April 2024

The “Edge Case” is Often the Best Case

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Does this statement bring back memories? Maybe this was referred to as Murphy’s Law or another euphemism, but in each scenario, we are speaking about a time when the expected wasn’t reality. Instead, the unexpected arrived and challenged the plan design, pre-determined workflows, and ultimately the success of the project. These “Edge Cases” often arrive from places that do not stray too far away from the norm but do present challenges that must be overcome. They exist on the margins of the majority of use cases, and also exist in places where the most value can be created, and customer satisfaction maximized… or not.  Finding resolutions create successful projects, collaborative partnerships, a more complete technical offering, and most importantly, increased value and customer satisfaction.

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Project Planning

Project managers develop plans to deliver a pre-defined Scope of Work (SOW) on schedule. This SOW is the result of negotiations and collaboration between the customer and the service provider. Test scripts are drafted, testers are deployed, and the commissioning process begins. That is until someone introduces a workflow that is out of scope or doesn’t fit nicely into the system design. Testing comes to a standstill and the project deadlines are at risk. Everyone tries to understand the issue and the origins of the change. The reality is often that the root cause of the difference can be traced back to an individual’s perspective. Our biases influence everything we do, including parking. These changes or new workflows can be viewed as incorrect as they do not follow the system design.  A contrarian opinion is that these workflows are in-fact the correct ones as they are the result of the user’s expectations about how the system is supposed to operate.

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Our Approach

In order to resolve the issue, it is critical to fully understand the particular request and how the desired process(es) impact the solution.  When confronted with an “Edge Case” our approach is to Listen, Analyze, Adapt, and Create.  Seems pretty basic, but when we really listen and understand the issue, we uncover the root problem that is trying to be solved.  We frequently find that the system is already capable of providing the desired solution or can do so with minor adaptations to the current process(es).  When all else fails, we create… and learn.  We create what is needed to support our partners but more importantly, we learn what we missed.  

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Our Experience

is that our partners often present challenges that improve the overall performance of the system. They often challenge the path and assumptions taken during development and present real-world scenarios that the product roadmap may have missed. These nuances or “Edge Cases” lead to the development of improved workflows that increase the overall performance and useability of the system. While these instances can and do causes stress, they also are key to the development process. The statement, “If the system is not working as the customer expects, then it is not working correctly”, is often heard within our walls.

We at Parking Base, embrace this attitude and all the “Edge Cases” that come with it. After all, without them, the system wouldn’t be as complete and address the needs of our partners. These “Edge Cases” are often the “Best“ way to develop needed features and support our partners.

So, thank you to our partners and bring on the new perspectives and workflows!

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