Acknowledge Defect

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="3" width=200 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000" background="03cc8c00dkcfsz.png"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.mosaicinc.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mosaicinc.com"><U><B><IMG SRC="17454400.png" border=0 width="84" height="64" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="modelmain.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defect Management Process"><U><B>Defect Management Process</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="dprevention.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defect Prevention"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Defect Prevention</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="delbaselining.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Deliverable Baseline"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Deliverable Baseline</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="defdiscovery.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defect Discovery"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Defect Discovery</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="finddefect.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Find Defect"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Find Defect</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="reportdefect.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Report Defect"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Report Defect</B></U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00c833ccff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Acknowledge Defect</B></div> <div> <A HREF="defresolution.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defect Resolution"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Defect Resolution</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="procimprove.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Process Improvement"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Process Improvement</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mreporting.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Management Reporting"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Management Reporting</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="implement_process.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Implementing the Process"><U><B>Implementing the Process</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="critmetrics.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Define Critical Metrics"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Define Critical Metrics</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="ident_critical_rsks.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Identify Critical Risks"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Identify Critical Risks</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="iprocessimprvnts.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Identify Process Improvements"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Identify Process Improvements</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="developplan.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Develop Defect Management Plan"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Develop Plan</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="pilotproject.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pilot the Defect Management Process"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Pilot the Defect Management Process</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="glossary.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Glossary"><U><B>Glossary</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="references.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="References"><U><B>References</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=60 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Acknowledge Defect</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=388 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Defect Discovery Process</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="14ded410.png" border=0 width="493" height="65" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Once a defect has been brought to the attention of the developer, the developer must decide whether or not the defect is valid.  Delays in acknowledging defects can be very costly.  The primary cause of delays in acknowledging a defect appears to be an inability to reproduce the defect.  When the defect is not reproducible and appears to be an isolated event ("no one else has reported anything like that"), there will be an increased tendency for the developer to assume the defect is invalid -- that the defect is caused by user error or misunderstanding.  Moreover, with very little information to go on, the developer may feel that there is nothing he or she can do anyway.  Unfortunately, as technology becomes more complex, defects which are difficult to reproduce will become more and more common.  Software developers must develop strategies to more quickly pinpoint the cause of a defect.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Strategies to pinpoint cause of defect</B></I></div> <div> One strategy to pinpoint the cause of a defect is to instrument code to trap the state of the environment when anomalous conditions occur.  Microsoft's Dr. Watson concept would be an example of this technique.  In the Beta release of Windows 3.1, Microsoft included features (i.e., Dr. Watson) to trap the state of the system when a significant problem occurred.  This information was then available to Microsoft when the problem was reported and helped them analyze the problem.</div> <bR> <div> Writing code to check the validity of the system is another way to pinpoint the cause of a defect.  This is actually a very common technique for hardware manufacturers.  Unfortunately diagnostics may give a false sense of security -- they can find defects, but they cannot show the absence of defects.  Virus checkers would be an example of this strategy.</div> <bR> <div> Finally, analyzing reported defects to discover the cause of a defect is very effective.  While a given defect may not be reproducible, quite often it will appear again (and again) perhaps in different guises.  Eventually patterns may be noticed which will help in resolving the defect.  If the defect is not logged, or if it is closed prematurely, then valuable information can be lost.  In one instance reported to the research team, a development team was having difficulty reproducing a problem.  Finally, during a visit to the location, they discovered how to reproduce the problem.  The problem was caused when one of the users fell asleep with her finger on the enter key.  In order to protect the user, the circumstances surrounding the problem were not reported to the developers until the on-site visit.</div> <bR> <div> A resolution process needs to be established for use in the event there is a dispute regarding a defect.  For example, if the group uncovering the defect believes it is a defect but the developers do not, a quick-resolution process must be in place.  While many approaches can address this situation, the two most effective are:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Arbitration by the software owner -- the customer using the software determines whether or not the problem is a defect.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.png" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Arbitration by a software development manager -- a senior manager of the software development department will be selected to resolve the dispute.</div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=32 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="reportdefect.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Report Defect"><U><B><IMG SRC="0e711110.png" border=0 width="17" height="17" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="17" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="17"><B>    </B><A HREF="http://www.mosaicinc.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mosaicinc.com"><U><B>Mosaic Home</B></U></A><B>    </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defect Management"><U><B>Defect Management Home</B></U></A><B>    </B><A HREF="defdiscovery.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Defect Discovery"><U><B><IMG SRC="0e411110.png" border=0 width="17" height="17" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="17" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="17"></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>