Defects: a final countdown

It seems such a small thing: how to deal with defects? Why is this still such a major headache everywhere? So much time wasted: triage meetings, talking about and prioritising defects, stretching the lifetime of a bug to Methuselahain lengths, growing longer and longer backlogs of defects. A ‘zero bug’ policy can seem impossible, but you, too, can escape that long weekly triage meeting. And it is easier than you think.

In this talk, I’ll take you through practical steps that take you from where you are now right to zero bugs. Each intermediate step gives clear improvements. Whether you are a tech lead, product owner, scrum master or in management, you can set this in motion. Using examples from different types of companies that have gone through this change, from small to large, you will see what steps you can take to get rid of triage meetings once and for all. Yes, even when you have to deal with compliance regulations.

Participants Takeaways:

• How a superficially sensible system of prioritising defect individually leads to unmanageable backlogs
• A strategy to move gradually to a zero bug policy from different starting points
• A simple way to stop the number of bugs growing without spending more time on fixing bugs
• A proven and highly effective way to get rid of the many small defects that never get priority
• A minimalistic way to be compliant on defect management

Themes: Software Delivery, Quality, Defects, Triage, Zero-bug Policy, Management, Process Improvement, Build Quality In