The Software Quality Star: A conceptual model for the software quality curriculum

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The Software Quality StarA conceptual model for
the software quality curriculum

• Ronan Fitzpatrick
• School of Computing,
• Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street,
  Dublin 8, Ireland.
• Email ronan.fitzpatrick_at_comp.dit.ie
• INTERACT 2003 Closing the Gaps.
• Ninth IFIP TC International Conference on
  Human-Computer Interaction
• 1 - 2 September, 2003
• Zurich, Switzerland

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Overview

• Originating philosophy
• ISI/IEC 12207
• Software Quality Star
• Perspectives of software quality
• Perspectives of Producer, Product and Procurer
• Closing the Gaps
• Strategic Driver Model
• Questions

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Software life cycle processesPurpose

• An international standard ISO/IEC
  122071995(E) that
• establishes a common framework for software life
  cycle processes.
• uses well-defined terminology
• is suitable for all sectors in the software
  industry

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Software life cycle processes Field of
application

• Intended for use in a two-party situations
• parties from different organisations
• parties from same organisation
• single party/self imposed tasks
• Not intended for off-the-shelf software products
  unless incorporated into a deliverable product.
• Written for the
• acquirer, supplier, developers, operators,
  maintainers
• managers, QA managers and end-users

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Software life cycle processesStructure of the
international standard ISO/IEC 12207 (1995)
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Software life cycle processesFive Primary life
cycle processes
ENGINEERING VIEW
5.3 Development process
Process implementation
Software installation
Software acceptance support
5.5 Maintenance process
System requirements analysis
System architectural design
System integration
System qualification testing
Process implementation
Problem modification analysis
Software requirements analysis
Software architectural design
Software detailed design
Software integration
Software qualification testing
Modification implementation
Maintenance review/ acceptance
Software coding and testing
Migration
Software retirement
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Software life cycle processesFive primary life
cycle processes (plus Supporting and
Organisational)
End
5.1 Acquisition process
5.2 Supply process
5.3 Development process
5.4 Operation process
5.5 Maintenance process
6. Supporting life cycle process (documentation,
configuration management, Quality assurance and
problem resolution)
Start
7. Organisational life cycle process
(management, infrastructure, improvement and
training)
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Quality focus

• Provides a common framework and vocabulary.
• Written with QA manager in mind.
• Addresses need quality planning.
• Specifies unit, integration, system and
  acceptance testing.
• Identifies the ongoing need for process
  improvement.

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The Software Quality Star
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contract
Producer
Procurer
Software
Quality STAR
Project
User

• Acquirer
• operators,
• maintainers,
• managers,
• end-users.

• Supplier,
• developers,
• managers,
• QA managers.

Process
IS Professional
Product
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The Producers perspective

• Producer
• Competitive excellence - best in their field
• Corporate accreditation - e.g., CMM, ISO
• Domain speciality - knowledge and expertise of
  the procurer organisations business processes
• Project
• Development excellence, i.e., best project
  management standards and practice (e.g., P-CMM)
• Process
• Quality management, i.e., building in quality
  requirements as specified in the contract.

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The Product perspectiveQuality factors
12
The Procurers perspective

• Procurer
• Competitive support - support for competitive
  position
• Investment efficient - value for money
• Statutory conformance - complies with legal
  obligations
• Corporate alignment - product is in keeping with
  organisations business strategy
• User
• User acceptance - acceptable and usable by user
  community
• IS professional
• Technical excellence - serviceable and
  maintainable

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Closing the Gap

• Software life cycle and Software quality
• More than testing, permeates all perspectives
• At postgraduate level
• Group of mixed primary degree - BSc, BEng, BBS,
  MBCS, BA,
• At undergraduate level
• BSc and BBS

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Closing the Gap

• Identifies the various stakeholders and their
  perspectives
• Allows stakeholders and students for any
  discipline to understand the perspectives of
  stakeholders and students from other disciplines
• Provides a common model for all.

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Closing the Gap

• Software Engineering HCI
• SE considerations
• Development excellence, i.e., best project
  management standards and practice (e.g., P-CMM)
• Quality management, i.e., building in quality
  requirements as specified in the contract.
• HCI considerations (acceptable an usable)
• Usability All 12 external quality factors per
  slide 11 ?
• Usability evaluation - Usability methods and
  techniques ?
• Usability quotient - numerically quantify/metrics
• Views of usability product-centred view,
  context-of-use view and quality-of-use view which
  includes effectiveness, efficiency and
  satisfaction.

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Closing the Gap

• Originally developed with a Quality focus
• Focus of this presentation is HCI
• The Software Quality Star can have its focus
  tailored to suit whatever discipline is being
  thought, typically, Security.

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Conclusion

• Originating philosophy
• ISI/IEC 12207
• Software Quality Star
• Perspectives of software quality
• Perspectives of Producer, Product and Procurer
• Closing the Gaps
• Strategic Driver Model

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Closing the Gap

• QUESTIONS

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The Product perspectiveQuality factors
?
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Usability methods as named by ISO/TR 16982
Usability Methods Usability Methods
Observation of users Performance-related measurements Critical incidents Questionnaires Interviews Thinking aloud Collaborative design and evaluation Creativity methods Document-based methods Model-based approaches Expert evaluation Automated evaluation
Additional Methods and Techniques Additional Methods and Techniques
Electronic surveys Log files Video capture Scan converter Focus groups Parallel design Brainstorming
?