Chapter 6. Specifying collaboratively
Specification by Example is conceptually different from traditional specification or testing processes, especially in the way it relies on collaboration. Specification by Example won’t work if we write documents in isolation, even if we implement all the other patterns described in this book.
In Bridging the Communication Gap, I focused on large, all-team specification workshops as the primary tool for collaborating on specifications. Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned in working on this book is that the situation is a lot more complicated. Different teams in different contexts have their own way of collaborating on specifications, to the extent that even teams from the same group approach collaboration differently.
In this chapter, I present the most common models for collaboration on specifications, including big workshops, smaller workshops, and the most popular alternatives to workshops. This will help you understand the benefits and downsides of various approaches to collaborative specifications. I also present good practices for preparing for collaboration and ideas that will help you choose the right collaboration model for your team. But let’s first deal with the question of whether collaboration is required at all.