Validated Learning Quarter

Business Inquiry Quarter (hereinafter, the Quarter) is the first of four lectures of Operations Quadrivium (hereinafter, the Quadrivium):

• The Quarter is designed to introduce its learners to enterprise discovery, or, in other words, to concepts related to obtaining data needed to administer the enterprise effort; and
• The Quadrivium examines concepts of administering various types of enterprises known as enterprise administration as a whole.

The Quadrivium is the first of seven modules of Septem Artes Administrativi, which is a course designed to introduce its learners to general concepts in business administration, management, and organizational behavior.

Outline

The predecessor lecture is Project Management Quarter.

Concepts

1. Enterprise discovery. All activities resulted in obtaining of any data relevant to further effort development undertaken in order to achieve the effort goal or goals.
2. Negotiation. A process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree on the exchange rate for them.
   • Fixed pie. The belief that there is only a set amount of goods and services to be divided up between the parties.
   • Distributive bargaining. Negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources; a win-lose situation.
   • BATNA. The best alternative to a negotiated agreement; the least the individual should accept.
   • Integrative bargaining. Negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a win-win solution.
   • Zero-sum approach. An approach that treats the reward "pie" as fixed, such as that any gains by one individual are at the expense of another.
   • Trade-off. Losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect.

• Workspace.
• Workplace.
• "Boiled frog" phenomenon. A perspective on recognizing performance declines that suggests watching out for subtly declining situations.
• ISO 9000. A series of international quality management standards that set uniform guidelines for processes to entire products conform to customer requirements.
• Experiment

1. Wireframe. A rough guide for the layout of a website or app, either done with pen and paper or with wireframing software.
   • Wireframe. A representation of the virtual framework of a website. Wireframes allow people to easily arrange elements to optimize ease of use.
2. Prototype. A partial or preliminary conceptual model of a deliverable to be developed; this model is used as a reference, publicity artifact, or data-gathering tool.
   • Prototype. A rough guide for the layout of a website or app, giving an indication of the direction that the product is heading.
   • Low-fidelity prototype. A quick and easy translation of high-level design concepts into tangible and testable artefacts, giving an indication of the direction that the product is heading.
   • Paper prototype. A rough, often hand-sketched, drawing of a user interface, used in a usability test to gather feedback. Participants point to locations on the page that they would click, and screens are manually presented to the user based on the interactions they indicate.
   • Paper prototype. A type of usability testing where a user performs realistic tasks by interacting with a manual, early-stage version of the interface that is often manipulated by an individual who is upholding the illusion of computer interactivity. During this process, the details of how the interface is supposed to be used are withheld from the user.
   • Throw-away prototype. A prototype used to quickly uncover and clarify interface requirements using simple tools, sometimes just paper and pencil. Usually discarded when the final system has been developed.
   • Exploratory prototype. A prototype developed to explore or verify requirements.
   • Evolutionary prototype. A prototype that is continuously modified and updated in response to feedback from users.
   • Horizontal prototype. A prototype that shows a shallow, and possibly wide, view of the system's functionality, but which does not generally support any actual use or interaction.
   • Vertical prototype. A prototype that dives into the details of the interface, functionality, or both.
   • High-fidelity prototype. A prototype which is quite close to the final product, with lots of detail and a good indication of the final proposed aesthetics and functionality.
3. Mockup. A model of a design, device, or product. A mockup is considered to be a prototype if it possesses any degree of functionality and enables testing of a design.

• Change control board (CCB). A small group of stakeholders who will make decisions regarding the disposition and treatment of changing requirements.

Roles

1. Tester. A stakeholder responsible for assessing the quality of, and identifying defects in, a software application.

Methods

1. Solicitation.
   • Request for information (RFI). A requirements document issued to solicit vendor input on a proposed process or product. An RFI is used when the issuing organization seeks to compare different alternatives or is uncertain regarding the available options
   • Request for proposal (RFP). A requirements document issued when an organization is seeking a formal proposal from vendors. An RFP typically requires that the proposals be submitted following a specific process and using sealed bids which will be evaluated against a formal evaluation methodology.
   • Request for quote (RFQ). An informal solicitation of proposals from vendors.
2. Testing. The data-gathering technique that is based on taking measures to check the performance and/or reliability of somebody, especially before making agreements, or something, especially before putting it into widespread use or practice.
   • Black box test. A test written without regard to how the software is implemented. These tests show only what the expected input and outputs will be.
   • User acceptance test. Test cases that users employ to judge whether the delivered system is acceptable. Each acceptance test describes a set of system inputs and expected results.
   • Usability test. A user sits in front of your website or app and you have them perform tasks and think out loud while doing so.
   • Contextual inquiry. Interviewing users in the location that they use the website or app, in order to understand their tasks and challenges.
   • Diary study. Asking users to record their experiences and thoughts about a product or task in a journal over a set period of time.
   • Unit testing. A short program fragment written for testing and verifying a piece of code once it is completed. A piece of code either passes or fails the unit test. The unit test (or a group of tests, known as a test suite) is the first level of testing a software development product.
   • User research. Observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies which are used to focus on understanding user behaviors, needs, and motivations.
   • Alpha test. Controlled internal testing of a pre-production model, intended to detect design flaws or functionality deficiencies.
   • Beta test. External pilot-test after Alpha testing is complete and prior to commercial production. In beta testing, the product is released to a limited number of customers for testing under normal, everyday conditions in order to detect any flaws. (see 10 Experiments To Test Your Startup Hypothesis)
3. Inspection. A formal type of peer review that utilizes a predefined and documented process, specific participant roles, and the capture of defect and process metrics. See also structured walkthrough.
   • Inspection. The data-gathering technique that is based on careful examination of something in order to either learn about its features or check whether its features confirm its specifications.
4. Fail-fast. The process of starting work on a task or project, obtaining immediate feedback, and then determining whether to continue working on that task or take a different approach—that is, adapt. If a project is not working, it is best to determine that early on in the process rather than waiting until too much money and time has invested.
5. Dogfooding. A company showing confidence in their own product by using it themselves. Derived from the expression “eating your own dog food.”

Instruments

• Fibonacci sequence. Originally derived in the 12th century by Leonardo Pisano, the Fibonacci Sequence is a mathematical sequence in which each subsequent number is determined by the sum of the two previous numbers, that is: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21… Each interval becomes larger as the numbers increase. The sequence is often used for Story Points, simply because estimates are always less accurate when dealing with epic stories.

1. Prototyping tool.
   • Axure. A wireframing and interactive prototyping tool, available for both Windows and Mac.
   • Balsamiq Mockups. A wireframing and interactive prototyping tool, available for both Windows and Mac.

Results

1. Probe finding.

Practices

The successor lecture is Controlling Quarter.