Uncover Tacit Requirements

This chapter has already covered the idea that you need to find out what customers need from their software that they're not talking about. But it's worth bringing up again, because the ubiquitous language may have ubiquitous holes.

Think of all the times you've been surprised at a question someone from outside the software field has asked about an application you're writing. Well, no, of course the app we made for the seven-inch tablet won't work on the three-inch phone. It's such a basic thing, it's not even worth mentioning, so why would someone ask it?

Now think about flipping that situation. What are the things that people in your problem domain think so basic that they'd never mention them? The things that a professor told them were "obvious" in a first-year lecture and they haven't questioned since? How are you going to get anyone to tell you about them?

As with pair coaching, this is a situation where...