A Day in the Life of a Software Developer

By Kaustubh Mhatre

Users First

User Stories are the User's Stories, and the first and most essential step in knowing HOW to write great user stories is to know WHO the user is and WHAT they want. Then comes finding out WHY the user needs the product you're supposed to develop. When you've done your digging and discovered the WHO and WHY, it's time to organize-design-plan the WHEN.

User Personas

When you figure out WHO a person is and WHAT they want, you automatically generate a mental image of them, which extends to characteristics, habits and motives. You end up creating a persona. This persona might not be the exact image, but it accurately connects the dots and provides you the info you need. By developing personas you can experiment with creating the perfect user story.

Refine through Backlog Grooming

No organization exists that doesn't face blockers while developing products, and especially when you're innovating to create something novel. As a greenfield product development team, we come across dependencies and obstacles that lead to backlogs. Hence after every sprint it becomes necessary to refine user stories through what we call backlog grooming. Here we assess the backlogs from the last sprint, and discuss how many need to be carried to the next sprint, require alternate approaches or need to be discarded.

Keep it Simple : Follow the Format

I have Mid-Day reviews with my Lead to provide updates on the tasks. This way we stay in the loop with each other. We also discuss blockers, if there are any, and this is usually a 5-10 min long Zoom call. The Lead or Senior Developers are usually available to assist throughout the day. But by scheduling a mid-day review, we noticed we were saving time and making communication more organized post-lockdown.

Ready when they are Clear, Feasible and Testable

Me and the other developer end the day with a team meeting with the Product Owner, Tech Experts, Lead Architect and Project Managers. This is my favorite part of the day because I interact with a full-fledged Global Product Dev Team. Including Architects and Managers from around the world, and they have decades of experience working for leading tech giants. The primary purpose of this interaction is a review of the direction the development life-cycle is headed towards. We have a quick review of the Task Priority Schedule, and the status. Then there's a weekly demo where my team displays the functionality we were working on. I like how free and easy everyone here is, with sole emphasis on your work. Nobody holds reservations against your age or role, in-fact I was praised by a Project Manager for the quality I brought despite being a fresher!

Acceptance Criteria, User Flows, Visual Design to complete

Me and the other developer end the day with a team meeting with the Product Owner, Tech Experts, Lead Architect and Project Managers. This is my favorite part of the day because I interact with a full-fledged Global Product Dev Team. Including Architects and Managers from around the world, and they have decades of experience working for leading tech giants. The primary purpose of this interaction is a review of the direction the development life-cycle is headed towards. We have a quick review of the Task Priority Schedule, and the status. Then there's a weekly demo where my team displays the functionality we were working on. I like how free and easy everyone here is, with sole emphasis on your work. Nobody holds reservations against your age or role, in-fact I was praised by a Project Manager for the quality I brought despite being a fresher!

By Kaustubh Mhatre

Users First

User Stories are the User's Stories, and the first and most essential step in knowing HOW to write great user stories is to know WHO the user is and WHAT they want. Then comes finding out WHY the user needs the product you're supposed to develop. When you've done your digging and discovered the WHO and WHY, it's time to organize-design-plan the WHEN.

User Personas

When you figure out WHO a person is and WHAT they want, you automatically generate a mental image of them, which extends to characteristics, habits and motives. You end up creating a persona. This persona might not be the exact image, but it accurately connects the dots and provides you the info you need. By developing personas you can experiment with creating the perfect user story.

Refine through Backlog Grooming

No organization exists that doesn't face blockers while developing products, and especially when you're innovating to create something novel. As a greenfield product development team, we come across dependencies and obstacles that lead to backlogs. Hence after every sprint it becomes necessary to refine user stories through what we call backlog grooming. Here we assess the backlogs from the last sprint, and discuss how many need to be carried to the next sprint, require alternate approaches or need to be discarded.

Keep it Simple : Follow the Format

I have Mid-Day reviews with my Lead to provide updates on the tasks. This way we stay in the loop with each other. We also discuss blockers, if there are any, and this is usually a 5-10 min long Zoom call. The Lead or Senior Developers are usually available to assist throughout the day. But by scheduling a mid-day review, we noticed we were saving time and making communication more organized post-lockdown.

Ready when they are Clear, Feasible and Testable

Me and the other developer end the day with a team meeting with the Product Owner, Tech Experts, Lead Architect and Project Managers. This is my favorite part of the day because I interact with a full-fledged Global Product Dev Team. Including Architects and Managers from around the world, and they have decades of experience working for leading tech giants. The primary purpose of this interaction is a review of the direction the development life-cycle is headed towards. We have a quick review of the Task Priority Schedule, and the status. Then there's a weekly demo where my team displays the functionality we were working on. I like how free and easy everyone here is, with sole emphasis on your work. Nobody holds reservations against your age or role, in-fact I was praised by a Project Manager for the quality I brought despite being a fresher!

Acceptance Criteria, User Flows, Visual Design to complete

Me and the other developer end the day with a team meeting with the Product Owner, Tech Experts, Lead Architect and Project Managers. This is my favorite part of the day because I interact with a full-fledged Global Product Dev Team. Including Architects and Managers from around the world, and they have decades of experience working for leading tech giants. The primary purpose of this interaction is a review of the direction the development life-cycle is headed towards. We have a quick review of the Task Priority Schedule, and the status. Then there's a weekly demo where my team displays the functionality we were working on. I like how free and easy everyone here is, with sole emphasis on your work. Nobody holds reservations against your age or role, in-fact I was praised by a Project Manager for the quality I brought despite being a fresher!

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Welcome to WonderBiz where we develop industry 4.0 Solutions for Global Leaders to multiply their Operating Profit. Multinational Organizations automate their DevOps with our Software Products.