The processes and techniques used at RedBubble

1. BUILDING A SITE FOR
PEOPLE WITH BIG
IMAGINATIONS
RedBubble

2. Mark Mansour
Software Developer
Head of Technology at RedBubble
Agile and Iterative development proponent

3. Who are you?

4. How hard can it be to build
a web app?
Did not have a shippable product
Code was over engineered
Features were over specified
Too much administration

5. Web App Development
what makes web app dev hard?

6. Web App Development
not sure
what makes web app dev hard?

7. Web App Development
not sure
can’t say
what makes web app dev hard?

8. Web App Development
not sure
can’t say
details evolve
what makes web app dev hard?

9. Web App Development
not sure
can’t say
details evolve
complex details
what makes web app dev hard?

10. Web App Development
not sure
can’t say
details evolve
complex details
change direction
what makes web app dev hard?

11. New Product Development
not sure
can’t say
details evolve
complex details
change direction

12. What is the best way to
build a new product?

13. 1. Good People
communicate
provide solutions
respectful
can learn
managers getting out of the way
org encourages gtd and gtr

15. 1. Good People
communicate
provide solutions
respectful
can learn
managers getting out of the way
org encourages gtd and gtr

16. 2. Good Tools

17. 2. Good Tools
Communication

18. 2. Good Tools
Communication
Development

19. 2. Good Tools
Communication
Development
Testing

20. 2. Good Tools
Communication
Development
Testing
Management

21. Communication Tools
Campfire and IRC are real-time group collab tools
Wikis
IM is just a must

22. Communication Tools

23. Development Tools
Version Control System - Subversion - UNDO + many programmers
Automation tools - rake, shell scripts, make, ant, Capistrano - reduce chances of things
going wrong
Database Refactoring - Rails migrations, LiquidBase

24. Development Tools
Version Control System
Version Control System - Subversion - UNDO + many programmers
Automation tools - rake, shell scripts, make, ant, Capistrano - reduce chances of things
going wrong
Database Refactoring - Rails migrations, LiquidBase

25. Development Tools
Version Control System
Automation tools
Version Control System - Subversion - UNDO + many programmers
Automation tools - rake, shell scripts, make, ant, Capistrano - reduce chances of things
going wrong
Database Refactoring - Rails migrations, LiquidBase

26. Development Tools
Version Control System
Automation tools
Database Refactoring
Version Control System - Subversion - UNDO + many programmers
Automation tools - rake, shell scripts, make, ant, Capistrano - reduce chances of things
going wrong
Database Refactoring - Rails migrations, LiquidBase

27. Testing Tools
Always in maintenance mode
tests automate the vefication process
tests make you brave (to change your code)
Tests must pass before checking in
save embarrasement

28. Testing Tools
Unit testing
Always in maintenance mode
tests automate the vefication process
tests make you brave (to change your code)
Tests must pass before checking in
save embarrasement

29. Testing Tools
Unit testing
Functional testing
Always in maintenance mode
tests automate the vefication process
tests make you brave (to change your code)
Tests must pass before checking in
save embarrasement

30. Testing Tools
Unit testing
Functional testing
Continuous Integration
Always in maintenance mode
tests automate the vefication process
tests make you brave (to change your code)
Tests must pass before checking in
save embarrasement

31. Management Tools

32. Management Tools
What
Issues - Bugs and new features
Planning

33. Management Tools
What
Issues - Bugs and new features
Planning
How
JIRA, Trac, Spreadsheet

34. Management - Story Board
What is a story?

35. What is a story?
Features, fixes or nonfunctional requirements
As an <actor> <action>
i.e. As a User I can view my account balance
i.e. As an Administrator I can delete a user
Not over specified
Estimated (1 hours -> 16 hours @ RB, but 1-21 days at other places)

36. What is a story?
Features, fixes or nonfunctional requirements
As an <actor> <action>
i.e. As a User I can view my account balance
i.e. As an Administrator I can delete a user
Not over specified
Estimated (1 hours -> 16 hours @ RB, but 1-21 days at other places)

37. What is a story?
Features, fixes or nonfunctional requirements
As an <actor> <action>
i.e. As a User I can view my account balance
i.e. As an Administrator I can delete a user
Not over specified
Estimated (1 hours -> 16 hours @ RB, but 1-21 days at other places)

38. What is a story?
Features, fixes or nonfunctional requirements
As an <actor> <action>
i.e. As a User I can view my account balance
i.e. As an Administrator I can delete a user
Not over specified
Estimated (1 hours -> 16 hours @ RB, but 1-21 days at other places)

