Five Core Metrics to Guide the Testing Endgame

By its very nature, the endgame of software projects is a hostile environment. Typical dynamics include release pressure, continuous bug discovery, additional requirements, exhausted development teams, frenzied project managers, and "crunch mode"-a politically correct term for unpaid overtime. Although testing teams are usually in the thick of this battle, they usually do not do enough to help guide the project in this critical stage. To improve the overall endgame experience, testers can help entire team’s focus with a few key defects metrics. Robert Galen discusses ways to track these five key defect metrics: found vs. fixed; high priority defects found; project keywords; defect transition progress; and functional distribution of errors. Join Robert to increase the likelihood of delivering your projects on time-and surviving yet another endgame.

• Help traffic the action for the incoming defect stream during the endgame
• Highlight defect repair performance characteristics without alienating development
• Provide Pareto guidance into project risk areas