The (in)valid use cases

There are valid use cases and then there is the overkill. As a product manager, you must be aware of when you are crossing the line. If not, you are made aware. If you have handled the  difficult developer (now come on guys, don't you all go nodding on me), you will be able to appreciate the  supposedly overdone use cases or their close cousins some product managers are likely to have heard in their lifetime:

1. The ECG machine will not monitor heart rates below 20 beats per minute. The performance deterioration far outweighs the  probability of the use case.

2. Air traffic controllers will be able to monitor only up to 20 flights an hour. This is not Heathrow!

3. Bank balances will be stored only till the hundredth decimal place. Who really cares about the chump change?

4. Pages of the eBook will not be reproduced in exact order. What is this? Six sigma? Its a book, for Christ sakes!

5. There  will be no search feature for this fledgling e-commerce site. What is this? Amazon?

I empathise with the developers. If you let us product managers dictate all the requirements, no system would ever work. Let those who do the 'real work' decide. They know their stuff.

The possum syndrome

Have you had the pleasure of meeting Ellie, the mammoth, on the big screen? Or even the little screen? Or even your mobile device? Well, to put it delicately, she has quite a presence. She owns Ice Age 2 with her brothers, the possums. She is the most lovable, fun, mammoth to make a cinematic appearance.

There is something about Ellie that you should know. When she was a little child, she was separated from her herd and was adopted by a possum who had two little possum children of her own. She has a happy childhood growing up among the possums. But, every silver lining has a cloud. And, this happy upbringing caused a slight misunderstanding in little Ellie’s head. Ellie believes she is a possum. She even hangs upside down from trees like her possum brothers. Or at least, she attempts to.

Let me give you some perspective on why this might be construed as a slight problem.

This is Ellie:

 This is Ellie with her possum brothers:

As you can see, the family resemblance isn’t exactly striking. Now, there is no need to come down hard on poor little Ellie. It is inevitable for such confusion to arise. Why, I see it every day on the Mumbai roads! Giant trucks seem to have it. Buses have it. Even auto rickshaws seem to be equally confused! Really, it's a ridiculously common phenomenon.

This is what they are:

          Image courtesy of nitinut at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is what they think they are:

     Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There must be a reason these slightly larger vehicles do what they do. There must be a reason they think they can weave in and out of traffic in seconds. There must be a reason they think they can fit into that lane that exists to the left of the left most lane. There must be a reason they think they can benefit by prodding you ahead by a few inches with their not so subtle horns.

All those in the medical profession can thank me for an enlightened diagnosis.

The real reason the vehicles do what they do is because they have ‘the possum syndrome’. They think they are a motorbike.

Vroom Vroom….