CPSC 330 Spring 2007 Project 3 Due by class time on Friday, April 27 In teams of up to four members, write a 12-page paper that addresses the seven following areas and questions within the areas. Each area should be formatted as a separate section of the paper with a section header. The questions within the areas below should not be repeated verbatim in your paper but instead integrally woven into the text of that section. You may assign different areas to individual team members, but each section should be edited by multiple people. At least one team member should edit the complete document to provide for continuity of style and for a smooth flow of reading (that is, avoid a patchwork result). Ideally, each section should be written after the team meets and discusses that section with full participation on the part of all team members. If a team member is unwilling to participate at a reasonable level, the team may meet with me to explain the situation and with my permission may then fire the slack individual. Depending on the circumstances, the individual may be given an F for the project or may be given another opportunity to satisfy the requirements on his or her own (perhaps requiring an incomplete for the course grade). I encourage teams to assign reasonable internal deadlines such that not everything is left to the last minute. I will have no qualms in assigning a low grade (parhaps even an F) to an obviously last-minute 12-page rush job. Teams are welcome to discuss questions and answers with other teams. However, each team is responsible for writing its own original paper. 1. Project Management - The ultimate principles of great project management are listed on p. xii as * Acquire the best minds. * Organize them so that each of them operates within their comfort zones. * Protect them from the forces of mediocrity. * Help them to take calculated risks. * Motivate them to tie up loose ends. Were these principles evident in the DG Eagle project? Explain. - Identify and explain the four major phases of a project, according to Colwell. (pp. 7-8) - Identify dates for (or events that mark) the concept, refinement, and realization phases for the DG Eagle project. - Why should a "crunch phase" be limited to six months? (pp. 110-111) - How long was the Eagle project's crunch phase? 2. Recruiting - Describe the Intel recruitment process. Why did they need a "strcpy test"? (pp. 138-139) - What qualities did Colwell identify as typical in a "fast tracker"? (pp. 139-140, see also Colwell's self-description on p. 167) - Describe the recruitment process for the DG Eagle. Conpare and/or contrast to the Intel process. 3. Promising and Delivering - Should you overpromise or overdeliver? What is Colwell's advice? (p. 29) - Colwell applies this choice to performance goals. Does a similar choice apply to predicting schedules for software projects? Explain. - Did Tom West choose to overpromise or overdeliver on the DG Eagle project? (Does your answer depend on his target audience? Does your answer depend on whether it was regarding performance or schedule? Explain.) 4. Design Bugs - What are the differences between the following terms? * bug sighting * anomaly * confirmed bug - Explain why late changes are typically more error prone. (p. 67) - Explain the three reasons Colwell cites why you might choose not to fix a bug. (see the footnote on p. 120) - Why is debugging a microprocessor in the 1990s harder than debugging a superminicomputer in 1980? 5. Design Culture - What was the purpose of the question: "What constitutes success for this project?" (p. 13) - Consider the quote: "Foster a design culture that encourages an emotional attachment by the designer to the product they are designing (not just their part of the product). But engineers must also be able to emotionally distance themselves from their work when it is in the project's best interests." (p. 72) Explain what this means and how it should affect a design review. How can a design review become an emotional minefield? (p. 75) - Did Tom West foster within the DG Eagle team the emotional attachment-but- ability-to-distance that Colwell recommends? Explain. 6. Rewards - What motivates a team to go "above and beyond"? (pp. 99-100) - Compare Colwell's approach to the Tom West quote: "No one ever pats anyone on the back around here. That's how it works." 7. Competing Influences - For at least two Intel P6 project decisions described in the Colwell book, (a) identify the two or more competing influences, (b) describe how they were nearly always mutually exclusive, and (c) discuss how Bob Colwell handled it. - For at least one DG Eagle project decisions described in the Kidder book, (a) identify the two or more competing influences, (b) describe how they were nearly always mutually exclusive, and (c) discuss how Tom West (or other DG manager) handled it.