Evaluating usage and quality of technical software documentation. Documentation project planning is in the numbers using metrics. Specifies the software quality metrics sqm clienttoservice protocol v1, used. An effective qa strategy is a measured one finding the right qa metrics to measure product quality and team efficiency provide critical insights into your software testing process. For software developers, the equivalent sloppy metric is lines of code per month. Oct 03, 2016 software quality metrics refer to the results of test executions, including metrics like the time it takes to execute tests and session data.
Some of these metrics are immediately understandable and some may require further insights. Posted on 14 february 2011 by kai quality metrics for technical communication are difficult, but necessary and effective. The table below shows four aspects of software quality taken from the cisq software quality model, and. Historically software quality metrics have been the measurement of exactly their oppositethat is, the frequency of software defects or bugs. While quality is also an important aspect of the produced software the measurement is not quality oriented. In context of the software quality metrics, one of the popular standards that addresses the quality model, external metrics, internal metrics and the quality in use metrics for the software development process is iso 9126. A metrics based approach to technical documentation quality. As a technical writer and manager, i am interested in. Improving software quality teamscale documentation. This blog is an annotated bibliography for my masters capstone project measuring the quality of software enduser documentation. Transform clinical data into quality, compliance and revenue improvement opportunities. Streamliner is project management software that drives.
If poor quality software produced quickly, may appear to be more productive than if produce reliable and easy. Free quality metrics template project management docs. Software documentation types and best practices prototypr. Software metrics offer an assessment of the impact of decisions made during software development projects. As a technical writer and manager, i am interested in what constitutes documentation quality. Writing quality is generally less important for an audience of highly motivated specialists. Software quality metrics can be further divided into three categories. Within the software development process, there are many metrics that are all related to each. Programmer productivity metrics because software intangible, not possible to measure directly. Apr 02, 2012 this blog is an annotated bibliography for my masters capstone project measuring the quality of software enduser documentation.
Automatically identify missing or incomplete diagnoses from your clinical documentation with award winning and. Kan discusses several metrics in each of three groups of software quality metrics. The inference was, of course, that quality in software was the absence of bugs. June 20, 2017 andrew powellmorse in metrics, software development lets face it. If poor quality software produced quickly, may appear to be more productive than if produce reliable and easy to maintain software measure only over software development phase. If the project is effectively to produce a document, then the metrics are really your quality. Product metrics describe the characteristics of the prod. Are you writing the quality management plan for your project.
Good documentation will generally have certain basic characteristics or attributes that ensures its effectiveness as a means of communicating information to the reader. If your department is considered reliable and delivers on its promises, you retain the faith and support of your stakeholders. For every supported language, codebeat can calculate a universal set of metrics we believe are directly related to software quality, extensibility and maintainability. Software quality metrics can be divided further into endproduct quality metrics and inprocess quality metrics. Pdf a metricsbased approach to technical documentation quality. This metric is not good because the number of pages is known only at the end of a project. Software quality metrics sqm clienttoservice version 1 protocol. Specifies the software quality metrics sqm clienttoservice protocol v1, used to send software instrumentation metrics to the sqm service and by the client to download clientspecific control data. The science of documentation metrics estimating how long it takes. The structure, classification and terminology of attributes and metrics applicable to software quality management have been derived or extracted from the iso 91263 and the subsequent isoiec 25000. Software development teams can use software metrics to communicate the status of software development projects, pinpoint and address issues, and monitor, improve on, and better manage their workflow.
If the project is effectively to produce a document, then the metrics are really your quality goals. Hd calls severity metrics the severity of the hd issues raised. We recommend developing a measurement system based on. I would like to get information about measurements and metrics for documentation work in a project. We adopt well known software analysis techniques, e. The protocol extends the concepts of the software quality metrics sqm clienttoservice protocol, as specified in mssqmcs. Software metrics massachusetts institute of technology. A major challenge in software maintenance is understanding the existing code, and this is where code quality metrics can have a big impact. In general these measurements involve the rate at which a software engineer produces software and the accompanied documentation.
In this article, to help you make sure that you get this aspect of project planning right, i will explain software documentation best practices. Improve documentation with quality metrics kais tech. A software metric is a standard of measure of a degree to which a software system or process possesses some property. Examples of metrics programs software quality metrics. Documentation project metrics techscribe technical writing. What code quality metrics should management monitor. Software quality metrics help to stay on track during a testing project and measure progress. How can we define and measure documentation quality. Top 5 software metrics to manage development projects effectively. Easy to understand readability, formatting, clarity, welldocumented easy to change maintainability, extensibility beyond code quality.
For longlived software, most bugs are introduced by changes to existing code or by writing new code. Touch devices users can use touch and swipe gestures. A metricsbased approach to technical documentation quality. The project can be itself limited to documentation as a deliverable or documentation as part of entire product delivery. The quality of the software used as part of the processes has a large impact on the perceived quality of the documentation. Comprehensive software documentation is specific, concise, and relevant. In context of the software quality metrics, one of the popular standards that addresses the quality model, external metrics, internal metrics and the quality in use metrics for the software development process.
