5 - Nicholas Fields

One of the techniques described in this section for dropping 'nice-to-have' features is called, "The Unnecessary Test."  The Unnecessary Test involves examining a feature that you believe is important to have for the application.  The test involves asking a string of three questions.  First, is there more than one way to complete the task this feature supports?  Second, does this feature contribute directly to the completion of the task?  Lastly, is the task this feature supports vital to the activity this application supports?  Answering no to any of these questions means that the feature you are examining may be unnecessary and you should consider dropping that feature. 

Using this test, I determined that I could have dropped the 'Profile' icon from the top taskbar in my application.  This icon appeared in the top taskbar on my 'Home' screen and 'Video Browser' screen.  The Unnecessary Test revealed that there is more than one way to complete the task that this feature supports since the 'Home' screen has a thumbnail icon of the 'Profile' page; therefore, there was no reason to have an icon in the top taskbar for the same thing too.  Also, this feature did not necessarily contribute directly to the completion of the task either.  Therefore, this feature would be a great candidate to be dropped.