Translating Business Requirements into Technical Requirements

A quick post to provide a link a presentation I delivered at the WLCP US conference in 2020.  The presentation started off with a short story on the origins of the Michelin Star rating system  as I first heard on the Under the Influence radio show on CBC hosted by Terry O’Reilly.  Michelin was looking for a way to encourage consumers to to drive more and wear down their tires.  Providing worthy destinations seemed to be the key.

The presentation then encourages technical people to step back from problems and resist the temptation to immediately dive in with technical solutions.  Instead, the fist question should be WHY?  Why are you doing this this?  Why are you trying to solve this problem?  Why does this need exist?

Answering the question of “why” opens a path to broader and more appropriate solutions to the true requirement.  Examples of different perspectives are offered:

“People don’t buy ¾-inch drill bits. They buy ¾-inch holes.”

“AccelTex not in the antenna business, it’s in the aesthetics business.”

“People don’t buy site survey software. They buy immersive RF experiences.”

Here is a link to my presentation on Youtube as part of all the presentations recorded during the WLPC conference and available to viewing at no cost.

More information about the WLPC conference can be found at https://wlanprofessionals.com.

On a final note, if you can only attend one #WiFi conference in a year, this is the conference to attend.  Imagine a conference with 300+ of your closest Wi-Fi friends, all there to talk tech and celebrate their passions (lego, coffee, trivia, yoga, cycling, running, etc).  All presentations are technical, if there is too much marketing fluff, the gongshow bell is used.

Slàinte!