Effective Story Writing for Software Teams
Writing an effective user story in a consistent and clear way is one of the most important foundations of working on software engineering teams. This short guide will walk you…
Big Tech Won’t Save Us
A remembrance about the New York City tech scene of 2010, SFBeta in 2009, NY Tech Meetup, and a reflection on Big Tech today.
Same Time, Same Desk: Rails Conference and React Summit
Last week in a virtual chat room at the React Summit Kent C. Dodds was asked an interesting question: What does he think of Rails? “I hesitate sometimes with frameworks…
The WFHpocalpyse Part 3: Remote Work One Year Later
Remote work was here to stay, or was it? In 2020 we explored how it was work remotely, but the shift is probably short lived in corporate America, where "face-time"…
The How and Why of End-to-End Testing
Tested codebases are the most signficiant development from Rails and Agile over the last 15 years. End-to-end testing, in particular, is the defining reason why Agile and Rails have been…
A “Free Hand” At the Bagel Shop (and, On Software Project Estimation)
Software development, like a bagel shop, has several queues encountering different wait states. Ideally, an efficient scrum reduces muda and muri (waste). Task switching is your enemy.
The One About the Chickens and The Pigs (aka What Stand-up Is and What Stand-up Isn’t)
The one about the chickens and the pigs is an old part of scrum folklore. It is outdated and sexist. Its lesson however is still relevant.
The WFHpocalypse Part 2: Thoughts on On-Site Work
Years ago I was conversing with a friend in the field— a UX developer who worked at large Ruby consulting firm. It was the early teens, that is, 2010s, and…
The WFHpocalypse Part 1: Thoughts on Remote Work
Since the global quarantine working-from-home, or remote work, seems to be everything anyone can talk about. About 15 years ago when I started my career, software engineers were a rare,…
Working from WeWork During a Pandemic
I sit here as the World Health Organization declared last night a global pandemic due to COVID-19, and all everyone can seem to think or talk about is how scary…