On project management

What is the most important phase of a software development project? Some people might say planning, others might think it’s QA. Probably nobody will say actually doing it (aka development), as that would be too boring.

I think all these answers are wrong. In my opinion, the most important phase of a software development project is… coming up with a name for the project. My experience indicates that a good name can increase developers’ fun (and consequently productivity) by 30-70%. A great name can lead to up to 100% increase in fun and productivity. These numbers are not very scientific, but they are very real.

Consider difference in motivation when one works on a project named RLASI (which might stand for Reduced Latency Algorithm for Sending Information) and another works on project Milton (in honor of Milton Waddams, a guy with red stapler, from Office Space). Milton is actually one of my most beloved project names and it was an actual project, which I worked on in the past.

If you are starting something new, consider spending some time to find a great name for it - remember that it is 50% of the project’s success!

Categories: fun |