quality assurance
Articles
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The Cost of Software Quality Testing can be considered an investment. A software organization-whether an in-house IT shop, market-driven shrink-wrap software vendor, or Internet ASP-chooses to forego spending money on new projects or additional features in order to fund the test team. What's the return on that investment (ROI)? Cost of quality analysis provides one way to quantify ROI. |
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Is Software Really Different? Software is often seen as different from other products that seem more tangible and less flexible. In this article, Gerold Keefer points out that the perception of flexibility is not always a positive perception, and approaching software as a product that should be "done right the first time" can improve quality. Gerold also illustrates a number of tangible-product metaphors common in the software industry. |
Gerold Keefer
May 17, 2002 |
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Hope Happens Quality initiatives seem to appear and disappear like mirages, depending on the business needs of the moment. But in this column, test automation expert Linda Hayes sees signs of hope: signs that companies have the motive, and the means, for more serious commitments to quality improvement. Read her reasons and see if you agree. |
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When Being Correct Isn't Enough It makes sense that people who are always correct will have the power to influence others. But testers who base their authority on correctness might be in for a rough time. Bret Pettichord explains in this week's column why it's a good idea to show concern as well as correctness. |
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Speaking Process Improvement to Your Management Have you tried to persuade your management to buy into process improvement? It's a tricky business, fraught with obstacles that you may not foresee. If you've been frustrated, you might find some insights in this article to help you with future efforts. If you haven't been in that position yet, this article can help you prepare and perhaps increase your chances for success. |
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What Does It Cost to Fix a Defect? We all have different attitudes and policies toward finding and fixing defects. The choice about whether and when to fix defects depends upon many factors, one of the least understood being the actual cost of fixing a defect. In this column, testing expert Johanna Rothman shares a formula for calculating the system test cost to fix defects and how to factor that into the bigger picture of your project. |
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Can You Negotiate Quality? XP teams have the right to do their best work. On the other hand, customers have the right to specify and pay for only the quality they need. How does one reconcile two potentially conflicting points of view? Is quality negotiable? If so, how do we go about negotiating it? This paper will explore the following questions: Is quality negotiable? How can we negotiate quality? What are internal and external quality, and are either or both negotiable? What's the XP tester's quality assurance role? How far should testers go in helping the customer define acceptance criteria? |
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Did You Hear What I Said? Software projects are complex endeavors that rely on clear communication for success. If communication methods are mismatched or leave too many gaps, your project could suffer, and you could be highly frustrated. In this column, Karl Wiegers details potential problems to be mindful of, and strategies to use, when communicating about a project. |
Karl E. Wiegers
November 27, 2001 |
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What's in a Name? Everything. Quality Assurance Manager. Senior Developer. Test Manager. Think you know what those titles mean? Are they mutually exclusive? If not, where do they overlap? Which one "owns" Quality? An important step in perfecting the software development process is negotiating and understanding the responsibilities of every team member. In this column, Elisabeth Hendrickson talks about unwrapping the responsibilities beneath the job titles. |
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Stranger in a Strange Land: Bringing Quality Assurance to a Web Startup As a veteran of two startups, TRIP.com, a travel Web site, and Tensegrent, a software development company, I have learned some lessons the hard way about implementing quality assurance in a web startup environment. This paper gives some guidelines based on this experience: How to get buy-in from management, how to educate yourself about Web testing, how to implement a useful process, how to prevent a testing bottleneck. |
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