Developers, Think Out of the Box

It’s a lesson which most developers find it hard to learn. But you will come to know and believe now or later that this is what ultimately matters. Its good that some of my colleagues and acquaintances helped me open my eyes so that I could see the world beyond the code.

It's a dream of every developer to thrill the world by the application he makes. He gets the kicks when his application receives accolades. He feels at the top of the world when he comes to know how his application has saved his users from hours of monotonous work ……resulting in greater productivity and savings for the organization.

You may be thinking, why I am writing all these. During recent days, I got a few opportunities to interact with the stakeholder of our project. I had always wondered why on earth, will it be necessary for a developer to interact with the customer. I always thought "There are Analysts to bring the application requirements. Then only my job starts. I have to code and deliver the application. As simple as that. No Questions asked. :). Then Should I bother to negotiate the requirements."

Later I realized that the session with user was a blessing in disguise for me. It can help you understand few things very clearly. First of all, You will understand why users were asking for the application. Every case study and User Story will convey a message loudly "How difficult their life would have been without the application". Secondly, You will come to know how the application is being used by the customers. It will help you map the requirement to the end product. Third, You might also notice a lot of manual work still done by the user to get his work done. This is your opportunity to improve on the requirement, decrease the manual done work done and thrill the customer.

This had changed my whole perspective towards my work. It has put life into otherwise dull and monotonous job of a developer. Now I don't see tables as combination of rows and columns, I view it as an important source of information. I don't judge an application by complexity of its code, but by the value it provides to the users.

Try to look beyond the code. Believe me, the new world which you will see, will exhilarate you. You will feel an euphoria like never before. You will understand how your application is being used by your Customers. Knowing the final product will in turn help you build a better solution. It will empower you with knowledge which you can use to suggest improvements over requirements. It will help you gain so called business knowledge and analytical skills

In most cases, we developers never ask questions on requirement. We feel a sense of obligation to do what we are told as requirement. We should understand there is final seal on requirement, it always goes through an evolving phase. There are cases where the initial requirement is pretty complex, yet the solution can be achieved in a much simpler way. Sometimes even a simpler and better proposed solution can go a long way in making the life of a user simpler beyond his imagination.

So, whenever we get such an opportunity, lets utilize it and take some wise and critical decisions. It won't be intimidating to say that we are the people who know the complete landscape of the application, little to little intricacies of the tool. So who can be a better person to draw the last line on requirements. ….Yes, It’s the Developer.

So think out of the box. Think beyond the code. Understand, Improve and negotiate the requirements and thrill the customer !!!