"... the definition of “quality” is always political and emotional, because it always involves a series of decisions about whose opinions count, and how much they count relative to one another."
Gerald M. Weinberg
Writing in "Crosstalk", July/August 2014:
"Agile and the Definition of Quality"
Weinberg's article in "Crosstalk" is very incisive. Of course it should be. He's been around software and writing about software for several decades, Agile being only the latest to catch his interest.
Here's a few wits about quality from Weinberg -- stuff to think about
“Zero defects is high quality”
-to a user such as a surgeon whose work would be disturbed by those defects
-to a manager who would be criticized for those defects
“Elegant coding is high quality”
-to developers who place a high value on the opinions of their peers
-to professors of computer science who enjoy elegance
“Low development cost is high quality”
-to customers who wish to buy thousands of copies of the software
-to project managers who are on tight budgets
“User-friendliness is high quality”
-to users who spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of a screen using the software
-to users who can’t remember interface details from one use to the next
-to a user such as a surgeon whose work would be disturbed by those defects
-to a manager who would be criticized for those defects
“Lots of features is high quality”
-to users whose work can use those features—if they know about them
-to marketers who believe that features sell products.
“Elegant coding is high quality”
-to developers who place a high value on the opinions of their peers
-to professors of computer science who enjoy elegance
“High performance is high quality”
-to users whose work taxes the capacity of their machines
-to salespeople who have to submit their products
to benchmarks
“Low development cost is high quality”
-to customers who wish to buy thousands of copies of the software
-to project managers who are on tight budgets
“Rapid development is high quality”
-to users whose work is waiting for the software
-to marketers who want to colonize a market before the competitors can get in
“User-friendliness is high quality”
-to users who spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of a screen using the software
-to users who can’t remember interface details from one use to the next
Read in the library at Square Peg Consulting about these books I've written
Buy them at any online book retailer!
Read my contribution to the Flashblog