39. What is a story?
Features, fixes or nonfunctional requirements
As an <actor> <action>
i.e. As a User I can view my account balance
i.e. As an Administrator I can delete a user
Not over specified
Estimated (1 hours -> 16 hours @ RB, but 1-21 days at other places)

40. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

41. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

42. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

43. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

44. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

45. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

46. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

47. Management - Story Board
Story Board - what we are doing this week
•
Purpose: it is a communication tool - not just for the team but for anyone who is
interested.
•
It does not have all the details - see issue tracker or talk to customer
•
3 columns - todo, doing, done
•
all items start in todo and are order, in priority, from top to bottom
•
when someone picks a story, they move it to ‘doing’ and put their avatar next to it

48. 3. Simple Development
Process
KISS
Agile and Iterative - Scrum and XP
Process keeps everyone on the same page

49. 4. Ship it!
If you don’t ship it, it is just an elaborate art project
Ship the simplest thing possible (at first)
*
RB gallery example
*
release early & often - good enough - good enough for your users, for future
maintenance and your piece of mind (PragProg). Like an artist, you need to know when to
stop.

50. 5. Fun

51. RedBubble Practices
There are no rules, there are only guidelines - if it doesn’t help you, then change it!

52. RedBubble Practices
1. Good people
There are no rules, there are only guidelines - if it doesn’t help you, then change it!

53. RedBubble Practices
1. Good people
2. Good tools
There are no rules, there are only guidelines - if it doesn’t help you, then change it!

54. RedBubble Practices
1. Good people
2. Good tools
3. Simple Development Process
There are no rules, there are only guidelines - if it doesn’t help you, then change it!

55. RedBubble Practices
1. Good people
2. Good tools
3. Simple Development Process
4. Ship it!
There are no rules, there are only guidelines - if it doesn’t help you, then change it!

56. RedBubble Practices
1. Good people
2. Good tools
3. Simple Development Process
4. Ship it!
5. Have fun
There are no rules, there are only guidelines - if it doesn’t help you, then change it!

57. A week in software
development
An Iteration
Thursday Friday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Release Standup Standup Standup Early Morning Standup
Kickoff Beverages Code Review Finalize planning Showcase
Start planning next week Close it off
End of iteration Review
Free time
Why do you want a good process?
•
a good process takes the day to day “what do we do now” conversations away so you
can actually get down and do the work
•
Thursday is the start of the week, Wednesday is the end

58. What now?
Try Agile and Iterative Development
Try some new tools
Make a difference

59. Questions?

60. Mark Mansour
mark@stateofflux.com

61. Resources
Books
“Pragmatic Programmer” by Hunt and Thomas
“Agile and Iterative Development” by Craig Larman
“A Rational Design Process: How and why to Fake
It.” Clements, P., and Parnas, D
Scrum and XP from the Trenches - Henrik Kniberg
“The Art of the Start” by Guy Kawasaki
“Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How
They Think”

62. Resources
Books
“Getting Real” - 37 signals
Websites
wikipatterns.com

63. Resources
Software
Subversion
CruiseControl.rb
Selenium
Buildix - VMWare virtual appliance for agile dev
JSUnit
PHPUnit

64. Resources
Software (more)
Rails
Capistrano
Rake
Rails Migrations & LiquidBase
Cake

65. Images
“Halo hula” - http://flickr.com/photos/rikabel/938699/
“Gohper” - http://flickr.com/photos/janine-white/22328935/
“Animal Tools” - http://flickr.com/photos/anavrin/194771480/
“Bullets” - http://flickr.com/photos/rikabel/938699/
“45 Freemont” - http://flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/130601011/
“Big Red Button (Activated)” - http://flickr.com/photos/elliottcable/421568175/
“”just two phonies”” - http://flickr.com/photos/21891888@N00/442674518/
Stacked Focus Cogs - http://flickr.com/photos/balakov/763594852/
Father of the Bride - http://flickr.com/photos/turekcsaba/663815522/
DSC00360 - http://flickr.com/photos/makers/34995785/
Different - http://flickr.com/photos/mwieczorek/427233916/
Back in teh day - http://flickr.com/photos/ssmt/858582831/
Flick - http://www.flickr.com/photos/7areega/305460999/
haunted pirate - http://www.flickr.com/photos/j6photo/186650828/
Are we talking about me yet - http://www.gapingvoid.com/0709arewetalking.jpg