歡迎回到 商務英語播客for today’s lesson on項目管理英語and launching user testing for a software project.
At the heart of every software project is the user. If the user finds the software confusing, or if it doesn’t do what the user needs it to do, what’s the point? 為此原因, user testing is an essential part of the development process.
User testing can involve a range of activities. You might watch how users interact with the software. You might track or monitor how they use it. And you might ask them for their opinions. In this way, you collect information and feedback that helps you create the best user experience possible. And just as the software itself needs to be user friendly, so does user testing. If people don’t have a clear idea of what they’re supposed to do during testing, you’ll be wasting an opportunity.
So when you launch testing, it’s important to outline what you’re going to be doing, and what kind of feedback you’re interested in. Because the software is new to the test users, you’ll need to give them clear instructions on how to use it and give them an overview of the main features. You might also find yourself emphasizing key points along the way. After all, it’s much easier to make sure everyone understands upfront than to deal with confused users during testing.
在今天的對話中, we’ll hear Jill, a developer with a software company called OptiTech. They’ve been developing software for a logistics company, and now they are ready to launch the first round of user testing. We’ll also hear Liam, the IT manager for the client, and Carla, one of the test users.
聽力問題
1. What does Jill say will be the final step in this test? 2. What three aspects of the software does this test focus on? 3. What does Jill emphasize is absolutely necessary for the drivers to do?
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on conducting a scrum stand-up用英語開會.
Not everyone likes meetings, and for good reason. Many meetings are poorly organized and poorly run. But meetings are a necessary part of work and business, especially inproject management. 為此原因, it’s important that we find ways to have good meetings.
If you’ve worked in software development, especially agile environments, you’ll know about one excellent kind of meeting called a scrum or stand-up meeting. Scrum is an approach to software development that uses cross-functional teams. Each day, the team has a short stand-up meeting where people update others on progress, plans, and challenges.
Whether or not you work in software development, leading a scrum style meeting is a useful experience. You’ll have to do many things that apply to all good meetings. For example, you’ll need to open the meeting and ask for updates. You may also find the chance to suggest collaboration between team members. And the person running the meeting is also responsible for putting aside, or sidebarring, issues that can be discussed after the meeting. These are all techniques that can help you in any kind of meeting, whether you work with scrum or not.
在今天的對話中, we’ll hear Jill, a project manager and scrum master, leading a daily scrum meeting. We’ll also hear two team members, Katherine and Sam. Sam will be first to provide his updates. 和, as you’ll hear, Jill will help keep the team focused.
聽力問題
1. When she opens the meeting, what does Jill suggest they do to stay focused? 2. When Sam says what he is going to do today, what does Jill suggest? 3. What issue does Jill want to “sidebar,” or leave for after the meeting?
In our last lesson, 我們研究了以良好的態度設定清晰的期望有多重要 項目啟動會議. 但是，無論您對客戶的工作流程有多好的教育, 交付初始測試版本時，您仍有工作要做. 您不能將其交給客戶並等待他們的反饋. 如果項目管理這麼簡單，那將是很好的, 但這不是. 交付初始測試版本需要仔細處理.
For one thing, 您需要管理客戶的期望. 這意味著要確保他們了解您沒有交付最終產品. 而是, 您正在給他們一些嘗試的機會, 或測試. In this way, 項目管理涉及協作, 或與客戶一起工作. 在交付初始測試版本時，您需要強調這一點.
在測試過程中，協作特別重要. 為客戶精心設計程序是一個好主意. If you don’t, 那麼你很可能會遇到障礙. 當您移交測試版本時, 您可能還會發現客戶的需求發生了變化. 還是他們想要新的東西. In this case, 重要的是要清楚地確定項目範圍的變化. 而且您需要確保客戶了解，可能由於範圍變更而導致成本超支.
