Matt Fletcher on Atomic Spin

How to Run the Unifi Controller via LinuxServer.io’s Docker Image

How I set my system up to run the Unifi controller software via the LinuxServer.io Unifi controller image on a Docker host in my basement.

Project & Team Management

Three Levels of Software Project Closeout Documentation

Everyone wants more project documentation, but nobody wants to write it. Make the most of your time by only creating the documentation you really need.

Project & Team Management

Include the Why in Your Story Title

The Why of a story is more important than the What. To prioritize a story, people need to understand why they're supposed to build it in the first place.

Project & Team Management

Adding Blockers to Your Backlog? Always Include a Specific Next Step

Do your blockers explain what needs to happen next? Or who's responsible for it? Or when it's due? If you want them to get done reliably, they'd better.

Project & Team Management

Four DOs and DON’Ts for Software Systems Integrations

Systems integrations are hard. Following these do's and don'ts will go a long way in de-risking the project, minimizing surprises, and finding success.

Technical Practices

Code Reviews Are a Mistake – Try Pair Programming

Formal code reviews lead to confusion and wasted time. Pair programming, on the other hand, has regular, effective code reviews built into its framework.

Project & Team Management

What Do Clients Need from Consultants? Options and a Recommendation

A good consultant identifies a problem and helps resolve it. A great consultant listens and identifies options, but ultimately yields decision making power.

Project & Team Management

Writing Agile Stories, Part 4 – Decision-Making Guidelines

Decision making is an art, not a science. Here are some guidelines I apply when deciding how to slice-and-dice stories in a backlog.

Project & Team Management

Writing Agile Stories, Part 3 – Setting Good Story Goals

Describing expected behavior in a story is a baseline. Make your stories even better by writing a story goal that describes the purpose of the feature.

Project & Team Management

Writing Agile Stories, Part 2 – Making Stories Small & Meaningful

Agile stories should focus on outputs, empowering the dev team to implement behaviors as they see fit. Keep them small and free of arbitrary distinctions.

Project & Team Management

Writing Agile Stories, Part 1 – Breaking a UI into a Set of Features/Stories

Ready to build your agile backlog? Start with the user interface. By breaking your UI into features, you end up with a manageable list of bite-sized tasks.

Planning Your Project

There’s No Such Thing as a “Massive MVP.” Build Releases Instead!

The best way to solve an overwhelming problem is to break it into smaller pieces. So let's build software in incremental releases.

Matt Fletcher

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