The Case Study: Scope Management for HOLIS

   

After the requirements workshop, the HOLIS team was chartered with the responsibility of assessing the level of effort for each feature and coming up with a first draft of the v1.0 baseline. Rigorous scope management had to be applied because of the constraints on the team, including the "drop-dead" date of having a prototype available at the trade show in December and the (even tougher) date of a release to manufacturing in January. [3] The team estimated the level of effort for each feature via the high-medium-low heuristic and then added the risk assessment for each feature. Table 18-6 shows the full features list, with these estimates added.

[3] Although they were given manufacturing lead times, the team members decided that they actually had until the end of February for the final 1.0 software release. This was a crucial additional six weeks that the team was convinced it would need for final modifications, based on feedback from the trade show.

For the next step, the team provided rough estimates for each feature and developed a detailed project plan showing certain interdependencies and critical milestones. Also, after negotiation with marketing, which, in turn did some negotiating with Raquel (the international distributor), the team determined that, at release 1.0, it was adequate to internationalize only the CCU user interface, which reduced the scope of this feature immensely. The final internationalization of the optional PC Programmer interface software could wait until v2.0. This caused the team to change feature 25 from "internationalized user interface" to "internationalized CCU user interface" and to add a new feature, "internationalized PC Programmer interface," to the futures list.

Then, based on revised labor estimates, the team proposed the baseline as shown in Table 18-7. This baseline proposal was sent all the way to the executive team, where Emily, the vice president of Lumenations, made the final decision. Before doing so, however, she had the team walk her through the project plan so she could "see the dependencies." (The team was suspicious that she really wanted to see whether it had "done its homework" or if it was just "sandbagging" to get some slack in the schedule.) In the end, the decision was yes , but Emily's caveat was, "We accept this proposal for the 1.0 release of HOLIS, but you should be aware that the CEO told my boss, Jason, who told me, that 'thou shall not fail to release the product in January as you have committed.'" Emily commented further, "I'm not sure what he meant by that. I think he meant that if we fail, he's going to have me committed, but I don't ever want to find out. Do you?"

Hearing Emily's words very clearly, the team members committed themselves to the delivery date and proceeded with the next phase. The next milestone in the project plan was to be an elaboration iteration, which would include a rapid prototype of HOLIS that would be available for demonstration by August 1.

Table 18-6. Prioritized HOLIS Features List with Effort and Risk Estimates

ID

Feature

Votes

Effort

Risk

23

Custom lighting scenes

121

Med

Low

16

Automatic timing settings for lights and so on

107

Low

Low

4

Built-in security features: lights, alarms, and bells

105

Low

High

6

100 percent reliability

90

High

High

8

Easy-to-program, non-PC control unit

88

High

Med

1

Easy-to-program control stations

77

Med

Med

5

Vacation settings

77

Low

Med

13

Any light can be dimmed

74

Low

Low

9

Uses my own PC for programming

73

High

Med

14

Entertain feature

66

Low

Low

20

Close garage doors

66

Low

Low

19

Automatically turn on closet lights when door opened

55

Low

High

3

Interface to home security system

52

High

High

2

Easy to install

50

Med

Med

18

Turn on lights automatically when someone approaches a door

50

Med

Med

7

Instant lighting on/off

44

High

High

11

Can drive drapes, shades, pumps, and motors

44

Low

Low

15

Control lighting and so on via phone

44

High

High

10

Interfaces to home automation system

43

High

High

22

Gradual mode: slowly increase/decrease illumination

34

Med

Low

26

Master control stations

31

High

High

12

Easily expanded when remodeling

25

Med

Med

25

Internationalized user interface

24

Med

High

21

Interface to audio/video system

23

High

High

24

Restore after power fail

23

N/A

N/A

17

Controls HVAC

22

High

High

28

Voice activation

7

High

High

27

Web site “like user presentation

4

Med

Low

Table 18-7. Baseline for HOLIS v1.0 Features

ID

Feature

Votes

Effort

Risk

Marketing Comments

23

Custom lighting scenes

121

Med

Low

As flexible as possible

16

Automatic timing settings for lights and so on

107

Low

Low

As flexible as possible

4

Built-in security features: lights, alarms, and bells

105

Low

High

Marketing to do more research

6

100 percent reliability

90

High

High

Get as close to 100 percent as possible

8

Easy-to-program, non-PC control unit

88

High

Med

Provide dedicated controller

1

Easy-to-program control stations

77

Med

Med

As easy as feasible with measured effort

5

Vacation settings

77

Low

Med

 

13

Any light can be dimmed

74

Low

Low

 

9

Uses my own PC for programming

73

High

Med

Only one configuration supported in v1.0

25

Internationalized CCU user interface

24

Med

Med

Per agreement with European distributor

14

Entertain feature

66

Low

Low

(Not applicable , included in 23)

7

Instant lighting on/off

44

High

High

Make intelligent investments

v1.0 Mandatory Baseline: Everything above the line must be included or we will delay release.

20

Close garage doors

66

Low

Low

May be little impact on software

2

Easy to install

50

Med

Med

Level of effort basis

11

Can drive drapes, shades, pumps, and motors

44

Low

Low

May be little impact on software

22

Gradual mode: slowly increase/decrease illumination

34

Med

Low

Nice if we can get it

v1.0 Optional: Do as many of the preceding as you can. (Alyssa)

Future Features: Below this line, no current development.

29

Internationalized PC Programmer interface

N/A

High

Med

Will become mandatory for version 2.0

3

Interface to home security system

52

High

High

Can we at least provide a hardware interface? (Rick)

19

Automatically turn on closet lights when door opened

55

Low

High

 

19

Automatically turn on closet lights when door opened

55

Low

High

 

18

Turn on lights automatically when someone approaches a door

50

Med

Med

 

15

Control lighting and so on via phone

44

High

High

 

10

Interfaces to home automation system

43

High

High

 

26

Master control stations

31

High

High

 

12

Easily expanded when remodeling

25

Med

Med

 

21

Interface to audio/video system

23

High

High

 

24

Restore after power fail

23

N/A

N/A

 

17

Controls HVAC

22

High

High

 

28

Voice activation

7

High

High

 

27

Web site “like user presentation

4

Med

Low

 
   


Managing Software Requirements[c] A Use Case Approach
Managing Software Requirements[c] A Use Case Approach
ISBN: 032112247X
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 257

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