testing archives

10 Reasons Why You Fix Bugs
(and Usability Issues)
as Soon as You Find Them

Great poster on why you fix bugs as soon as you find them. Many of the same cases could be made for usability issues (at least the medium to large sized ones). Here’s the short list (via uTest):

  1. Unfixed bugs camouflage other bugs. (So true for usability issues! This is why I love RITE testing and similar methods; you get those Big Rocks out of the way so you can discover others.)
  2. Unfixed bugs suggest quality isn’t important. (Amen, especially with regards to usability issues.)
  3. Discussing unfixed bugs is a waste of time.
  4. Unfixed bugs lead to duplicate effort.
  5. Unfixed bugs lead to unreliable metrics.
  6. Unfixed bugs distract the entire team.
  7. Unfixed bugs hinder short-notice releases.
  8. Unfixed bugs lead to inaccurate estimates.
  9. Fixing familiar code is easier than unfamiliar code.
  10. Fixing a bug today costs less than tomorrow. (Very true.)

posted by ted 10 hours ago

“Great ideas can’t be tested.
Only mediocre ideas can be tested.”
Legendary advertising icon George Lois, from the t-shirt series
The Ten Commandments of George Lois.

posted by jason on Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010

“In order to better understand [the elderly’s] experience I have bought a pair of ski gloves and some reading glasses (I don’t need reading glasses). Every now and again, I surf the site I am designing wearing both the glasses and gloves. The glasses make the screen hard to read while the gloves hamper my use of the mouse and the keyboard. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to select something from a drop down menu
wearing ski gloves!”
From Paul Boag in Boagworld podcast episode 130,
and originally found on Web Axe.

posted by cannona on Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008

“If it weren’t for the QA Team, the testing would go really smooth…”
Database Engineer, giving a friendly jab at our excellent Quality Assurance team

posted by ted on Thursday, Jan 10, 2008