The physical tools of a digital trade

Not everything we do is digital. Not everything we do is in ‘the cloud’.

We use a number of software tools to manage our work, a selection of them function like digital Post-It notes on a wall. And we LOVE Post-It notes on a wall! We use them for everything, from gathering ideas in client workshops, to tracking tasks and organizing the structure of a piece of software or an entire system.

We rely on a host of physical tools to help us do what we do on a daily basis. Information is key and a shared understanding of our projects is essential.

Shared understanding klaxon!

Idea gathering in a client workshop. I wish I’d counted how many Post-Its we used. I’m just glad I wasn’t the one who had to write them all up. Poor Simon...

One of the benefits of our new studio is that it has a huge amount of usable white wall space. Now we can just grab a pen and use the closest wall to make some notes or map an idea. A picture can paint a thousand words, and a quick scribble on a whiteboard can save hours of confusion!

You won’t walk into Razor HQ and find bare sterile walls, only living and constantly evolving sheets of information which form the foundations of everything we do.

Our brand new meeting room, for example, currently contains lists of new app features and accompanying pseudo-code; notes from a retrospective; some proposed new API endpoints and a system architecture diagram of something special we’re building at the moment.

Information Radiator

Another useful tool in our software development process is the information radiator, which shows key information in real time for quick and easy reference. They radiate information.

"No surface is safe - we’re not afraid to go multi-textural"

We have a number of information radiators around the studio, in the form of digital dashboards, that show what our applications in the Cloud are doing. Our wall-mounted Mac Mini also doubles as a break out build and test station for native IOS mobile apps. Even some of our actual radiators now display details about current projects and latest deployments.

No surface is safe - we’re not afraid to go multi-textural.

We ran out of whiteboard space so had to resort to planning shopping basket logic on the side of @sheffhallamuni... pic.twitter.com/drYRMP3tNa

— Razor Jam (@razor_uk) 28 May 2015

Those notes might look like they're in the cloud... But they're actually stored locally on windows.

— Razor Jam (@razor_uk) 28 May 2015

In keeping with our approach of efficiency and continuous improvement, we see our studio as an extension of ourselves and our work processes - a canvass to define challenges, ideas and solutions. It’s really amazing what results can come from the right space, time and ingenuity.

Why not drop in and see for yourself.