Category Archives: IT

Robots for Health Care from Toyota

Posted on April 12, 2017 by John Hunter

Japan has an extremely rapidly aging population. This increases the need for health care and for assistance with everyday tasks from the elderly. Japan is also among the leading countries for developing robots for health care and living assistance. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, IT | Tagged engineering, Health care, Innovation, Japan, long term thinking, system thinking, Toyota | Comments Off

Add Constraints to Processes Carefully

Posted on November 23, 2016 by John Hunter

Take great care in adding constraints to processes to avoid doing so needlessly. Online you will frequently find forms that have required fields that needn’t be. Certainly if you were designing with focus on what is best for customers those … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Software Development | Tagged bad customer service, Customer focus, customer service, IT, mistake-proofing, process thinking, tips, usability | Comments Off

Software Testing and the Impact on Quality

Posted on May 9, 2016 by John Hunter

My response to a question on Reddit. “Software quality does not come from testing” Does anybody have any thoughts on the validity of the above statement? That statement is similar to the idea you can’t inspect in quality. Basically “Inspection … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Software Development | Tagged Deming, inspection, quality, Software Development, software testing | 2 Comments

Functional Websites are Normally Far Superior to Apps

Posted on April 23, 2016 by John Hunter

An email to I just sent to Uber I understand the regular Uber app not having a functional website. Uber Eats not having a functional website is super lame. It strikes me similar to Walmart 15 years ago telling people … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Innovation, IT, Software Development | Tagged commentary, Customer focus, Innovation, internet, IT, Software Development | 1 Comment

Good Startup Ideas from Startup Weekend JB (Malaysia)

Posted on November 27, 2014 by John Hunter

I like all these startup ideas from Startup Weekend JB (Malaysia). I can’t figure out how to comment on their blog (I am guessing Tumbler just eliminates commenting?), so I started this post – and ended up adding much more … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Innovation, IT | Tagged Asia, business, Customer focus, customer service, Innovation, IT, management, Software Development, startup | 1 Comment

Building a Great Software Development Team

Posted on May 29, 2014 by John Hunter

Elliot: I worked with some of the best programmers I’ve ever known at the tiny, obscure ASEE Adam Solove: Why do you think that happened? They hired for passion, rather than experience? If I had to pick one thing, passion … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Popular, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, hiring, John Hunter, managing people, organization as a system, Popular, Psychology, Software Development, teams | 4 Comments

Deming and Software Development

Posted on March 17, 2014 by John Hunter

I am sometimes asked about how use Deming’s ideas on management in a software development context. My belief is Deming’s ideas work extremely well in a software development context. The main issue is often unlearning some assumptions that people might … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Popular, Process improvement, Respect, Software Development | Tagged build capability, commentary, Creativity, curiouscat, Deming, John Hunter, managing people, Popular, Software Development, Systems thinking, technology | 7 Comments

Process Thinking: Process Email Addresses

Posted on October 18, 2012 by John Hunter

This is just a simple tip. When providing email address think about what the purpose is. If it is to contact a specific person then an individual’s email address makes sense. But if you are really emailing the software testing … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Process improvement | Tagged communication, internet, Process improvement, tips | 1 Comment

Simple Customer Care: Communicate

Posted on July 17, 2012 by John Hunter

Some management issues are hard. You are often balancing priorities. Sometimes though it is extremely simple: either you have concern for customers and take actions to back that up or you have some concern but don’t do anything about it. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Management | Tagged bad customer service, bank, Customer focus, customer service | 2 Comments

Respect for People: Optimize for Developer Happiness at Etsy

Posted on April 3, 2012 by John Hunter

The webcast above discusses the culture of software engineering at Etsy (a very popular site providing a marketplace and community for small businesses – artisan focus). Some of the key points of the talk. Etsy trusts employees. Etsy’s strategy is … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Tagged culture, engineering, IT, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, respect for people, Software Development, teams, trust | 6 Comments