Pathfinder projects are projects of discovery. They help a team to learn the use of new tools, to adjust the methodology, and to establish standards, templates, and reusable building blocks that will greatly speed up subsequent development projects. In a pathfinder project, discovery and education are more important than a demonstration of speed or productivity, so the project's time-frame should be flexible and the team should be under no time pressure.
Some corporations have chosen throwaway systems (i.e., invented systems that the enterprise will never actually use) for their proof-of-concept or pathfinder projects. This is generally unnecessary and can be unwise. Enterprises will benefit more from choosing real but non-critical systems that meet a minor business need. This is in part because techniques such as Joint Requirements Planning and Joint Application Design cannot be tested adequately in projects involving throwaway systems.
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Section Overview : Management
Overview : Table of Contents