IT'S BROKEN

Thursday, August 20. 2009

Software development, QA and QC

In this guest post, Jeff Howell talks about the differences between Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) in software development, and asks:

Where’s the process improvement part of QA? Why is no budget expended to determine if the whole process makes sense? How will improvements in efficiency come about if no effort is directed to analyzing where we are and where we need to be?

Software Development, QA & QC

by Jeff Howell

I’ve been working in software development for a while, but I’m still getting used to the usage of the term QA. The activities of the software QA groups that I have seen are centered around proving, with some level of confidence, that a software works, where works means it-does-what-the-requirement-says-it-should-do.

While this is important, it does not embrace the more important aspects in my understanding of Quality Assurance. So here’s my take on defining QA & QC based on experience in Software & Hardware development as well as Manufacturing management and engineering:

QA - Provides information to upper management regarding the likelihood that the marketplace will accept (buy) the product; and analyzes and improves the process that produce the products.

QC - Measures the outcomes of the process through testing and inspection and passes the results to QA for analysis.

To give this some practical sense, consider a company which designs and manufactures bicycle sprockets. At a high level the product life cycle follows a path like:

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Admin - It's broken blog

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Tuesday, August 18. 2009

Fine print is broken

hat trick
Photo by Cayusa

In Brazil, my native country, it's illegal to use confusing terminology and/or small font in contracts and advertisements, as a mechanism to protect consumers against tricks to convince them to buy a product or service without fully understanding the conditions.

Unfortunately, not all countries provide the same level of protection to their consumers, meaning that sites like Mouse Print are never short of stories "exposing the strings and catches buried in the fine print” of all sorts of offers and agreements, like the insistent advertisements of "free trials" for teeth whiteners that actually sign up the consumer to automatic shipments and monthly bills only disclosed in fine print.

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Adriana Beal

in customer service | Comments (0)

Wednesday, August 12. 2009

Will lean techniques preserve what Starbucks customers like about the company?

Can Starbucks employ lean manufacturing techniques used by fast-food rivals without becoming a fast-food joint itself?

Smart Planet repeats the question initially raised in an article by The Wall Street Journal that describes how Starbucks has been implementing a series of process improvement initiatives in its store using "lean" principles.

According to Wikipedia, "Lean manufacturing is a variation on the theme of efficiency based on optimizing flow". Lean principles are being used in Starbucks stores to reduce costs, improve operating margins, increase service speed, and supposedly improve customer service.

Starbucks may be happy with its cost savings at this point, but if the changes focus too much on the waste reduction principles associated with "lean thinking", there's a risk that the company will transform "what used to be a pleasant experience into an expeditious, efficient, but in the end, unsatisfactory customer experience", as concludes Raissa Carey in her article Starbucks’ Lean Ruins the Experience.

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Adriana Beal

in customer service | Comments (0)

Tuesday, July 28. 2009

Canceling a service

I have been lucky canceling services quickly and painlessly in the past (thank you, Verizon!), but frequently I hear about experiences like this:

I wonder what is the reasoning behind making customers run around in circles trying to cancel a service. Do these companies really think they will cause clients to change their minds if they make the cancellation process extremely difficult? Wouldn't it be much more effective to leave a good last impression with the customer, keeping the door open for a potential return in the future?

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Adriana Beal

in customer service | Comments (0)

Thursday, July 16. 2009

What's wrong with text?

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Perhaps it's just my own bias toward the written word, but what's the point in making a video of yourself sitting behind a desk and reciting a list of recommended books?

I recently saw a blog post that was supposed to be about book reviews, and the author chose to film himself talking about the books instead. Wouldn't it be much easier for the audience to read the reviews, which could then include links to Amazon along with the book names?

reading
Photo by paulbence

More and more frequently when someone posts a link to content that seems interesting to me, it's a webinar. I have nothing against video conferences, but I miss reading written articles, which I can fit much more easily into my working hours. I simply don't have time to watch most webinars, and will join one occasionally, only to think, "I could have obtained the same information from a blog post, much faster".

If you are offering a webinar, consider providing as an alternative a short PDF for downloading. Some people still prefer to read, and will be more likely to consume a short text than sit through a long presentation of doubtful value.

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Adriana Beal

in why? really, why? | Comment (1)

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