Jamal’s Musings – Dangerous Words To Avoid in Project Documentation

Dangerous Words

What To Do About Them?

Examples

“Acceptable”, “adequate”, "satisfactory", "suitable"

Define acceptability and how the product and stakeholders can decide what is acceptable and what is not

Before: House of adequate size

After: House area shall be between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet

“Efficient”, "capable", "economical", "ecologically aware", "helpful"

Explain how efficiently the product performs operations or how easy it is to use

Before: Efficient engine

After: Engine with a mileage of at least 100 km per liter

“Fast”, “rapid”, "swift", "speedy"

Specify minimum, maximum and desired speed

Before: Fast car

After: A car that is capable of speed of at least 350 km/hour

“Flexible”, "agile", "easily adaptable", "variable"

What specifically should the product do in response to specific changes in the environment or business objectives

Before: Flexible payments system

After: A payments system that is capable of accommodating both pre-paid and post-paid customers

“Improved”, “better”, “faster”, “superior”, "enhanced", "better-quality"

Quantify how much faster constitutes adequate improvement

Before: Improved equipment

After: Equipment capable of producing 1000 gadgets per hour (instead of 200 gadgets per hour)

“Maximize”, “minimize”, “optimize”, "capitalize on"

Provide maximum and minimum acceptable parameters for each value. You can also provide desired range too

Before: The new spell-check software shall minimize the number of errors

After: The new spell-check software shall detect at least 97% of spelling errors

“Seamless”, “transparent”, “graceful”, "faultless", "flawless", "perfect"

Translate into observable product characteristics

Before: Seamless integration of System A with System B

After: No more than 0.5% of transactions shall be misplaced after the integration of System A with System B

“Several”, "few", "a number of"

How many? Provide a specific number or maximum and minimum acceptable parameters for each value

Before: The stadium shall have several entrances

After: The stadium shall have twelve entrances

“State-of-the-art”, "hi-tech", "modern", "sustainable"

Define what this means

Before: The state-of-the-art library shall be built at the university

After: The new university library shall have collection space, electronic workstation space, multimedia workstation space, viewing rooms and listening rooms, user seating space, staff work space, meeting space, auditorium or larger lecture space and special use space

“Sufficient”, "ample", "satisfactory"

How much is sufficient?

Before: Sufficient number of user accounts shall be created

After: The user accounts shall be created for all employees of the accounting and finance departments

“Support”, “enable”, "sustain", "facilitate"

Define exactly what functions would constitute support or enabling

Before: The new call center shall facilitate the customer care program

After: The new call center shall be able to process X number of calls per day

“User-friendly”, “simple”, “easy”, "comprehensible", "idiot-proof"

Translate into observable product characteristics

Before: The website shall be user-friendly

After: The website design shall conform to the current company GUI standards guide