USGS Scientist Panel Dialogue: Gathering USGS User Stories

to Guide CDI Projects

Moderator: Sally Holl, Geographer

USGS Texas Water Science Center

What are user stories?

• Simply states what a scientist needs to accomplish and why

• Emphasizes scientist (end user) perspective• Guides what a CDI project is for, what it should

accomplish and why• Does not specify how a solution should be

developed

Adapted from User Story (Agile), Visual Studio 2010 http://mdsn.microsoft.com

Why gather user stories?

• Vital part of successful project management and solution development

• Defining user requirements at the start of a CDI project will result in significant cost savings in later phases of the project life cycle, eliminates later re-work and “fixing”

THE DATA ADMINISTRATION NEWSLETTER – TDAN.comBusiness Requirements Gathering - An Overviewby Anne Marie Smith, Published: January 1, 2000

Panel Outline

• Opening remarks (5 minutes)• Panelist project presentations (60 minutes)• Panelist discussion (15 minutes)• Panelists respond to audience questions and

comments (5 minutes)• Closing remarks (5 minutes)

USGS Scientist Panel Dialogue: Gathering USGS User Stories to Guide CDI Projects

Panelists

• Roland Viger (Climate & Land Use Change)• Fran Lightsom (Coastal & Marine Geology in

Natural Hazards)• Zach Bowen (Ecosystems)• Daniel Pearson (Water)• Kathleen Smith (Energy & Minerals) and Nancy

Bauch (Water)• David Wald (Natural Hazards)

USGS Scientist Panel Dialogue: Gathering USGS User Stories to Guide CDI Projects

Focus questions for presentations

1. Which project workflows and tools are successful in helping to find, integrate, and manage data?

2. What are specific questions or challenges facing the project with respect to accessing, integrating, or managing data?

USGS Scientist Panel Dialogue: Gathering USGS User Stories to Guide CDI Projects

Discussion Question

• Can you see any promising paths or logical next steps CDI or USGS should take to help address these gaps and facilitate project-level data integration tasks?

Discussion Questions

• From your experience and from what you've heard at the CDI Workshop today, what is CDI or USGS as a whole doing right to facilitate data integration for projects?

Discussion Question

• Can you identify one or two critical gaps that are limiting your ability to access, integrate or manage data for a project?