Defect Detection

Monty Python, The Cheese Shop Sketch

Sometimes defects can be glaringly obvious (like the complete and total lack of any dairy products in the Cheese Shop). Other times, there can be long debates on whether a behavior is a defect or a feature. The important task for Quality professionals is to determine which types of defects to go after first.

There are times when a dozen defects for spelling errors and other cosmetic problems are appropriate. However if the product under test doesn't work, why bother looking for such things? On the other hand, testers cannot overlook low hanging fruit. I know one fellow who was reprimanded for finding too many "simple" problems. It wasn't his fault that the product was fundamentally broken for a span of several months. Unfortunately his supervisor didn't look deep enough into the situation to see what was really happening.

The important thing is to let the quality goals drive what classes of defects the test team spends time looking for.

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last update 7/29/98