We are composing a glossary of test terms and we take one from that work today and discuss here. A development organization can be structured in many ways. The development and testing can be essentially one department under one management structure, or these two areas, development and test can be separated each with a respective […]

Flip a coin, heads, or tails. The probability that it will come up heads is 50%; there are only two sides.  Flip that same coin again, the same probability, 50%.  However, if we say that success is two successive heads (or tails) that is different. The probability of two consecutive heads is the product of […]

by: Shawn P. Quigley Whereas we have discussed some of the possible flaws in measurements we can all still agree that they are needed to provide both improvement in processes and the organization. However, other aspects of obtaining data for the production of quantifiable information: trend analysis and process evaluation, is the human factor both […]

by: Shawn P. Quigley & Jon M Quigley Measurements and Bias Solely by the process of observing something we can alter the thing which is being observed. This is a known as the observer-expectancy effect.  This effect is born out of conscience and subconscious biases of the observer.  In the case of observing people, we […]

Testing Complex and Embedded Systems What set of conditions could cause this event to occur? When we have elicited all we can from the customer about fault information, it is time to proceed further in our analysis. This next step requires investigation of the design to understand how the symptom of failure described could happen […]

In the development phase of the product development life cycle, we are generating ideas for the product. We see opportunities in the market place and wish to explore if we can capitalize (not a vulgar word) upon these opportunities.  Perhaps a new technology has become available to us.  Our organization will want to investigate the […]

By Shawn P. Quigley Maslow and Motivation In our previous discussions we have referred to Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation (Hierarchy of Needs) and how this relates to work place motivation. To best continue our discussion we must first review some of the tenets of Maslow’s theory in more detail and dispel the misconception that […]

Requirements and Benchmarking One of the things we can do to understand and develop our own requirements is to explore other products that are similar to our proposed product or that solve the same or similar customer problem.  Where there are similar needs met, benchmarking is a way for us to understand how other suppliers have […]

The customer can seldom articulate the technical details of the product.  The customer may define the product or need in terms of function and performance, but building the product from these documents will be extremely difficult or perhaps impossible.  We will need some type of document to begin describing in technical terms the product that […]