Five Top Tips to Improve Software Quality

SOFTWARE QUALITY IS CRITICAL

What do we mean by software quality? Well, in its simplest form, software should work as intended, first time around. To do this, quality needs to be built into a solution through a true Quality Engineering (QE) approach, not looked for at the end of the development process by a separate testing function (as has been traditionally done for years). After all, if you look for quality at the end, but didn’t purposely build it in to the solution, it probably isn’t going to be there (unless you are incredibly lucky). As John Ruskin said...

QUALITY IS NEVER AN ACCIDENT; IT IS ALWAYS THE RESULT OF INTELLIGENT EFFORTS

What is Quality Engineering?

You may be wondering what the difference is between testing and Quality Engineering.

Traditionally, testing was seen as the final pre-deployment step in the software development life cycle (SDLC), a task carried out once development is completed. However, if testing is left until the final stages of a project, errors made in the earlier stages of the SDLC become much more time-consuming and costly to fix.

Quality Engineering is a holistic approach that embeds quality into every stage of the process, from the very outset. QE is not just about finding bugs; it's about preventing them. This way, any defects that could derail the project are identified much earlier in the process and are easier to rectify. This more comprehensive approach enables organisations to reduce costs, accelerate time to market, and build high-quality products that meet and exceed customer expectations.

Ignoring Quality Could Be Disastrous

Ignoring quality will result in poorly designed or implemented software systems that can lead to errors, delays, costs, reputational damage and even legal liability – and that’s if these low-quality solutions even see the light of day. Often IT projects are canned at a cost of millions due to solutions not being of the correct quality, with The Standish Group reporting that only 30% of software projects are deemed ‘successful’. That's why it's important for everyone in your organisation to be aware of the importance of software quality, in fact more than that, everyone needs to be responsible for building quality into solutions from the start!

But, whose responsibility is Quality?

Traditionally, software quality has been the responsibility of technical teams and often a specific ‘test team’. However, in today's complex and interconnected world, software quality should be everyone’s responsibility. This aligns perfectly with the QE mindset we’ve been discussing. Quality should be considered at every step of the SDLC, and for this to be achieved everyone involved in a project has to have some level of responsibility.

 The technical teams are responsible for designing, developing, and testing software to meet the needs of your business, this is obvious. However, all other teams, from the board to end-users have a part to play in ensuring the highest quality possible. Roq CEO and Founder, Stephen Johnson, speaks about this in more detail in his blog post ‘Why Quality is everybodys business’

FIVE TOP TIPS TO IMPROVE SOFTWARE QUALITY

In a practical sense these are our five top tips businesses can utilise to instil a QE mindset and improve software quality:

1. Establishing clear software quality standards. You should establish clear software quality standards that define what constitutes "good" software. These standards should be based on the needs of the organisation, clients and end users.

2. Train all teams within the organisation, helping them to understand the importance of shared responsibility regarding quality and how to identify and report problems – creating a one team QE mentality.

3. Involving the right people in the software development process. The software development process should involve all stakeholders who will be affected by the software, with representation from all touchpoints.

4. Monitoring software performance. Once software is deployed, it's important to monitor its performance to ensure that it continues to meet the newly set quality standards.

5. Quality Engineering skillset leveraged throughout. The team should be supported by experienced quality and test professionals who can challenge, advise, train, mentor and provide and technical skills (for functional, non-functional, and automated testing) to ensure technology solutions meet the business’s quality standards.

There are other more technical considerations to be made too, regarding methodology, process, tech stack etc. However, getting the whole organisation bought into the importance of quality is a crucial first step. Otherwise, time and money spent on introducing new tools and new ways of working will likely not add the value you’re hoping for.

If you’d like to discuss in more detail how Roq’s services can help you on your Quality Engineering journey, please do feel free to get in touch with a member of the team on LinkedIn, or reach out at ask@roq.co.uk