All software development products, whether created by a small team or a large corporation, require some related documentation. Jan 16, 2018 this key principle must also be considered in the process of producing software documentation. This portion of the template for quality metrics describes in detail how quality metrics measurements will be taken and what will be done with the data. Simple metrics for documentation good documentation will generally have certain basic characteristics or attributes that ensures its effectiveness as a means of communicating information to the reader. The essence of software quality engineering is to investigate the relationships among in. If your department is considered reliable and delivers on.
Are there metrics available to measure documentation quality. The table below shows four aspects of software quality taken from the cisq software quality model, and which metrics can help quantify each one. Some experts write that the cost of a documentation project is dependent on the number of pages or topics. More on the importance of software documentation what are the various types of software documentation.
Software quality metrics are a subset of software metrics that focus on the quality aspects of the product, process, and project. Hospitals and physicians are increasingly being measured on the quality of care delivered and metrics such as severity of illness. Software quality metrics can be further divided into three categories product quality metrics. Iso 9001 standard requires that you establish quality objectives. Hence, test managers focus on testing what has changed recently. By looking at a chart of passed and failed tests over time you can quickly judge if your quality level is increasing towards the release date or if you need to take action. Software quality metrics refer to the results of test executions, including metrics like the time it takes to execute tests and session data. For example, the quality of the browsers, their search function, or the video codecs largely in. The protocol allows applications and operating system components to collect and send instrumentation metrics to a hosted service. But knowing what to measure and avoiding measurements that dont provide valuable insight are essential. Even if a metric is not a measurement metrics are functions, while measurements are the numbers obtained by the application of metrics, often the two terms are used as synonyms. Based on our experience with measuring software quality 2, 17, we build on the goalquestionmetric gqm paradigm 4 and suggest a metrics based quality model. The project metrics should demonstrate this alignment. Product metrics describe the characteristics of the product such as size, complexity, design features, performance, and quality level.
The quality of a technical manual is evaluated subjectively or by output. Hd calls density metrics measured by the number of calls. This paper suggests an approach based on the goalquestionmetric paradigm. These measurements are key to the success of the product and project and there must be clear documentation on how the data will be used. Software quality is a measurement of something intangible, how good a software product really is. Quality metrics are used to directly translate customer needs into acceptable performance measures in both products and processes. Software quality metrics overview software metrics can be classified into three categories. Based on our experience with measuring software quality 2, 17, we build on the. Clinical documentation improvement software, cdi software. It needs linkage the software quality model and software metrics through quality factors in order to offer measure method for software quality assurance.
This provides opportunities to reconsider how we define and assess the quality of technical documentation. The effort required to find and measure relevant business metrics for features is outweighed by the insights and learning opportunities gained. Defect removal efficiency dre is a measure of the efficacy of your sqa activities for eg. How does this document support the organizations strategic goals. Jun 20, 2017 what code quality metrics should management monitor. Feb 14, 2011 improve documentation with quality metrics. Software quality metrics sqm clienttoservice version 2 protocol. These are more closely associated with process and product metrics than with project metrics. For longlived software, most bugs are introduced by changes to existing code or. Another more subtle benefit to gain by taking this approach to documentation planning may be in strengthening your departments reputation. The essence of software quality engineering is to investigate the relationships among inprocess metrics, project characteristics, and endproduct quality, and, based on the findings, to engineer improvements in both process and. Software metrics are important for many reasons, including measuring software performance, planning work items, measuring productivity, and many other uses. Good software documentation should be provided whether it is a specifications document for programmers and testers or software manuals for end users.
The work reported in is an example approach for using. In this chapter from his book on software quality engineering, stephen h. Use our success measures to gauge for meaningful and quantitative. Pdf software quality factors and software quality metrics. Sep 16, 2017 a software metric is a measure of software characteristics which are quantifiable or countable. Specifies the software quality metrics sqm clienttoservice protocol v2, which is used to send software instrumentation metrics to the sqm service and for the client to download clientspecific control data. Framework for measuring perceived quality in technical. In essence the goal is to measure the useful functionality produces in a unit of time. Hd success metrics the level of success in responding to hd calls. We have seen how subjective software metrics matter far more for business success than the traditional, objective quality metrics of old. For printed documentation, approximately 3 to 5 hours a. Project managers must be able to assess the progress, efficiency, and performance of their projects and metrics are the means which allow project managers to do this. And different types of documents are created through.
Automatically identify missing or incomplete diagnoses from your clinical documentation with award winning and patent pending ezcdicomputerassisted clinical documentation improvement software. Pdf a metricsbased approach to technical documentation. Technical documentation in software engineering is the umbrella term that encompasses all written documents and materials dealing with software product development. We suggest such an approach to assess and assure the quality of technical documentation. In contrast to code quality, test quality is often directly visible to the user namely, if the software does not work as it should. By looking at a chart of passed and failed tests over time you can quickly judge if your quality level is increasing. In this article we list various criteria that you can use to appraise the effectiveness or quality of documentation. Even if a metric is not a measurement metrics are functions, while.
662 1061 749 624 1563 346 1247 1080 1326 1409 1201 47 107 1320 630 1158 630 520 529 72 378 4 909 1233 1151 152 1 422 203 726 1030 1085