Better Software Articles

Measure the Measurable

Observing customers in a usability lab can be invaluable for improving product design. But, once your software leaves the lab, do you know what your customers are actually doing and whether or not your software meets their expectations? Learn how engineers on the Microsoft Office team apply a variety of software telemetry techniques to understand real-world usage, how the results drive product improvements, and how you can apply similar techniques.

10 Ways To Improve Your Risk-Based Testing

Whether you are involved in a traditional V-model environment or applying agile development methodologies, setting testing priorities is always an issue. From practical experience in various domains (e.g., embedded, medical, automotive, banking, and logistics), Erik shares ten essential lessons learned regarding risk-based testing.

Enterprise Agile and The Business Analyst

Agile is making its way into the enterprise as a project methodology for industrial-strength projects. Why the popularity? The answer lies in the requirements paradox: “We want requirements to be stable, but requirements are never stable.” Discover some key agile concepts as they affect business analysts.

Negotiating Our Relationships

When joining a project, your position isn't a given; you must negotiate it. Lee identifies five roles that combine to make up team relationships.

Small Experiments

In today's environment, we seem to have little time for either problem identification or solution implementation. What seems to work well instead (and is more fun) is to try small experiments. The idea is not to solve problems, but to try to learn in little steps.

Forget What You Think You Know

The transition to lean-agile can be challenging for traditional project managers because traditional competencies and practices can conflict with the core principles that explain why lean principles work. To help prepare project managers transitioning to lean-agile, this article exposes five counterintuitive practices that challenge standard project management beliefs.

Sometimes Perception Is the Problem

High on a mountain twenty years ago, a wise man shared secrets of problem solving that have served Payson Hall ever since. In this article, Payson passes along a simple definition that offers insights into problems and potential solutions.

An Introduction to Scala

Scala is a programming language that blends functional and object-oriented language features. Scala programs run on the Java Virtual Machine and can easily interact with Java code. Learn how Scala can yield concise, safe, and compatible code and how you can start learning Scala on your own.

Busted: 5 Myths of Testing Regulated Software

Testing regulated software is often seen as a tedious job that generates stacks of documentation and is subject to crippling rules. See five of these assumptions exposed as mere myths, and learn how regulated testers can use the same approaches, techniques, and tools at any other tester's disposal while still passing a process audit.

Agile Light Bulb Moments

Many of us have our personal identities wrapped up in our jobs, which can make change hard, particularly in agile environments. Recognizing the power of storytelling, Michele Sliger started collecting first-person stories about how adopting agile affected individuals and what their "light bulb moment" was like. Find out how agile adoptions have changed individuals—their perceptions of agile, their leadership styles, and even their personal lives.