QW2001 Paper 3T1

Mrs. Manjula Madan
(Philips Software Centre, Bangalore)

Defect Reduction Using Orthogonal Defect Classification Methodology

Key Points

Presentation Abstract

At the highest level, the eight ODC attributes of a defect i.e. Activity, Trigger, Target, Defect Type, Defect Qualifier, Source, Impact, and Age, truly capture orthogonal (non-redundant) pieces of information. They are designed to be at the right level of granularity (not too large to be useless and too fine to be exhausting) and arguably sufficient to answer most questions of practical interest on the software.

At the level of the individual attribute, the orthogonality (say, Defect Type) relates to the fact that the Defect Type distribution describes the state of a software product much the same way the three (orthogonal) Cartesian coordinates describe the location of an object in a three dimensional space. Notice that the evolution of a software product through a schedule is similar to the motion of an object through space and time.

Orthogonal Defect Classification (ODC) provides a good framework for cause-effect analysis. Defect Trigger is also a good idea for providing insight over verification process. In order to implement this defect classification framework, one still has to come up with: * * * *
* Effective attributes to be measures
* Process for analysing attributes
* Action plan based on the analysis result for process improvement

Action plan is independent of ODC. However, action plan is required for process improvement. It would be good if benchmark for applying ODC is available. This will help in applying and analysing ODC results. This can be achieved only by accumulating data over a period of time.

About the Author

Manjula Madan, is working at Philips Software Centre, Bangalore, in the capacity of a Software Quality Engineer from the past 7 months. She has a total of 7 years experience in the IT Industry in which 3 years is in the areas of Quality Control and Quality Assurance. Previous to Philips she was working as a Software Quality Analyst at IBM Global Services India Limited.

Achievements & Awards:
- She is a Certified Quality Analyst (CQA)
- Bronze Medallist in the Programming Exams conducted by National Computer Education, United Kingdom
- Part of the Core Team involved in CMM Level 5 Assessment at IBM Global Services India, Bangalore
- Part of the Core Team involved in CMM Level 5 Assessment at Philips Software Centre, Bangalore
- Part of the team which got ISO 9001 Certification at HCL Perot Systems, Bangalore
- The Customer of the project in which Manjula is currently working has given her a rating as "Excellent SQE"