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I finally got to listen to this episode yesterday. While it is another great episode, Richard Bradshaw and Vernon Richards challenged everyone who asked a question, to also respond - doh! My question - What does quality mean to you? While I ask this question, a lot, I have never written down my thoughts. I could have ignored this request but I thought no, challenge accepted. So here is my answer 😀 ------------------------------ Like Vernon, when I hear this question, I initially think of Weinberg’s quote, “Quality is value to some person.” However, when it comes to software quality, I like to extend this to include the “who matters” part, as added by Bach and Bolton. For me, software quality relates to a list of criteria that the product should meet in order to be usable. For example, does it work? Is it functional? Does it look good? Is it accessible? Does it work on supported browsers and devices? Is it easy to use? Are there any bugs that, if released, could cause the system to go down? Is it performant? etc. As we know, however, quality is subjective so what I think quality means can be different to the next person, therefore, I always try to take a step back and put myself in our user's shoes - in other words the “some person who matters”. While the product may tick everything on my list, if it doesn’t meet the user's requirements, then it will never be high quality (or even sound quality) for them, no matter how usable, accessible or pretty it looks. If they don’t like it, they won’t use it - simple. While some of this is achieved with well-defined requirements, I think some of it comes from listening. Just listen to users and take on board what they are experiencing from their point of view. Before entering the quality space, I was a trainer teaching our customers how to use our product. I got to experience first-hand what it was like to explain how the product works from my perspective but see them interrupt that differently, achieving a task in a totally different way. Sometimes, that interruption led them down a path where they couldn’t work it out, so I would listen to them and work the problem through. While I am no longer a trainer, I still get to experience this through other means, such as working on customer projects, and I believe that by listening, we get a better understanding of what quality means for the "some person who matters".
Industry leader in software testing and quality engineering. With a strong focus on automation and whole team quality approaches. I'm a tester, automator, keynote speaker, teacher, strategist, leader & a friendly human.
A new episode of the Vernon Richard show has just dropped. This week we took inspiration from the listeners, by using their questions to guide our conversation. Probably one of my favourite episodes thus far. We answer questions from James Thomas, Aj Wilson, Mark Gillott, Leigh Rathbone, Deb Sherwood, Mark Tomlinson, Anna Royzman and Melissa Fisher. https://lnkd.in/enuKnitq
Mentors, Mindsets, Missions, and Margherita: Vernon & Richard's First Ask Us Anything Session
https://www.youtube.com/
Woohooo, thank you for the question and playing along, love the points in this answer.
Passionate about Quality
2wI also wanted to say thank you for that last question. It was listening to myself from both points of view. I needed to hear that right now. I am now going to start my own cookie jar. 😁