Team Communication Through Code

Slide 1

Slide 1 text

with Rachel Ober Team Communication Through Code

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

No content

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

3 It’s not as simple as just TALKING to one another…

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

4 • Verbally • Facial expressions & body cues • Written language • Experiential learning • …and more How do people communicate with each other every day?

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

5 Let’s chat about COMMUNICATION TOOLS

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

Rachel Ober Sr. Front End Developer • Started August 2012 • Lives in Brooklyn • Plays Pokémon • Owns a Corgi 6

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

7 • A case study in how a small start-up transitions through growing stages • Techniques for dealing with interdisciplinary teams • New ways to think about collaborating with your teammates • Documenting your knowledge in different, but easily distributed formats Key take-aways

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

No content

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

Start-up growing pains

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

No content

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

How does your garden grow?

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

No content

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

The hypothesis

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

17 We can learn how to COMMUNICATE in each other’s language

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

No content

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

No content

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

No content

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

22 • Solve problems • Work independently • Have idea they want to work on • Make money • Creative outlet • etc. Why do (I think) people get into development?

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

No content

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

No content

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

No content

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

Fences and waterfalls

Slide 27

Slide 27 text

27 Before Content UX/IA Design Back End Ship QA Front End

Slide 28

Slide 28 text

No content

Slide 29

Slide 29 text

Slide 30

Slide 30 text

No content

Slide 31

Slide 31 text

31 • Pair programing • Design in browser • Mob programming Solution

Slide 32

Slide 32 text

No content

Slide 33

Slide 33 text

33 • Front End developers pair with a Designer 2x/week • Designer communicates designs • Front Ender mocks up possibilities with Designer Execution

Slide 34

Slide 34 text

34 • Designers have deeper insight into development • Developers understand the Designer’s intention • Can quickly determine if something is going to “work” or not Eﬀects

Slide 35

Slide 35 text

35 Unexpected side-eﬀects

Slide 36

Slide 36 text

36 • It doesn’t always make sense to pair all the time • Dedicated Designer and Front Ender on each feature team who collaborate • Grab the right people and work in a conference room How it’s changed

Slide 37

Slide 37 text

37 • Before meeting, pick the topic you are going to explore • Sometimes a session can be exploratory, sometimes set an expectation of what you want to accomplish • Set time limit • Come prepared • This can be applied to any type of pairing session (Developer/ Developer, Designer/Developer, Designer/Designer) Tips & tricks

Slide 38

Slide 38 text

38 • Take breaks • Discuss the meaning behind the design so that the developer understands • Discuss technical limitations to a possible design • Show how things change in the browser in real-time • Grab a conference room • Mix disciplines! (UX/Design/Developer) Tips & tricks

Slide 39

Slide 39 text

Putting things in stone

Slide 40

Slide 40 text

40 Take the time to write out your STYLE GUIDES

Slide 41

Slide 41 text

41 • How ﬁles should be set up • TABS or SPACES • Best practices • Variables naming • …and more Code styles guides

Slide 42

Slide 42 text

42 • Code review can concentrate on more architecture changes • A contract that developers make • Write in a way that everyone should be able to understand Why a coding style guide?

Slide 43

Slide 43 text

43 • Take a look at other companies’ coding style guides • Work with your team members to determine what your own best practices are • Write it down in your company’s intranet or in a Gist file on GitHub • What you do code reviews point to the style guide first if the developer should take care of those low hanging fruit first Execution

Slide 44

Slide 44 text

No content

Slide 45

Slide 45 text

45 “Remember to use color variables…” Side eﬀects “Alphabetical order please!” “We have a mixin for that…” “Can you name this better?”

Slide 46

Slide 46 text

Slide 47

Slide 47 text

47 TECHNICAL DEBT

Slide 48

Slide 48 text

Naming things

Slide 49

Slide 49 text

49 Naming things is HARD

Slide 50

Slide 50 text

50 Greige

Slide 51

Slide 51 text

No content

Slide 52

Slide 52 text

No content

Slide 53

Slide 53 text

CSSWizardry.com

Slide 54

Slide 54 text

54 “That’s ugly looking…”

Slide 55

Slide 55 text

No content

Slide 56

Slide 56 text

56 • Holistic design • Individual teams but ownership of key features • Come up with a system that works for your team • Communicate this system to other teams so they can use it too! Solution

Slide 57

Slide 57 text

The pattern guide

Slide 58

Slide 58 text

58 Visual way to show basic BUILDING BLOCKS of the site

Slide 59

Slide 59 text

59 A pattern guide is a CONTRACT between members of a team

Slide 60

Slide 60 text

No content

Slide 61

Slide 61 text

61 • Accessible to anyone in the company • Made up of visual, usable components • Neatly organized • Includes code and documentation on how to use it • Includes Designer notes and considerations • An example of what appears on the site A good pattern guide is…

Slide 62

Slide 62 text

62 Sample

Slide 63

Slide 63 text

Ownership

Slide 64

Slide 64 text

No content

Slide 65

Slide 65 text

65 Find project CHAMPIONS to lead an eﬀort

Slide 66

Slide 66 text

No content

Slide 67

Slide 67 text

67 Everyone should share KNOWLEDGE

Slide 68

Slide 68 text

Peer training

Slide 69

Slide 69 text

No content

Slide 70

Slide 70 text

70 Pick people who can LEARN

Slide 71

Slide 71 text

71 • Know what they don’t know • Wants to make themselves better • Listen to what the job entails and gets excited • Want to learn from others Interesting interviewees

Slide 72

Slide 72 text

72 EXPOSE them to every part of the company

Slide 73

Slide 73 text

73 Pair people with MENTORS

Slide 74

Slide 74 text

74 What you’re asking me to do is change company culture

Slide 75

Slide 75 text

75 • Pair with someone • Mentor a new employee who is within your discipline • Offer small tweaks to your development cycle • Get Excited!!!! Small changes