how to prontze when everytn,ng os pnt i · 2019-10-04 · use the right process • familiarize...

How to prontze When Everytn,ng os pnt

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How to Prioritize WhenEverything is Pri 1

Ruth TomandlSr. Producer, PlayFab

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GAME DEVElOPERS CONFERENCE'" 2015 MARCH 2-6.2015 GOCONF.COM

What Our Job Isthe most important

Producers are in charge of making surethe game's features and components

get completely done (that is, sh ipped)with in constra ints

to the required qua lity level.


How We Do Our Job

• Make a plan• Follow the plan• Measure progress• Communicate progress• Adjust the plan as needed c::=::J

• Make sure the product owners make decisions


Why That's Hard

• The project is always changing• Coming up with cool ideas is fun• Different people have different

priorities• You 're working within constraints• Scheduling polish time feels bad


Easy SolutionsThat don't work

.GAUE OEVElOPERS CONFERENCE"" 2015 UARCH 2-6, 2015 GOCONF.COU Cc'

Let's Do Serum!

• Scrum is a solution for aspecific problem

• Scrum can mask problemsit's not good at solving

• Even good changes have a•pnce

Not only are there no silver bullets now in view, the very nature of software makesit unlikely that there will be any.

- Frederick P. Brooks


Eisenhower Matrix

Not Urgent

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ImportantWhat is important is seldom urgent andwhat is urgent is seldom important.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Important items help makethe game successful.

• Urgent items are timesensitive.


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Just Do Everything

• "Find a way", i.e. Crunch• Crunch can't make up for

bad scope discipline• Crunching means your plan

has failed (and your tea m knows it )

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Schedule 40 hours a week and you get 38. Schedule 50 and you get 39 andeveryone hates work, life, and you. Schedule 60 and you get 32 and wives startdemanding you send out resumes. - Game Outcomes Project Survey Response


Hard SolutionsThat actually work


Cultivate Scope Discipline

• Product owners are rewarded for ambition•... so you need to bring the realism

• Understand what your team can do ~--........

• Build credibility• Keep priorities consistent• Track your progress .....---------'

I think [Peter Molyneux) intentionally tries to say things to make them happen....I think sometimes he does it to help push the team to shoot for the moon. - Gary Carr


Stay Focused on Your Pillars• Will this be the difference

between success and failure?

• Identify what success means

• Decide as a team on 3 pillars

Focus is a matter of deciding what things you're not going to do.-John Carmack

·GAUE OEVElOPERS CONFERENCE"" 2015 UARCH 2-6, 2015 GOCONF.COU Cc'

Pick Good Pillars 0 actionable, specif ic, positive

Good Pillars

Monster to the monsters

Sumi-e art style

Accessibility for all skill levels

90% Metacritic

Unique art style

John Romero's about to makeyou his bitch


Use the Right Process

Start Sh ip


Make a Workable Plan - --

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• Order by priority

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• Work down

• Add new items to th e backlog

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Agi le (reactive)

Iterative design

Experienced team

Small team size

Nebulous business goals

Self-managed team structure

Waterfall (proactive)

Strong design plan

Less experienced team

Large or distributed team

Clear business goa ls

Top-down team management



• Familiarize your team with the process• And make sure they have ownership

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have thegreatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together,the club won't be worth a dime.

- Babe Ruth


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.GAUE OEVElOPERS CONFERENCE"" 2015 UARCH 2-6. 2015 GOCONF.COU Cc'

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- Douglas Hofstadter


Be Prepared for ProblemsPlans that only work if nothing goes wrongare bad plans.

• Your art team will get the flu• Your only network engineer will quit• Core requirements will change• A critical feature of your game won't be fun

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even whenyou take into account Hofstadter's Law.


Be Prepared for Problems

Fantasy schedulesdon't work.

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even whenyou take into account Hofstadter's Law,

- Douglas Hofstadter


Risk AnalysisList potential risks, with:

• Likelihood it will happen• Size of impact to the project• Plan to minimize likelihood• Plan to mitigate impact

If you don't have a plan B, you don't have a plan.- Harvey Mackay


Answer the Right Questions

• "Is there any way we can do X?"• "Can we do X and still do everything else?"• "If we adjust our plan to include X, how

does that affect our other top priorities?"

Effective leadership is putting first things first.Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

- Stephen Covey


In Summary• Your job is to get your game done• Don't expect to do everything• Lack of scope discipline is your enemy• But you have tools to fight it:

• A rea listic plan• Ways to communicate that plan• Well-defined Pillars• Back-up plans

•


Resources• GDC Talks :

• Production Support Roundtables• Rve Things You Can Do Today to Be a Bit More Agile• Leading High Performance Teams• The Vertical Slice Challenge• Using Earned Va lue to Course Correct and Deliver on Time

Books and Articles:• The Mythical Man-Month (esp. " No Silver Bullet")

• Game Outcomes Project• The Goal (a novel about constra ints)

how to prontze when everytn,ng os pnt i · 2019-10-04 · use the right process • familiarize...

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