Chained Together Requirements: Avoid Common Problems and stay on track

So, the other day I was wrestling with this project, right? And the thing was, I had all these requirements, but they weren’t just separate little tasks. Nope, they were all linked together, like a chain. One thing had to be done before the next, and so on. It was kinda like those domino setups – mess up one, and the whole thing falls apart.

Figuring Out the Mess

First, I grabbed a big whiteboard and a marker. I needed to see this thing visually. I started listing out each requirement, one by one. Then, I drew arrows showing which one depended on which. It looked like a crazy spiderweb at first, but it helped me get my head around the order of things.

Chained Together Requirements: Avoid Common Problems and stay on track

Breaking It Down

Next, I took each of those requirements and broke them down into smaller, bite-sized pieces. I mean, “Implement feature X” is kinda vague, right? So I made a list of mini-tasks under each one. Stuff like “Design the database table,” “Write the API endpoint,” “Test the endpoint,” you get the idea.

Design database
Code backend logic
Test backend
Design frontend UI
Code frontend
End to End test

I just listed all my sub-tasks under the main requirement.

Putting It in Order

Now came the fun part – putting it all in order. I used those arrows on my whiteboard to guide me. I numbered each mini-task based on its place in the chain. So, task 1.1 had to be done before task 1.2, which had to be done before 2.1, and so on. You see the logic? I created the executing plan step by step.

Getting It Done

With my plan all laid out, I just started tackling those tasks, one by one. It was actually pretty satisfying, checking them off as I went. And because I had that order all figured out, I didn’t have to jump around or waste time figuring out what to do next.

The Result

In the end, I managed to get the whole thing done, and it all worked! It was a good feeling, knowing I’d taken this tangled mess of requirements and turned it into something manageable. Plus, I learned a cool new trick for dealing with these kinds of projects in the future. The whiteboard trick is a keeper, for sure!