Better Software Magazine

Better Software Magazine Articles

User-Driven Design

It doesn't matter when you deliver, if you build the wrong product. Development entails inferences and assumptions about the user, which are supposed to guide the build-process. However, even if development successfully matches the inferences and assumptions about the user, if those criteria don't match the Real User, the product fails. This article talks about how to incorporate the user into the requirements and design phase.

Look Before You Test

Test coverage is about insuring that test plans and test cases include information vital for successful testing of the program in the areas of functionality, performance, and the overall quality of the software. This article shows how to create a plan of attack to provide strong test coverage, determine the scenarios for the test plan, and manage the changes made to information used by testing.

Kenneth Lengel
Effective Test Status Reporting

The way you report test status can impact both real and perceived effectiveness. Here's how to master the upward and outward management of communicating test progress and results.

Rex Black's picture Rex Black
Quality Meets the CEO

Management and testers may not often speak the same language. This article takes an unvarnished look at the communication gap between quality advocates and management and offers ways to open a dialogue and gain credibility.

Jeffery Payne's picture Jeffery Payne
Managing in Mayberry: An Examination of Three Distinct Leadership Styles

The assumptions you make about the people you manage can shape your management style. Here's a detailed look at three distinct styles of management and how they apply to your software projects.

Dan Starr
Immunizing Against Predictable Project Failure

To be truly successful, a project needs more than a list of requirements and good intentions. Here's a way to use project charters to define the big-picture relationship and expectations between Developers and Management.

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Using Monkey Test Tools

Monkey testing refers to automated testing done randomly without any "typical user" bias. Here's a look at how to use such random testing techniques to cost-effectively catch bugs you might otherwise miss.

Noel Nyman
James Bach on Explaining Testing to Them

Are your co-workers in the dark when it comes to understanding how testing works? James Bach provides good responses to common questions, including nine basic principles of good hallway explanations. Learn how to give a programmer or manager a more accurate view of your job.

James Bach's picture James Bach
Bayesian Belief Nets: Predicting Defect Rates and Resource Requirements

A Bayesian Belief Net is a graphical network that represents probabilistic relationships among variables. Here is a studied look at this causal modeling technique as applied to defect prediction and resource estimation.

Norman Fenton
Mining Gold from Server Logs

What do your customers really think about your Web site? Here's how to use the records you already have to improve your Web testing.

Karen N. Johnson's picture Karen N. Johnson

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