event combines a tutorial on the essentials of goal modelling with a seminar of talks on how to use goals from leading experts in industry and research. Read more and sign up here! -- 26th January 2009

- Win a book! A copy of Tom Gilb’s book ‘Competitive Engineering’ will be awarded for the best contribution to RQ54 - Click here to contribute -- 24th January 2009

Forthcoming RESG Events

The RESG Goals Day
Wednesday 24th March 2010 - University of Westminster
Click here for details.

Postgraduate Workshop
Spring 2010 - Imperial College London
Click here for details.

Other Forthercoming Events

Mastering Business Analysis (IRMUK)
26-27 April 2010 - London
Click here for details

A Special RE Day in Paris
16 March 2010 - Paris
Click here for details

Mastering the Requirements Process (IRMUK)
13-15 September 2010 - London
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