Getting Real from 37 Signals (the team that created Basecamp) is an eBook describing the smaller, faster, better way to build software.
It’s a really good book and something that everyone in your team should read so everyone has the same mindset.
Read online: Getting Real
Excerpt from the Book
Want to build a successful web app? Then it’s time to Get Real. Getting Real is a smaller, faster, better way to build software.
- Getting Real is about skipping all the stuff that represents real (charts, graphs, boxes, arrows, schematics, wireframes, etc.) and actually building the real thing.
- Getting real is less. Less mass, less software, less features, less paperwork, less of everything that’s not essential (and most of what you think is essential actually isn’t).
- Getting Real is staying small and being agile.
- Getting Real starts with the interface, the real screens that people are going to use. It begins with what the customer actually experiences and builds backwards from there. This lets you get the interface right before you get the software wrong.
- Getting Real is about iterations and lowering the cost of change.
- Getting Real is all about launching, tweaking, and constantly improving which makes it a perfect approach for web-based software.
- Getting Real delivers just what customers need and eliminates anything they don’t.
Read online: Getting Real
Updated Version
This book has been updated (see Rework)… but I like the original version since it feels raw and is free for everyone in your team to read online.