Low Tech Approaches to Requirements - Part 3

For those who missed Parts 1 and 2, see the following previous posts:

• Part 1: Different Techniques on using non-tech tools for requirements gathering
• Part 2: Using existing tech tools in simpler ways to speed up requirements gathering.

One of my staff sent me this image today and I thought it was a great example of how to use low-tech approaches to conversations. He simply took a screen shot of a screen, threw it into MS Paint and then started making changes with the developer beside him.

Between them in 5-10 minutes they had a "language" for what the marks on the screen mean:

• Red lines through something mean to get rid of it
• A box with text means to insert a new column
• A line on a checkbox means that on checking it something will happen
• etc.

So instead of using UML, fancy wireframes, or some bureacractic documentation process, try simply taking a screen capture and throwing it into Paint!