Author Archives: Derwyn

1.7 for single users and unlimited read only

We just released our 1.7 for single users which comes with a free named license and unlimited read only access. It’s only been one day and already we’re getting a huge response. This option is a great way to get started with no hassles. Just download Contour, install and your off and running.
This release is [...]

Our Manifesto

I thought I’d put together a manifesto of sorts that describes our beliefs and the corresponding features in Contour.
Every Project is unique

By making artifacts completely customizable we’ve enabled companies to define their own process. Therefore Contour can adapt to your process rather than the tool forcing your team to adapt.

The whole team matters

A team is [...]

Contour Version 1.6 out the door!

Customization
Contour was designed to be flexible because every project is different in some way. Whether your project is Agile based or a combination of many methodologies it can be very difficult to find a tool that fits nicely into your environment. Through Contour’s customization capabilities you can track Requirements, Use Cases, Test Cases or create [...]

Cross Project Linking

Contour’s cross project linking allows a project to reference a requirement in a separate project.
Several clients had requested the ability to link requirements (or any items for that matter) across different projects. During analysis we realized that there were several possible implementations.
One option was to completely link an item from one project into another, such [...]

Ajax to Java Class

Learn from our experiences in building Contour!
Early on in the development of Contour two of our key requirements was it had to be web based with a intuitive and usable interface. This lead us down the path of Ajax which has been a challenging, fun and I’ll go so far as to say a revolutionizing [...]

Day two - the Ajax experience

Day two for me was all about focusing on dojo and DWR seeing as how that is what we’ve been using in Contour. The day started off with an intro to dojo which was a good overview. Alex Russell is a fantastic speaker and represents dojo very well. If anything, the talk at least gave [...]

Day one - the Ajax Experience

Arrived late last night and with a solid 4 hours of sleep head into the first day at The Ajax Experience. My presentation is this afternoon at 5:15 when I’ll be sufficiently worn out.
Just finished the keynote with Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer. In summary they gave a rousing tribute to the reasoning behind having [...]

What’s in a release?

There is a bit of irony in building a tool without a tool. It’s like building a table for a workbench so you can then build a table. So far we have been very efficient in our process of building our Requirements Management tool. We have a small team, with white boards and a wiki. [...]

The Ying Yang of Process

This article states that “developer misunderstandings of user requirements are the leading cause of defects in software.”  I do believe the developer should be better connected to the actual requirement. However even when using different methodologies, like Agile, there can be a disconnect. Documentation, conversations, phone calls, meetings after meetings all take place before the [...]

Technology choices

In the early stages of product development a major decision for us was what technology to use. There are many considerations such as distribution, how the product will be used and by whom. In my opinion it tends to come down to two things. Desktop vs web based. Obviously Desktop has many advantages when it [...]