Category Archives: Planning for Quality

Articles discussing how to build quality into the project through upfront planning, practical practices, and streamlined processes

Survey Report – Project Success & Test Outsourcing

This summer, we put out a quick 10-question survey regarding software development and outsourcing or contracting of testing services. The intention of the survey was to use the responses to paint a picture of the attitude or approach towards outsourcing … Continue reading

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Test Automation – Building Your Business Case

I presented “Test Automation – Building Your Business Case” to VANQ.org, the Vancouver Software Quality Assurance User Group. Subsequently I presented it to the Southern Idaho Society for Software Quality Assurance and UBC Continuing Studies (Tech.UBC.ca), and I wanted to … Continue reading

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Successfully Integrating Test Automation and Agile Projects

On Oct. 7, 2009, I presented “Successfully Integrating Test Automation and Agile Projects” to Annex Consulting Group CIO Breakfast, and I wanted to share that material with you. To accelerate your project and specifically the testing of your releases, test … Continue reading

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Involve Testing Throughout the SDLC

Too often a test team is employed only towards the end of a project cycle. This means the test team is not as fully leveraged as they could be and therefore the project is not reaching as high a quality … Continue reading

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Visibility of Value – Testing Within the Organization

Consider the last time the testing group was involved from the beginning of a project, had an influential voice in the development of the project plan, was able to hire for test planning, and was treated as a strategic competitive … Continue reading

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Metrics – Thinking In N-Dimensions

I presented “Metrics – Thinking in N-Dimensions” to VANQ.org, the Vancouver Software Quality Assurance User Group, and I wanted to share that material with you. The biggest challenge in establishing an effective metrics programme is not the formulas, statistics, and … Continue reading

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User Acceptance Testing – Finally, Some Validation?

User acceptance testing (UAT) is the one form of acceptance testing that must involve stakeholders outside of the project team; the users. UAT provides a formal means for validating that a new system actually meets the necessary user requirements from … Continue reading

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Estimating Test Effort – From Billiard Balls to Electron Clouds

Each of us has very likely had to do an estimate in the past, whether it was for a set of assigned tasks, for a project, or for the budget of an entire organization. As a tester, the question is … Continue reading

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Increasing Test Effort Estimation Effectiveness

On May 29, 2008, I presented “Increasing Test Effort Estimation Effectiveness” to VANQ.org, the Vancouver Software Quality Assurance User Group, and I wanted to share that material with you. Estimates Provide Visibility to Stakeholders To know how much we will … Continue reading

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Why Pay High Prices for Defect Management

This article was published in Volume 2 Issue 10 of Software Test and Performance, www.stpmag.com If you want quality costs to stop guzzling money, the most effective thing you can do is optimize your project’s defect life cycle. Here’s how. … Continue reading

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