6.7 Some Questions

Some questions answered, some pointers given - it might be time to in turn ask you some questions:

• can you solve your project with the selected microcontroller? Would you find out early or rather late that your target is too small/slow/whatever? Can you switch to a slightly better device if it doesn't fit?
• should you solve the problem with an 8 bit CPU? Or would a 16/32 bit CPU and/or another programming language be more adequate? Would an operating system on the target device help?
• if you solved the problem, will the marketing department be happy?
• if the marketing department is happy, will customers be happy?
• if you're the project manager, marketing department and maybe even the customer in one person, have you tried to see the project from the outside?
• is the project done if you think it is done? Or is just that other interface/protocol/feature/configuration/option missing? How about website, manual(s), internationali(z|s)ation, packaging, labels, 2nd source for components, electromagnetic compatability/interference, documentation for production, production test software, update mechanism, patent issues?
• is your project adequately positioned in that magic triangle: fame, fortune, fun?

Maybe not all answers to these questions are known and some answers may even be no, nevertheless knowing these questions may help you to avoid burnout^6.1. Chances are you didn't want to hear some of them...