Presentation: Martin Fowler and Dan North Talk Over the Yawning Crevasse of Doom

In this presentation filmed during QCon London 2007, Martin Fowler and Dan North talk about the communication gap existing between the developers and the customers or users. Closing this gap is extremely important in order to create successful software.

Watch:  Martin Fowler and Dan North Talk Over the Yawning Crevasse of Doom (1 hour)

Usually, those who request a software to be built and those who actually build it belong to two different worlds, using different jargons and having different ways of approaching software. That creates a crevasse in communication between the two sides which can doom a project. Martin gives an example of such a gap by quoting a study which says that a significant part of the features delivered for a system were never used. Some members of the development team built features never used because they did not clearly understood what was requested from them.

How can we close a gap? Martin and Dan offer two options:

1. Ferry. A ferry could go between the two sides of the gap in order to connect them. Such an example would be an analyst which would constantly make the trip between the business people and the development team, and would "translate" the communication between the two.
2. Bridge. A bridge between the sides would directly close the communication gap, offering a much larger bandwidth and a strong connection. Anyone would use a bridge rather than a ferry over a crevasse.

Martin and Dan favor the bridge, and they show why using it is helpful for the success of the project. They also talk about the tools to be used. Some of the examples are:

• Conversations can inspire new ideas, new requirements.
• Motivation is an essential part of the process. Bad communication will undermine motivation.
• Ubiquitous language helps bridge the gap between the business people and the developers by giving them a common language which helps them understand each other.
• DSL allows business people to read through code and understand what is going on, so they can spot misinterpreted requirements.
• Feedback plays an important role in communication. The gates should be kept opened so feedback comes in.