Here are some learning points acquired from this reading:
Although “the end” is the final destination, it must be defined at the beginning of the project – the project objectives must be identified and their implications understood at the outset. They define the roadmap that leads to the end.
Project objectives are such an important aspect of managing and developing a project, that we always take for granted. Many times we will be so engrossed in our project that we can get side-tracked and lose sight of our original objectives, especially when there are a lot of options for development and execution. Its always important to remind oneself to revisit these objectives at the pitstops of the project, to ensure that the project is still on track, both conceptually and physically.
Planning large projects is like eating a whale. The trick is to divide the project into manageable bites or pieces – called tasks – and then chew them in the correct order.
With objectives comes planning the execution. Interactive works do require quite a lot of planning and breaking down, especially since we always visualise the final work as a whole before analyzing the software and hardware required for it to work. The fish-bone diagram actually looks confusing, but the concept behind it is understandable. I do feel overwhelmed at times when thinking of the end product and the overwhelming amount of work that needs to be done to achieve that, thus hindering the priorities of what needs to be done first to kickstart the execution. Thus, breaking this “whale” down into its bite-sized pieces helps to ease the workflow into my system and create better efficiency.
What, When, Who and How Much?
This question was being asked in relation to how the project is going to be executed in a team. But I relate these questions more to the context of my project. So What is my project? When will it be held? Where will it be held? Who is viewing my work? and How Much is the cost? Budgeting cost and managing the finance side of a project is mentioned in chapter 2 of the reading, but the other questions are something that I have to think about in relation to the execution of my work. How can I better enhance user experience in my work (if I want any) and how can this be achieved with the current skillset/ software that I have with me?
These pointers definitely reminded me of the simpler but very important concepts that I need to remind myself when I embark on my FYP.