I don't mind bullet points per se. When I'm taking notes for myself, or writing requirements, I tend to start with a list of all the raw and dumb ideas that cross my mind. Then I iterate over it and give it form and structure until, at least in my mind, it's reasonably readable: text is clear; flow is logical, uninterrupted; document has a clear outline; things are easy to find etc. I do use actual lists when it makes sense to do so e.g. things to do, steps to follow.
It seems other people don't do that. Mails, memos, requirements, tickets, more often than not the entire thing's a list of lists of lists. Sometimes you get a skinny-fat, 13 pages long document with bullet points 7 levels deep. Literally each sentence is an item on a list, and it's all expertly decorated with tables and improperly formatted code examples. I'm finding it very difficult to read that. It has no structure, no direction, no flow, no logic, no nothing. Oftentimes there's not even a summary introduction, the document jumps right into a list. You have to read the whole thing 2-3 times before you get the basic idea, then another 2-3 times to be able to ask for explanations and do so coherently. And the subjects are very far from sending rockets to space.
I sometimes get so exhausted that I just give up trying, and seek to understand the problem intuitively i.e. WWID. I've seen other colleagues employ a different strategy. They simply dive into coding regardless of whether they got it or not. After several rounds of code reviews by seasoned engineers, multiple testing sessions by at least a tester and the PO, and a couple of weeks later, they will eventually get it. Paradoxically, business is often frustrated about folks not getting it, though doesn't seem to mind this style of working. It's their fault, after all, but I suspect they don't imagine things could be any different. I don't know if it's because they don't have the time, don't know how to do it, don't know how to write, don't think clearly enough, or simply don't care. I'm talking about people with academic degrees, some MBAs, and I'm disapointed. And tired.
What are other people's experiences?
