QWE2002 Paper 10A Mr. Erik Simmons (Intel Corporation) Product Triage: A Medical Approach to Predicting and Monitoring Product

Key Points

• The field of Trauma Triage provides many useful metaphors for software quality.
• Software risk assessment and monitoring can improve with similar 'Triage' techniques.
• ROC curves and other mechanisms can be used to monitor the process.

Presentation Abstract

The medical profession has long relied on triage to predict which patients require enhanced care or monitoring based on presenting risk factors or indicators. By comparing the field of trauma triage to software product development, several new and useful insights can be gained into risk assessment and monitoring. In addition, the methods and work done in developing the triage criteria used to classify and assess patients can be translated to software engineering, providing a robust way to establish, utilize, and maintain criteria for software.

About the Author

Erik Simmons has 15 years experience in multiple aspects of software and quality engineering. Erik currently works as Platform Quality Engineer in the Platform Quality Methods group, part of the Corporate Quality Network at Intel Corporation. He is responsible for Requirements Engineering practices at Intel, and lends support to several other corporate software and product quality initiatives. Erik is a member of the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference Board of Directors and the Steering Committee of the Rose City SPIN. He holds a Masters degree in mathematical modeling and a Bachelors degree in applied mathematics from Humboldt State University in California, and was appointed to the Clinical Faculty of Oregon Health Sciences University in 1991.