The software quality industry continues to grow in the areas of control, test and tracking. How far has the software quality industry come in the area of design? It is the design that determines what the customer ultimately sees.
What does a person hope for when he or she sits down to use the software? Where do we expect to encounter software (are we sitting down at all)?
Its my belief that software should complement our lives. In the same way that the washing machine was meant to give a housewife more freedom and the lightbulb removed open flame lighting and its inherent fire risk, so I expect software to provide a benefit to my ongoing life. Yet, almost every day, I encounter something software related that raises my frustration level, which I may then communicate to those around me. Testing alone does not eliminate this. Sure, we can find the memory leak, which either causes the program to slow or crash. But what of the design itself? What of the endless improvements that bring with it the inevitable question "did I ask for this?" How do I do what I used to do? Where did they move that button to? Why does it keep prompting me for that? Why didn't it tell me it was going to do that? How does this make sense? Why can't I just turn on the faucet like I used to?
Design means asking these important questions. Testing and control and even requirement processes do not guarantee quality software.
