A fellow UE came across an age old question (paraphrased here) the other day: 'how many wireframes can you do in a day, I need an estimate for the project'. You can image what happened: the estimate was considered to be too high prompting the following response (again paraphrased): 'even I can do x number of wireframes in a day'.
I promised myself not to get involved in such inane arguments again, but here I am at a cafe early morning, getting ready for a meeting... I just couldn't resist. So I suggested the following exercise for our dear 'I can do this' friend:
- Estimate how long it would take to draw a map of let's say Covent Garden in London. Would it take 10’, 15’, half an hour? I guess 10’ - 15 ‘ would be enough.
- Draw it
- Then ask yourself a few questions such as: Can a tourist use the map to find her way around? Can she use it to locate other interesting landmarks like the British Museum, which is nearby? Can the land registry use it to create an official map? Can the Covent Garden Market manager use it to know which stall is where and who to charge? ... well, you get my drift. I guess the answer to most if not all the questions would be be something like: ‘nice drawing but a bit of a useless map’
- Then estimate how long it would take to draw a map that answers those questions: a day, two, a week? You will need to talk to tourists, understand their needs, check other similar maps, visit the area, measure things, etc, etc. etc.
The point?
Of course anyone can draw boxes in Visio, well, you do not even need a beige box or a fancy Mac; just pencil and paper would do. However, this is not what we are talking about, at least I hope it is not.
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