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Quality is Better When You Feel Good
How you perceive quality is influenced by your expectations. And sometimes, your expectations are subconscious or emotionally driven. For example, a product may have all the features you, as a consumer, could possibly want and need – and it might perform well too! But it still might not satisfy everyone, or generate the magnitude of…
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Software Hell is a Crowded Place
I’ve been thinking a lot about management fads lately, and ran into this 2005 article by Nick Carr, titled “Does Not Compute”. Here’s the part that caught my eye: “A look at the private sector reveals that software debacles are routine. And the more ambitious the project, the higher the odds of disappointment. It may…
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How Usability and (Software) Quality are Related
ISO 9241-11 defines usability as “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.” The four elements that define usability within this context are as follows: both the users and goals must be explicitly identified, the intended…
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Why Software Reuse is Hard – More Perspectives
A couple weeks ago I presented my perspective on Why Software Reuse is Hard. I also posted a link on LinkedIn, and wanted to capture the comments that were received there. I think it’s interesting to note how many people support the concept of continuous learning for competitive advantage in software development – without actually…
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Smith’s Taxonomy of Quality Problems
If you’re going to select a strategy for process improvement, sometimes it’s good to know what category your problem falls in. Then, you can choose solutions for other problems in the same category that were solved! That’s the subject of Smith’s article in Quality Progress in 2000. In practice, Smith says, there is often a…
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The Butter Test
I do not want to struggle with my butter. Or my software. This morning for breakfast, I chose the “nutritious” option of a slice of buttered rye. After the obligatory ninety seconds’ wait, my freshly toasted bread popped out of the toaster. It was hot, with a little steam coming off the sides – pretty…
Quality and Innovation 