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In real estate, it's not so much which house you buy as where you buy it. The same is true for bugs—the bug itself isn't as important as pinpointing where the bug lives and breeds. Learn one way to track down a bug's true source and prevent it from recurring.
Like exercise, usability testing is something we all say we want to do but somehow never get around to doing. Yet, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Find out how to take the first steps toward a real usability testing regimen.
Politics is a game we're asked to participate in each and every day. But when your project's future is on the line, do you want to play around? The penalties and risks surely outweigh any reward. Discover how to extricate yourself from these losing battles.
Your test group has an abundance of data but what does it mean to developers, project managers, or senior managers? Johanna Rothman calls this the data-but-not-information problem. In this week's column, Johanna offers a solution for delivering information to all of your customers in one place, that will be as handy as your car's dashboard.
In the demanding, 'net-speed, pressurized world of software development, software professionals would do well to reflect on some truths about their customers, their industry, and themselves. Following a few tips will help you achieve what is ultimately the most important issue - satisfying the customer.
When your idea of a completed task is significantly different from that of your team's members, you're asking for trouble. In this week's column, Peter Clark outlines some steps you can take to ensure that everyone on your team understands your expectations when you ask them if they're "done."
When ambiguity rears its nebulous head, how can we move our projects forward with certainty? According to Harry Robinson, one of the most useful things a tester can do is ask good questions early in the software development process to help the rest of the team members to think clearly about what they are doing. Harry offers us some weapons to defend ourselves against the misunderstandings, bugs, and rework that often result from ambiguities in the development process.
Managers work hard to hire the right people for the job. Yet sometimes, the work doesn't go as well as we think it should. Was it a bad hire? Has the person developed a bad attitude? Maybe, but before you jump to conclusions, look at the other half of the performance equation.
The fact that you test an application extensively does not itself render the application more stable. However, NOT testing an application increases the risk that the software may not comply with the requirements and won't necessarily provide the expected business value. Here is a method for approaching risk-based testing.
Everyone should know by now that a problem caught early is cheaper to fix. But how many companies behave as if this is really true? In this week's column, Linda Hayes explains why protecting management from the truth about project problems may not be the wisest course of action.
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