I see the world not as yes/no or true/false, but as levels of grey.  This can create a problem.  So if I am asked to make a decision, invariable I structure my answer with a passive phrase rather than a unequivocal answer.

The other day my boss asked me "Does this chip need a pull up resistor".  We were designing a new PCB.  I answered "It's not necessary for us to put one there, but I would like to see one anyway so the chip resets in a known state."  The problem here is not that I am being too wordy.  Its that he is not getting the yes/no answer he is seeking.  I am trying to be too smart.  I am trying to give him my answer so HE CAN WEIGH the electrical consequences of putting or not putting the pull up resistor against other consequences and word my answer to communicate this.  I am not thinking that he might NOT want to weigh the difficulty of making the change against the electrical consequences of not making it.

My boss did not have the time to decode and think about my answer.

Sometime the user, or person you are communicating with, wants you to make the decision for him.  In those cases you present a single option rather than a range of answers.

Examples of when you might want to communicate a single option:

• When the user needs to make an important decision, very quickly.
• When the decision you present is insignificant to the person and a range of options is a nuisance.
• When a range of options is too difficult for the person to comprehend, or the basis for your decision is unknown by the user.
• When you don't want the user to know about other options, or your leading the user.

When I am troubleshooting new PCB's I have a unique technique for finding shorts on PCB's.  I actually have to hand the credit for this technique to a business partner, Dr. Ed Kafrissen.  He came up with a few non-traditional ways of doing business, and this is one of them.

So let me set up a scenario for you, and then show you Ed's solution.  Suppose you have a client and you need to deliver 100 PCB's to him/her quickly.  You have someone stuff the boards for you, now you have to verify they work.  One of the first tests we would do is to apply power to the new PCB and bring the voltage up slowly.  If the power supplies load down, then you got a problem to solve.  You got a short on the PCB.

Ed came up with unique solution.  We had this old humongous power supply lying around that was capable of suppling 30v at up to 5 amperes.  This technique only works if the power supply, like ours, has an adjustment to limit the voltage and current.  We would set the voltage to necessary voltage and the current all the way down.  Ed would then hook up the PCB, which immediately loaded down the current limited supply.  He would turn up the current on the supply and feel on the PCB for a hot spot!  Invariably some IC would be stuffed in backwards that our visual inspection did not find, or we would get a PCB which was not completely etched.  In those days we got horrendous PCB's.

Anyway, that was Ed's solution to quickly find shorts on a PCB.  And it worked well as long as you were careful enough to not burn yourself!  Yeow!

I would like to offer a concrete example of simplifying the programming of a product.  Years ago I was privileged to be given the opportunity to realize the programming and design of a home automation controller.  This was the DHC Toscana home automation controller, still being manufactured by Leviton Mfg. Co..  When we first sat down with management, marketing, sales and all the other interested entities at that company I was literally buried in the number of features on this product.  One of the other senior engineers and software guru's there, Dr. Michael Ostrovsky, helped me along and gave me a simple suggestion that cut my project in half!

To understand his suggestion I have to give you a brief technical description of the product.  As you can see from the picture the device has a number of buttons and user interface elements to control lights, fan's, switches and other electrical devices you might find in a home.  It also has a communications interface where it can receive remote commands from other interfaces devices in the home to control the same electrical devices.  Therefore, an engineer might think he had two intertwined overlapping tasks to accomplish.  First would be to control the electrical devices from the unit's front panel and transmit that command to other keypads in the home.  The second task to control those same electrical devices from the commands received over the communications interface.  The contention that could develop from controlling the same devices from several inputs is a classical problem.  Mike suggested a better way.  Mike was old school, Mike was from Russia.  He knew how not to do the same task twice.

 He suggested I split my project into two simpler tasks.  The first was react to one of the front panel switches being pressed and to transmit the appropriate command indicating this on the communications interface.  The second, separate task, was to receive a command over the communications interface and to turn on the light, fan, device or what not.  To complete this scenario I had to let the device receive its' own commands, the one it just sent out!  This way I only had to debug two separate smaller paths, that were more or less independent.

Recently I have been thinking about the projects I have been involved with and what helped them become sucessful.   I think I finally have something to report to you here in my laboratory notes as to MY 1 best secret to sucessful software.

My first thought was to look at the details of programming languages and techniques.  I then thought about on a higher level how the architecture of the software was more important.  Then I figured that even more important than architecture was the project management.  I think I finally have a root cause to successful projects.  Keep the project 'simple.'  Now that word is a relative term.  The exact nature of  'simplifying a project' depends on the skill of the software team.  Second, it does not follow that a simple project produces a simple product.  Read On. 

I have  developed a basis for this claim that this is the 1 most important ingredient to a successful project.  As the number of  requirements in a project grow, the software complexity grows exponentially (albeit this is a simplistic view) as the following chart shows.

The trick is then to define the project in simple terms yet design a dynamite product.  What I want you to think about is where you want to focus your effort:  Eliminating elements from the X axis of the chart above or troubleshooting program paths on the Y axis.

About 2 years ago I did some shopping for a Bluetooth car speaker phone.  I hit upon what I considered the most perfect speaker phone, the Nokia HF-6W.  It cost me over $120, but it was worth it (while it lasted).  It had a powerful 6w speaker and several microphones that tracked the sound source.  It worked great as well.

About a year ago it died.  I assumed it was a 'normal' failure.  I returned the unit to Nokia returns and they sent me a new unit.  This second one failed in the same manner.  Further, after doing a search on the internet I found other people are experiencing the same failure of the Nokia HF-6W and here.  Nokia's warrenty only covers the unit for one year.  This is a design flaw.  Nokia should admit it and do right by their customers.

The way the HF-6W speaker phone fails it that no sound comes from the speaker.  The speaker is dead.  Second, the unit will not reset itself.  When the power button and volume up buttons are pressed simultaneously while the device is off, the unit is suppose to revert to its default state.  The green and red LED's are suppose to blink as well.  I cannot seem to get it to reset.  The unit seems to work otherwise, bluetooth connects, etc. 

Now my wifes unit, unit #3, failed the same way.  Have you stumbled upon my post and are having the same problem?

[UPDATE 02/04/08]
Nokia replaced my HF-6w with their HF-33.  It has a much smaller speaker and no built in retractable phone charger.  The retail price is about 1/2 that of the HF-6w.  I am accepting this replacement under the condition that it simply WORK.