I handed in a design document for the next release of the (big, secret, fancy) project I’m working on. The boss wanted to know why there were no “cute pictures”, meaning Visio flowcharts. The answer was simply that based on the previous release’s documentation, we know that the documentation will change so wildly that there’s no way to provide a complete product before the dev cycle has even begun.

So next he asks for screenshots. Screenshots of what? We haven’t begun the development cycle yet, so there’s nothing to take a screenshot of! What do you want, an artist’s conception?

So next he asks for screenshots from the demo we mocked up in our free time. The screenshots should include arrows pointing to everything that will change. The demo included three basic functions and took about 16 man-hours to complete; and we’re supposed to turn that into a two-month cycle in half an hour?

More to the point, when you create something in your spare time on your own equipment, you own it. The company can have it, pending further funding; However, the requirements specify nothing about making it look all pretty and shiny. They should be happy we aren’t requiring local installs for something that looks half a step below WPF.

So the boss wants flowcharts and screenshots of something that doesn’t exist and whose plans will change wildly over the next two months. If anyone out there has a technology that can take screenshots and see through time, please let me know.