Our Approach – VALA Quality Model
The Quest to Improve Software Quality
Quite often there seems to be an assumption that adding more testing, test automation or test coverage would fix issues related to software quality. It definitely can improve the quality but we can say for sure that it is not always enough. We have to take an overall approach and eventually we will also get improvements in the actual product quality.
For this purpose, we documented our model in software quality, and we are calling it VALA Levels of Quality. As the name suggests, there are multiple levels and we ended up having three of them.
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VALA Levels of Quality
The first level of quality is Smart Testing and it includes all the new and traditional ways of testing you’ve probably heard of. So utilizing widely known methods like test pyramid, testing quadrants or shift-left (or as we call it more often, extend left and right).
But the testing level alone is not enough. We also need to involve and activate our business to the quality work! The second level of quality is called Business Focus. People from business should not only participate in UAT test sessions but be involved throughout the development process – requirements, design, development and eventually to UAT and actual acceptance of the system.
The top level of the quality model puts individual projects and programs to the side as it focuses on organizational level and the aim is to Build Quality. This is where everyone is involved, in any of the roles related to software systems. For each role we can identify tasks that have an impact on the software quality.
VALA Levels of Quality – Operational Levels
The levels in the model also describe operational levels as follows:
Testing is done on the project/program level.
Business focus/inclusion is done on the project/program management level.
Quality building is done on the organization level, as we want to ensure that all development activities use the same ways of work.
VALA Levels of Quality – Order of the Levels
Now about the order of levels of quality. We understand that it is tempting to start fixing software quality with testing related improvements. But our experience shows that utilizing the model in 1-2-3 order is much more effective. It is much easier to descend down the ladders than to climb up the steep hill.
For example:
- Let’s design the quality objectives first and standardize ways of work, tools and methods.
- Then let’s involve the business (users or representatives), ensuring that their needs, thoughts and feedback are heard throughout the system development and operations lifecycle.
- Finally we are able to plan and create project/program specific testing, based on the actual needs of the system criticality, technology and end user needs.
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