Business Management Book Store > Business Management books beginning with S
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The Software Requirements Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide to Help Software And Business Teams Develop And Manage Requirements (Memory Jogger) |
Author: Ellen Gottesdiener
Published: 2005-11-30 |
List price: $17.95
Our price: $12.21
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As of: January 07th, 2009 10:56:55 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Great books to help BAs
I found both of Ellen's books to be very valuable, not only as study guides and 'memory joggers' but also in my everyday work place. They are both valuable tools no BA can afford to be without!
This is an impressive little book
I'm a consultant for requirements and training and also teach a university extension program on the subject and this is a great book that describes the process from a-z. It uses a variety of sources and has selected what is a good best practices list. It also has some good examples and diagrams.
The organization takes a little getting used to, mostly because there is a lot of information in a small package. I wish there also was a better linkage between the material and the references so I could go directly to the source for more info. Other than that, this is one of the better books to have on your shelf as an overall requirements reference.
Great Content
I have read several books on requirements; And I must say this one is exceptional in content and delivery.Thanks Ellen keep doing your stuff.
 Excellent content, deeply flawed concept
I bought this because I have and like Gottesdiner's "Requirements by Collaboration." The idea of the "Memory Jogger" was very appealing. That is, my requirement was to have quick access to the essential requirements of the requirements process that I could use as a content and quality sanity check throughout the development project life cycle.
What "Memory Jogger" delivered was a good basic text on the requirements process presented in a virtually unusable format.
The rationale behind the "pocket-sized" format is beyond me. This will not fit into my pocket. I'm already carrying a laptop, a project binder (or two) and probably a flip chart; one more reasonably-sized book isn't going to make much difference in what I'm lugging around. Indeed, its size, shape, and weight guarantee that the "Memory Jogger" will either constantly slip from the stack I'm carrying around or get buried under the stacks on my desk.
The more serious problem with the format is that the type is too small. In attempting to fold a reasonably complete text on requirements into the inappropriate format, the publisher has reduced point size as well as cramped character spacing. In some sections the spacing between words has been reduced to the extent that the text is virtually unreadable.
An additional issue with the small page format is that most sentences are wrapped around multiple lines - one example that I'm looking at right now runs to five lines, making it hard to read and comprehend. Multi-column tables are obviously even worse. Let me emphasize that this is not because the content is verbose or poorly written; it's because of the constraints of the format.
The reviewer who was looking for flip charts or fold-outs is on the right track. I would also suggest that a more extensive use of color would have been useful, say by tipping the pages of each section in a different color. This would be a nice, fast visual indicator - one could flip quickly to the green section or the purple section as one needed.
 Good reference material
This is good reference material. I am a Sr. BA with BCBSA. I have been referencing this guide for helpful tips and methods to elicit requirements. It is a good compliment and addition to the library but do not rely on it to get you through if you do not have experience as a BA.
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