Requirements FTW

Yesterday I was helping out at the University of Cape Town with a business case lecture for their 2nd year Information Systems programme, as part of their partnership with Saratoga.

The lecture opens with an ice-breaker exercise where I simply ask the students to design me a new toaster, as mine has given up the ghost.

They have 5 minutes.

And during this time, they were bustling with ideas as to what the toaster should do and look like — and many unique, crazy and tech-savvy designs were pitched to me at the end.

Toaster design courtesy of Keira Wilson

But sadly none of them met my needs.

Because nobody asked me for my requirements or any constraints I have, in order to design me my brand new toaster.

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