F12 – 502: How to Prevent Defects

Track: Test Strategy, Process and Design

The session shows how to prevent defects from leaking to later stages of the SDLC. This is a successful case study in which awareness and focus on static testing was increased over a period of 2 years. Defect detection & leakage removal metrics were tracked for each of the projects. The first 2 projects exposed some issues. The metrics were shared and discussed with business partners – and various process improvements were implemented. The results on the 4 subsequent projects showed marked reductions in defects that leaked into system testing and production. The quality improvement also contributed to less cost and shorter timelines because re-work was controlled.

The session will show:

  • Benefits of removing defects during static testing
  • What defect detection metrics should be collected
  • How to analyze the metrics
  • Potential process improvements that could be implemented

Session Takeaways:

  • A focus on documentation reviews, walk-throughs, and inspections is a critical first step for building quality into the code early in the SDLC – rather than testing quality in later (during dynamic test levels or in production).
  • Defect metrics are essential to support things that testing exposes every day. They are the basis for initiating process improvement discussions and are critical for getting buy-in from the project partners.
  • When awareness of static testing is increased on the project team through efficient documentation reviews, the individuals participating often stop creating defects as they specify, program, and test the new functionality.
  • The QA organization is the best group to promote processes that build quality into code early in the SDLC.
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Session Speaker:

Dwight LamppertDwight Lamppert – Senior Test Manager, Franklin Templeton
Dwight has over 15 years of software testing experience in the financial services industry and currently manages Software Testing Process & Metrics at Franklin Templeton. He has managed testing and test resources on small, medium, and large projects. Most recently, he has focused on piloting and promoting a shift to up-front software developmental practices and is a key contributor to developing standards and guidelines for agile development in his company. He is an ASTQB certified tester.