Help finding amusing Byte cartoon
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 156
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From: Sandwich, Kent, UK
Help finding amusing Byte cartoon
Dear all,
Way back in the late 80s when I was doing my degree, our systems analysis lecturer showed us a cartoon which I believe came from Byte magazine and must have first been published in the 70s. It spoofed the systems analysis and design process by showing a series of drawings of a simple garden swing hanging from the branch of a tree, with subtitles like 'What the user asked for', 'What the designers thought the user wanted', 'What the designers specified', and so on.
Today's Google challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to find said cartoon on the web for me. I've been looking for hours on both Byte.com, normal Google and Google Images and I can't flippin' well find it!
Cheers!
cbl.
ps SSADM - has anyone ever actually used it, or was it just a way to ruin the lives of computer studies students?
Way back in the late 80s when I was doing my degree, our systems analysis lecturer showed us a cartoon which I believe came from Byte magazine and must have first been published in the 70s. It spoofed the systems analysis and design process by showing a series of drawings of a simple garden swing hanging from the branch of a tree, with subtitles like 'What the user asked for', 'What the designers thought the user wanted', 'What the designers specified', and so on.
Today's Google challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to find said cartoon on the web for me. I've been looking for hours on both Byte.com, normal Google and Google Images and I can't flippin' well find it!
Cheers!
cbl.
ps SSADM - has anyone ever actually used it, or was it just a way to ruin the lives of computer studies students?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Joined: Jul 2000
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 24,627
Likes: 7,329
From: Peripatetic
4 minutes, yawn!! 
www.businessballs.com
Select "tree swing picture" from the list on the left.businessballs
www.businessballs.com
Select "tree swing picture" from the list on the left.businessballs
Last edited by ORAC; 14th August 2002 at 22:20.
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 128
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From: Behind You
I particularly like the team briefing link, hilarious in it's own right but even better considering the opening statements.
Nice one Orac, this ones gone to my favorites for further scrutiny 
Team Briefing is a powerful method of enabling communications up and down the management structure of any organisation with a number of management levels. Team Briefing was developed by the British Industrial Society (now called the Work Foundation) during the mid-20th century, particularly the 1960's, and introduced in the mid 1970's.
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 101
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From: Now back in London
I remember that there were some other cartoons:
"What the finance department agreed" - picture of tree with knotted rope hanging from branch
"What health and safety accepted" - picture of tree stump
Any more?
cur
"What the finance department agreed" - picture of tree with knotted rope hanging from branch
"What health and safety accepted" - picture of tree stump
Any more?
cur
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Joined: Jul 2000
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 24,627
Likes: 7,329
From: Peripatetic
Oh, all right Mac, if you're going to sulk on other threads.
The secret was he was looking at it the wrong way round - he had obviously tried everything he could think of from the company point of view, but he hadn't looked at it from the customer's point of view.
I just turned the question on it's head and asked what the customer originally wanted.
Go to google and search on:
tree swing "what the customer wanted"
See what's top of the list.
You can scream now.
The secret was he was looking at it the wrong way round - he had obviously tried everything he could think of from the company point of view, but he hadn't looked at it from the customer's point of view.
I just turned the question on it's head and asked what the customer originally wanted.
Go to google and search on:
tree swing "what the customer wanted"
See what's top of the list.
You can scream now.
