My name is Wada from the Coding Factory Department (hereinafter referred to as CF).
This may be out of the blue, but have you heard of the book "Practical Methods for Fast and Accurate Web Development Taught by a Front-End Specialist Development Company" (Amazon) that was released last year? It is a book that compiles practical methods used in the production field by CF members, aimed at various people involved in web production, such as coders, front-end engineers, and directors.
At the time of its release, I was in a different department and was not involved in the production of the book, so I read through it as a reader. Since I was transferred to the Customer Focus Department this year, I decided to take the time to re-read this book, which is packed with Customer Focus knowledge, while also getting a feel for what kind of work a Customer Focus does.
First of all, what kind of book is this?
This book is a little different from general technical books, as all five chapters are filled with "practical methods" that can be immediately adopted in the real world.
The table of contents looks like this.
Chapter 1: Production flow and environment construction
Chapter 2: Establishing coding guidelines
Chapter 3: Fast, accurate and safe coding methods
Chapter 4: Key points for direction and checking
Chapter 5: Web production techniques to improve quality and efficiency
The first thing that caught my interest was "Chapter 4"
So, where should I start? I started with "Chapter 4: Key Points for Direction and Checking." Here's a rough summary of what was written on the introductory page:
What is important in web production is, of course, the technical ability to create the page, but what is just as important is actually direction.
When proceeding with production, it is essential to consider the schedule and risks. Progress management is needed to ensure that production proceeds smoothly and the necessary communication is required to achieve this.
This chapter provides specific tips on how to achieve this.
There was also one sentence that really caught my attention.
If you can keep these points in mind and put them into practice, you will be able to experience smart and efficient project progress. You will also be able to focus more on coding.
" It allows me to focus more on coding. "
I want to focus on coding!
That's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
I do coding, but I also do direction, which is communication with clients. Direction is a wide range of work, from communication with clients to checking the progress of partners who work on projects together and contacting them, but I always felt that it was difficult to estimate the man-hours required for direction work.
The job of a director is to stand between people and communicate things quickly and accurately to make it easier for them to work. Because of this, I often put off my coding work, and before I knew it, it was already night and I hadn't started anything. I wanted to be able to do my directing work while also coding smoothly! I started reading the fourth chapter with this thought in mind, and what particularly made an impression on me was the section on "things that you absolutely must do and things that you don't have to do."
It's important to distinguish between "doing it" and "not doing it."
When a project begins, what is the first thing you should do?
This book encourages us to always be conscious of improving efficiency and quality so that we don't end up not doing what needs to be done or wasting time on things that don't need to be done.
For example, there are some things that you "must do" and some things that you "don't have to do," such as:
"Always" confirm what data is needed on the delivery date and by what date
First of all, it is important to confirm the delivery details. If you can align your understanding with the client in advance regarding the delivery method, delivery time, and when to make corrections and changes after delivery, you can reduce mistakes made in a hurry during delivery on the delivery date and the anxiety of not knowing when the delivery will be completed, so I think it is very important.
I have experienced this myself when communicating with clients on the day of delivery. When sudden changes occur after delivery, if you don't confirm with the client how much you will be able to handle and when you will be done, the changes will take forever and take longer than expected, which will affect other projects that are in progress.
These countermeasures were the first thing my manager Kojima told me about when I was unsure how to deal with a client. This book introduces the practical know-how of these situations.
Don't worry about things you can't decide on your own. "You don't have to do it."
This book says that when figuring out the labor hours for something you have never actually done, it is best to either try it yourself or listen to someone who has done it.
If there is something you can't figure out no matter how much you think about it, or if you can't solve it no matter how much you look into it, you need to consult with people around you as soon as possible. When I'm working on a production, if there's something I'm doing for the first time or don't know how to do, I often ask other creators who have experience dealing with it before and learn how to do it.
The people around you also have their own work to do and seem busy, so it can be difficult to find the right time to ask questions about things you don't understand, but you need to be brave and ask because you won't be able to move forward without asking.
In those cases, I always try to be careful not to just say I don't know, but to ask questions in a way that makes it easy for the other person to answer. For example, I might say, "I don't understand this part of XX, so I looked it up and got the following results. Is this the right way to proceed?" Or I might propose two options and ask, "Which of options 1 and 2 is more appropriate in this case?" and have the other person choose either option 1 or 2.
This way of asking questions was also clearly explained in "Points on how to ask questions that are easy to respond to" in Chapter 4, "Quick direction with smart communication." I realized once again that this is an effective way to ask or confirm something with people, including clients, not just in internal interactions.
As you can see, Chapter 4 is full of on-site know-how that is rarely written in books. In fact, Matsubara, who was the main writer, also strongly recommended that you "read this chapter!" ( For more information, click here .) It really does match the needs of the field!
There's lots of other useful content too
Of course, there is a lot more useful information in addition to Chapter 4.
What I particularly liked were the "useful columns" that appeared between each chapter. As the name suggests, they contain information that is immediately useful in the field. The first column, titled "Checking submitted data - the first step to improving efficiency," provides a checklist of points to check in submitted data. As the project progresses, there are several things that you must check with the client before you can proceed. Whether or not you address these issues from the beginning can have a major impact on subsequent work.
In addition to describing the "basics of coding you need to know," it also includes quick solutions for when your page display is not working properly and you don't know why. By reading this, you will be able to quickly respond to problems that often occur in production environments.
Also, at the end of the book, there is a section on "mental control and mental care." This is the part that surprised me the most, but it is something that is necessary for any job, regardless of whether it is web production or not. It describes how to have the right mindset when working and how to work with high motivation.
Having read the book produced by CF once again, I strongly felt that it is a book that is useful not only for technical matters but also for how to proceed with a project, and that it is a book packed with on-site know-how that can be used immediately in the field.
Not just coders, but directors too!
モノサスアーカイブ