Laptop Screen Size a Requirement?

Some of you may protest that I'm going too far with keeping requirements solution-free, but . . . .

The internal monitor on my laptop computer stopped working, so I've been using an external monitor at 1024 x 768 resolution. I am used to 1600 x 1200 resolution. I noticed how much it affected my productivity and my overall frustration level.

The realistic solution to my problem is probably to get my original screen fixed or buy another laptop with a high resolution screen. But what's the underlying problem? And what's the requirement?

I would argue that the requirement is not to get a screen with a certain resolution. Indeed, if I could have a much smaller laptop and not suffer from any of the resulting inconveniences, I'd be even happier.

The problems are the increased frustration and lower productivity. So the requirements should include a set of ease-of-use constraints on usage of the computer. It just so happens that getting a laptop with a high-resolution screen is probably the most practical way to satisfy that requirement.

Comments

Dancer Test

Are you left-brained or right-brained? Supposedly, your brain lateralization determines how you view this animation. Some people see her rotating clockwise. Others see her rotating counter-clockwise. Some see her unpredictably changing the direction of her rotation. Supposedly, people who see clockwise rotation are right brained. People who see counter-clockwise rotation are left brained. I originally came across this animation here .

Why Spreadsheets Suck for Prioritizing

The Goal As a company executive, you want confidence that your product team (which includes all the people, from all departments, responsible for product success) has a sound basis for deciding which items are on the product roadmap. You also want confidence the team is prioritizing the items in a smart way. What Should We Prioritize? The items the team prioritizes could be features, user stories, epics, market problems, themes, or experiments. Melissa Perri makes an excellent case for a " problem roadmap ", and, in general, I recommend focusing on the latter types of items. However, the topic of what types of items you should prioritize - and in what situations - is interesting and important but beyond the scope of this blog entry. A Sad but Familiar Story If there is significant controversy about priorities, then almost inevitably, a product manager or other member of the team decides to put together The Spreadsheet. I've done it. Some of the mos...

5 Ways Companies Make Product Decisions

In the last blog entry, we reviewed the four problems that companies face, or are trying to overcome, as they make product decisions . Now we'll look at the ways that most companies make their product decisions. Companies that develop, market, and sell products and solutions make strategic and ongoing tactical decisions. They decide what features to include in their products, what messages they will use to communicate the value of their products, what marketing tactics they will use, what prospective customers they will target, and many day-to-day choices. Whether or not these decisions are deliberate or ad hoc, most companies use some combination of the following ways of making product decisions. (A downloadable "map" that summarizes the product decision landscape is included at the end of this article.) Customer Wants Product decisions based on feature requests, focus groups, and what prospects and customers say they want. Companies are selling products to ...

Cauvin

Search This Blog