Building Trust through Transparent Testing: How Openness Drives Safer Vehicles

Transparency in Testing and Why It Matters

Before going into this post, I want to apologize to Rachel Evans for not being able to attend the Automotive Testing Expo in Novi, Michigan. This goes beyond her and to all who had planned to meet me and chat about this vital topic area of product testing. There was a time when I was indestructible primarily. I went to work as a supervisor at a fast-food restaurant with a swollen, discolored ankle, hopping around on one leg to run the store. Another instance, I played 3 quarters of a football game with a scratched cornea, unable to see out of my right eye. I hate to be pulled from the game, no matter the game. I have, however, realized that sometimes we need to take ourselves out of the game —or the game will take us out.

Transparency in testing means openly sharing accurate validation results, risks, and limitations within and across engineering teams. In vehicle development, it ensures that quality and safety data aren’t filtered or obscured under tight deadlines or organizational pressure. Transparency in testing builds confidence among regulators, customers, and internal teams, turning openness into a competitive advantage rather than a compliance burden.

When Transparency Was Lacking

Unintended Consequences (Tools)

The company had a tool for reporting and tracking defects found in the product, especially during testing and verification. The tool was difficult to use, and management’s response to the reported defects was excessive. The response was for the tester to keep an Excel sheet of the logged defects. This was not transparent; only the people performing the tests could see the defect arrival rate and analyze its severity. The other parts of the organization were not privy to the test results. Making informed decisions requires– well, information. Hidden results cannot be critiqued or used to make decisions. The project would progress without this key information.

Not So Much An Accident

In one project early in my career, incomplete testing data was withheld from the reporting chain to maintain program timing. That lack of transparency led to late-stage failures during prototype trials, ultimately causing delays and rework costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Without full disclosure of test conditions and anomalies, the organization wasted valuable time solving problems and lost customer trust—a preventable outcome.

Organization Politics

Nothing I write is about shaming or making a company or some person(s) look bad. So this section is even more sanitized. A lower-tier supplier within the same company delivered a key component for a vehicle system. My team and I were responsible for integrating this key subsystem into the vehicle; the assembly came with no release notes (a mechanism to facilitate transparency). We did not know the features delivered in each increment, but we knew the total features expected to be delivered, so we top-down tested the integration. The supplier did not like the many defects reported and pressured the customer company to close open defect reports.

Regulations Encouraging Transparency

Several vehicle regulatory initiatives now mandate or encourage data openness. This can help, but the reality is that the organization’s culture shapes its response. The fact is that the organization’s culture either supports (rarely, from experience) or erodes this openness and transparency.

NHTSA AV TEST Initiative: A voluntary program allowing companies to share testing data for vehicles equipped with automated driving systems.
ADS-equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program (AV STEP): Developed by NHTSA to expand oversight and information sharing about autonomous vehicle testing practices.
State Reporting Laws: States like California and Nevada require transparency for disengagements or safety-related incidents in autonomous testing.

We cannot state this firmly enough. These external entities may be helpful, but the organization’s internal efforts, communications, and culture are also significant. More important than these external entities. It also requires a level of discipline.

Tools and Processes for Transparency

Transparency in testing can be enhanced through modern engineering tools and culture shifts. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools often connect development and testing, ideally from the test case (juxtaposed with the various requirements from component to system). This connection helps identify the consequences of the discovered defect, enabling an assessment of defect risk. Providing a way to see the defects and trace their consequences, allowing quick identification, is helpful —it should be evident to those who have played this game.

We want to lead with tools that will not save your team. Tools can help, but only if the tools are selected to work within our work processes. We would also note that we will need some discipline in using the tool. Also, all the requisite processes beyond the tool are in place and applied, for example, test case generation, test processes, and configuration management.

Verification management software for real-time reporting of test results and remaining validation tasks.
Automated test data capture and dashboards to visualize progress and outcomes.
Open defect tracking systems that connect test engineers, software developers, and project leads.
Regular cross-functional reviews to share what failed—and why—without stigma.

Building Transparent Reporting Structures

Transparent reporting structures encourage truth over comfort. Reports should convey test scope covered, test case failure modes, validation progress percentages, and residual risk in clear, comparable formats. Leadership must model acceptance of such openness, rewarding honesty that prevents future hazards rather than punishing it.

Balancing “Failing to Act” and “Panicking Too Soon”

This balance requires disciplined data interpretation. A transparent testing environment allows objective insights to guide timing. Teams that see the full picture—complete datasets, repetitive failures, and margins—can act decisively without overreacting to single anomalies. That confidence comes only through transparency and communication.

Improving Safety and Accountability

Industrywide standards such as the FIA Road Safety Index promote global benchmarking and accountability. This system uses transparent metrics to measure road safety performance, linking safety outcomes to leadership responsibility. Greater openness in metrics and post-test review can push the entire sector toward continuous improvement.

Enhancing Efficiency and Decision-Making Tools

Transparency ties directly to efficiency. Automated test management tools, digital twins, and explainable AI now integrate explainability and interpretability into vehicle validation. These methods reduce human workload and enhance traceability across complex autonomous systems. Streamlining data accessibility frees engineers to concentrate on problem-solving rather than bureaucracy.

Final Thought: What the Audience Should Take Away

Transparency in testing isn’t just about documentation—it’s about cultivating integrity, shared responsibility, and communication. For Jon M. Quigley and Value Transformation LLC, transparency in testing forms the backbone of quality, trust, and long-term organizational learning in the automotive industry.