Sprint planning is like grocery shopping on an empty stomach

Aside 19/05/2014 Simone Rescio Leave a comment

A sprint planning with unclear acceptance criteria is like doing your shopping while starving. You will put in the cart more than you can actually handle.

Sprint planning under pressure works the same way: when acceptance criteria are vague, the urge to "commit" for the sprint pushes you to take on more than the team can deliver. That is a human reaction, not a failure of discipline.

What helps is to name the risk before you fill the backlog: a minimal set of acceptance criteria, time-boxed spikes for unknowns, and a deliberate cut to scope. That keeps planning useful instead of turning it into an impossible promise.

Pearls of wisdom

A user interface is like a joke

Quote 19/05/2014 Simone Rescio Leave a comment

A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.

— Martin LeBlanc

I keep coming back to this line when sketching flows and reviewing UI: if people need a tour to “get” the screen, the copy and layout probably failed before anyone reads the help. The joke only lands when the interface is obvious—no punchline required.

WebTech

How Browsers Work: Behind the scenes of modern web browsers

18/05/2014 Simone Rescio Leave a comment

Italian translation of Tali Garsiel’s guide to how browsers work (WebKit, Gecko, rendering); the full Italian version is on this site.

CSS

4px ghost space with CSS display inline-block

07/05/2014 Simone Rescio Leave a comment

I know why you’re here, I’ve gone through this as well. Like me you created a container box with dynamic height, 100%, and inside it you want some columns that reside near each other, occupying the same height of their parent, 100% them too. TL;DR: the gap comes from inline/line-box metrics; tame it with font-size: … Continue reading 4px ghost space with CSS display inline-block →

PhoneGap

Android Holo font icons

06/05/2014 Simone Rescio Leave a comment

The aspect that I appreciate the most about developing hybrid apps with PhoneGap in respect to all the different native languages is the possibility to reuse resources, not only knowledges. Developing an Android native app requires a big effort to create and manage the iconographic elements that compose the UI. The most complex aspect is … Continue reading Android Holo font icons →

PhoneGap

HelloSplash, Phonegap Android SplashScreen

04/05/2014 Simone Rescio 7 Comments

Like for the first encounter between two strangers, a critical aspect for a mobile app when it meets our new users, whether we like to admit it or not, is the first impression. The splash screen is the very first thing our users got to judge our app the very first time they launch it, … Continue reading HelloSplash, Phonegap Android SplashScreen →