Better Software Articles

The System Behind The Behavior

Most managers are familiar with using feedback and coaching to help people improve their performance at work. But those aren't the only tools managers have. Sometimes, the most effective way to change individual behavior is to change something in the system.

Slicing Requirements For Agile Success

Agile teams need to analyze product requirements in enough detail to build, test, and deliver the right requirements in short time frames. For the many teams that struggle to define "just enough, just in time” requirements, here's help.

Four Paths To Predictable, Repeatable, Reusable Test Data

Modern applications operate in highly integrated environments, and critical systems rely on massive amounts of data that likely contain sensitive information. Discover useful strategies for preparing your baseline, handling interfaces, designing input data, and planning for output results.

Believe the Territory

Test plans are seldom followed as written, project plans hardly ever fit the actual progress, and process models are rarely followed to the letter. Markus Gaertner examines why most of our documents become obsolete and gives advice about whether or not to continue to write and maintain them.

A Common Language

Do your stakeholders use different terms to talk about the same concept or use the same term but in a different way? A domain model can clarify key concepts and the relationships between them, helping your team resolve ambiguous terms and leading to more productive discussions about project requirements.

Unintended Consequences

Every action elicits a response, but sometimes that response is not what we expect. These anecdotes from industry experts are good examples of how our best intentions don't always match our plans.

The Weekend Testers

This is the true story of freedom from the monotonous work of checking. It is the story of what happened when a few passionate testers took responsibility for their own education and fun in testing. Explore how they test, learn, and contribute to the open source.

Leveraging A Learning Culture

Mistakes happen. It's how you respond to them that matters. Teams might react to a bug with panic and blame, leading to a quickly hacked fix and possibly more issues. Taking time to investigate and learn leverages problems into process and practice improvement and a higher quality product.

So, You Want to Be a Consultant?

Many practitioners see becoming a consultant as their ultimate career goal. But what does it mean to be "a consultant"? In this email to an aspiring consultant, Fiona Charles (a consultant for more than fifteen years) discusses different consulting approaches and describes how working for a consulting firm can help you get there.

Catch Them Doing It Right

Rewards can be powerful management tools, but only if you implement them effectively. In this installment of the Management Chronicles, discover how the right timing and getting to know your employees better can improve the impact of your recognition method.