Testing

I have to admit that I know too little about software testing in practice to be a well-rounded software developer. That does not mean that I am adverse to testing, on the contrary I think that many architecture focus on properties discernible by the end user and not the developers where testers are a key developer role.
So I am curios if there are any patterns on how to design a testable architecture.

I enjoy the blog thoughts from the test eye, which also has a blog roll if you want to explore further test blogs.
I also stumbled across a very good powerpoint summary about testing in industrial settings from Lappeenranta University of Technology.

Quality starts with me

Outside the main dining hall at Volvo Cars R&D headquarters there is some information about ongoing quality work under the heading "Quality starts with me". A quick google search shows this sentence is not something unique to Volvo Cars, but it got me thinking.
To start with: For software (or any product I guess) quality can be seen from to viewpoints:

1. Free from defects
2. Appropriate according to the needs of the user

In many cases one obviously wants to achieve both these objectives, but the actions to reach them vary. Bad case is when one uses an action/method/principle that supports the first objective while believing it is the second one.
Let's say that I review a software specification if all requirements are SMART requirements (insert alternative acronym if desired). Does this support quality of type 1 or 2 above?

When it comes to reviewing or auditing I think it can be applied towards both objectives above, but it requires a lot more of the reviewer if it is the second objective that is the goal of the audit.

Writing user stories

The blog is updated very seldom nowadays. It is not because I have lost interst, it is just that I write scientific articles with an unprecedented speed in parallel with doing improvement work at Volvo.

I just wanted to put in a reminder of how you define a user story (e.g. for use in a Scrum backlog), shamelessly stolen from a presentation by Dean Leffingwell:

As a <role>
I can <activity>
So that <business value>

"As a Gmail user, I can select and highlight a conversation for further action"