The concept of Barely Sufficient in web development and project management was first introduced to me as part of Agile methodologies. When learning about Agile, a practitioner of waterfall methodologies, like myself, often thinks Agile means reckless development without planning and documentation – do,do,do; redo; then do some more. But the real message Agile preaches is not to do too much planning or documenting because things change rapidly during the lifecycle of a project. Only do what is Barely Sufficient regarding planning and documenting and the real progress is made by actually writing code.

Time spent on documentation is essential regardless of the methodology. It requires careful thought to write something that others will read and use as information for development. This exercise exposes gaps in requirements and can help uncover problems ahead. It is also used to communicate to stakeholders their needs will be addressed. The amount of time spent on documentation is directly proportional to the type of audience for which it is intended and the size of the project. Technical folks probably require more details than management. Marketing folks are probably more interested in content and design than the technical under-workings of a site. Write only what is needed to move the project to the next step. Then at a later time add more as needed. It will probably be more accurate than if it was written when less was known.

Barely sufficient can also be applied to how much programming is required. It is wise to write only enough code to meet the requirements. Then, if there are changes, less rework is needed. The trick is knowing the exact requirements and goals, making sure they’re correct by effectively communicating with the stakeholders and communicating them properly to the team for execution - easier said than done.

The bottom line: efficiency is time and money. Barely Sufficient goes a long way in keeping unnecessary work out of the project saving resources for things that matter.