Ask Slashdot: Technical Resources For Non-Technical Disciplines?

New submitter nashpt writes: An accountant friend has recently joined a startup looking at developing a web platform. My friend is now dealing with developers directly where he would not have done so previously and feels he is at somewhat of a disadvantage. He asked me if I could advise on how he could get knowledgeable in the relevant technologies, HTML and JavaScript, in order to better interact with their developers. While there are numerous resources available to learn to program both of these, I didn't feel that would be the best approach; if nothing else, because he will have significant constraints on his time. Instead I looked for any primers that focus on technical subjects for non-technical disciplines. I haven't found much I think would be suitable for his needs. I appreciate this is a broad subject but can you recommend any resources that would be suitable in general or specific to these technologies? Do you even agree that this is an appropriate approach or should he look to develop a working knowledge of these languages instead? Any other suggestions on how to approach this?

Comments

Account should not try to "get knowledgeable"

[viking80]

Account should not try to "get knowledgeable" in HTML and JavaScript. He will only seem more of an idiot.
1. Be a great accountant, and dominate your existing field. Teach developers how to make the products more profitable
2. Be a human and a user, and gain user and interface expertise, so you can say what you think about the product with authority and clarity. Tell the developers how to make a more usable product.
3. Can your expertise be used to improve the product? Accounting skills may be important for the platform to make money, and the financial analysis tools needed to understand the web platforms performance.

Re:Account should not try to "get knowledgeable"

[gweihir]

And on the technological side, get somebody that really knows this stuff, and in particular understands security aspects. Can be a consultant. The problem is that there is a ton of web-technology out there, and most of it is bad or at least not very good. Using the wrong tech can easily kill the project, either by never delivering or by delivering something that is not fit to be used.

Re:Account should not try to "get knowledgeable"

[whoever57]

The accountant is clearly worried that his technical guys will BS him. Ask him how long it would take someone to learn enough about accountancy before they could accurately detect BS from an accountant.

Focus on his current skills

[psyclone]

He seems to have accounting skills and a business plan to develop. Focus on those skills -- leave development decisions to the developers.

Take time to create some wire frame (pen on paper) mockups of workflows and business rules. Find similar layouts and "look & feel" from existing sites that he can give as examples to the dev team.

If he's worried the developers won't understand his requirements and he's wasting money, hire you (the friend) to interface with them. Build mock-ups as iteratively as possible without connecting any back-end logic so he is "comfortable" with the UX before spending time on the back-end.

If he already had web skills, he'd just implement the idea himself; hiring others is when you know you cannot do everything yourself. Hire fewer, but better, people. Good luck.

Re:Focus on his current skills

[trout007]

This! I don't know how many times I've been asked to take a couple days or weeks and help teach someone how to design and engineer mechanical thing. It's only taken me 30 years of life long learning so let me just boil that down for you. Specialization is what makes the modern world possible. This guy needs to focus on what he is good at.

Re:Focus on his current skills

[spire3661]

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." " -Robert A. Heinlein

Wrong approach

[gweihir]

If your friend were to develop semi- (or worse) skills, the only thing he could do is give bad technological input and make bad technological decisions. Either get somebody that has the required insights, skills, and, most importantly, experience (and experience can only be replaced by more experience) or refrain from giving technological input and making technological decisions. A good option is to get a consulting firm with respective expertise to fill that role, especially, when no full-time person is required.

don't bother

[spongman]

developers aren't interested in advisers or clients telling them how to code. they're interested in learning the requirements and domain-specific knowledge that those people have that helps them design the best product to fill their needs. the best language with which to convey these requirements isn't code. it's not photoshop (UX designers: listen) it's english. preferably spoken, maybe loudly, in a room with coffee and whiteboards, lots of both.