If you are looking for help with a new project you are about to embark on, or need some advice on the best way to move an existing project forward, I can help.
With over 25 years experience of delivering projects and building web and mobile applications, I can work with you and your team to help you achieve your goals.
In essence, I can:
- Be the Product Owner of your mobile or web-based technology products, and their road-maps
- Launch new products and services
- Work alongside project managers, designers and developers to create and enhance your products
- Work with stakeholders, customers and marketers to identify features and requirements
- Own and manage the product backlog - recording, prioritising and tracking feature requests
- Act as the primary user to understand how the product works and create and maintain epics and high-level user stories
- Give opinion and listen to others
- Ensure your development teams understand what is needed
I have:
- Strong business analysis and requirements gathering/management skills
- Product lifecycle management
- Experience of Agile product ownership and backlog management
- Over 25 years experience of working in a software development environment
- UX/UI skills - I know what a good user interface looks like and how it should behave
- A strong understanding of mobile apps and the app market place
- A wide-ranging understanding of technology trends and markets
Mobile or Web
I have worked on web-based delivery mechanisms for over 15 years and I have over 7 years experience in mobile application development. I have been able to combine both disciplines and have built a number of apps from scratch for a number of major, household names. These utilised the power of mobile devices whilst ensuring optimum performance - even with little or no connectivity.
I understand the difference between a "web-app" and a "native app", and can help you identify the pros and cons of each approach for your specific circumstances. You don't always need a native app - but in a lot of situations, you also generally can't just offer your users a "mobile-friendly" web site.
Gathering User Requirements
I am able to liaise with users at all levels within an organisation and I'm able to quickly identify their needs and, just as importantly, manage their expectations. Once user "stories" have been identified, I can document them in an unambiguous manner to help your development team clearly understand the requirements.
Defining the User Journey
Most requirements for a product interrelate in lots of different ways and can have a number of consequences to other parts of the system. These consequences need to be fully understood and communicated effectively with both your users and your developers long before any code is actually written.
Users tend only to be interested in the inputs and outputs, so I prefer to define requirements with "wire-frame" diagrams which show the screens and dialogs that a user will interact with. These allow me to visually show the effects of a user's interaction with the product and is an ideal way to communicate exactly what needs to be created. It also allows me to show each screen the user will see whilst interacting with the application, enabling the most effective "user journeys" to be thought through well in advance of implementation.
Scrum Master
Being a qualified Scrum Master (Scrum Alliance #424604) means that I can step directly into a scrum team to facilitate and help them to consistently achieve their agreed deliverables.
Product Owner
I am a certified Product Owner (Scrum Alliance #424604).
Throughout my career, I have worked on many projects where different stakeholders have had conflicting requirements and priorities. I regularly liaise with each stakeholder to identify a coherent, overall, roadmap that delivers the required functionality in the most cost-effective manner.
Having worked as a Product Owner, I am also able to liaise with your development teams to communicate the reasoning behind the priorities and identify the costs involved. I can then help to plan and manage the workloads for each sprint to ensure the timely delivery of these requirements.
Developer
I can do all the above because I've been a developer myself, and I still enjoy coding. I fully understand the development process and can liaise with your development team whilst understanding their requirements just as much as those of your users or clients.
