Software, Software Development and other Atrocities

I work as a Project Analyst. Strictly speaking I am not a techie (or a nerd or a geek!) but I know about the techie world. I understand the processes by which software are designed and produced. I also know about users and their work. I talk to them, I study their behaviour and business processes, their needs (what they need and what they think they need), and make conclusions about how we can help them. I pass that information to developers. This is not an easy task, believe me. I am bilingual. I am like a U.N. interpreter. I speak the language of software developers and the language of users. I listen to users and then tell developers about them by using words like searching, browsing, screenshot, widget, dataset, datalink and object. They, of course, would consider these very basic terms and reply with machine-code-like language. I take those words plus samples of their work (prototype, pilot, etc) go to users and explain them what we are doing. For that I use words like browsing and searching but avoid technical words as that would confuse or annoy them.

As a project analyst I also have to do some reach out, project advocacy and dissemination: meet people and talk to managers, directors and alike. Tell them about our work and the benefits for them. Then, I am trilingual because this last one is management, strategist language.

I think that, within a project realm, a project analyst is an important role. Techies, users, strategists and other stakeholders speak different languages and have different agendas. A project analyst is the person who keeps all of them together. Without the project analyst all these people would be heading in different directions.

This feels like being a double sandwich. Like the meat between users and software developers, and the cheese between the producers of software and the project stakeholders.

I also have to do a bit of academic dissemination through traditional means: conferences and papers (I work in an academic institution.) Perhaps this aspect of my job takes me to a different dimension, not completely related to the practical aspects of the project. For academia it would not be enough to produce software and to make it succeed. Academia needs explanations and analysis, reflections on how things were achieved, design of models, building up on established theories or developing new ones based on the data collected. Academic dissemination does not necessarily play a crucial role in the success of the project but I find it the most fulfilling as it allows me to reflect and analyse strategies and also build on my academic career.

I’m starting to see the picture of a chameleon here.

Now, you may want to ask me why on earth I am doing working as a project analyst in a software related project if I want to pursue an academic career. The answer is... I don’t know :p lol Did I mention that I like my job? I think I like the "practical (hands-on)-academic (reflective)" combination. I am an analyst, I like software development and I like to talk to users. I am also a sort of ethnographer. I like to mingle with techies and users. I like first-hand experience in (not necessarily academic) projects. I question different interpretations and I like to reflect on what I see. And I like to write about the things I do.