(From April 23:)

I’m helping out with a proposal at work. The team asked me to condense a 250+-page requirements document into a spreadsheet of use cases. I’m new to architecture, but I gave it my best shot, sending the architect quick drafts so that we could zero in on something useful.

My first draft was too low-level, too detailed. My second draft was a bit better, but still too granular. My third draft was at about the right level, but some use cases were still too big. My fourth draft was workable. Hooray!

When you’re learning something that’s hard to pick up on your own, figure out how you can iteratively improve with feedback. Even if an expert doesn’t have the time to walk you through the process, he or she might be able to quickly tell you if you’re on the right track. See if you can break your work down into small portions you can work on until you get them right, and apply what you learn there to the rest of the work. Good luck!