[consulting] Thinking about the Broken Web, Our Role?

[Sam Tresler]

Well, eventually, as software and the web itself progresses we're going to need to start explaining to clients that test driven development, particularly for mission critical elements, needs to be part of a de rigueur QA process.

The last major project I worked on had as many QA staff as developers. I know it is a tough sell to tell a client that a project needs as many or more people looking for the bugs and documenting them, then people who can fix them, but I find pointing out that their site's actual users outnumber me millions to one, so hiring another person to make sure that (hopefully) those millions of innocent users don't turn into my personal QA team, usually is considered reasonable.

-Sam


Sam Tresler
646-246-8403


On Thu, 23 Jun 2011, Shai Gluskin wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm continually amazed about how many web sites are broken. Just two
> examples I've noted recently. Frigidaire's product registration tool is
> broken. They are a huge company selling a gazillion of pieces. Another one:
> Amex has a dedicated site where you can look up worldwide which ATMs accept
> their pre-paid cards. In Haifa there were about 40 sites when I checked;
> that seemed right. The site noted that AMEX is part of the Bank Hapoalim ATM
> network in Israel. I checked for Tel Aviv; the site returned "0" ATMs. I
> then went to Bank Hapoalim's web site and found they have over 50 branches
> in the Tel Aviv area, all with ATMs. Amex' web properties are typically very
> good, but not in this case.
>
> I work with very small clients. I think I provide great value for them. I'm
> leveraging Drupal's great power. I do warn them, though maybe not loudly
> enough, that although I test the sites I deliver, there is no way that I can
> test them thoroughly enough given the power of the functionalities typically
> installed and the number of variables in the wild. When they discover
> something that is broken I'm very fast at fixing it... but I can't, as part
> of a planned testing regime -- given their budgets --, catch everything in
> advance.
>
> I guess it gives me solace when I find broken aspects of an AMEX or
> Frigidaire site.
>
> I generally find that my clients are relieved that I fix things quickly as
> opposed to being pissed that something was broken in the first place.
>
> So maybe nothing is wrong. Maybe this is just the price we pay for high
> levels of innovation... that there are so many moving parts that not
> everything will work at any given time. So maybe the most important thing is
> that there are good feedback mechanisms in place.
>
> But maybe that's just a rationalization.
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> Shai
>
> Shai Gluskin
> Owner, Content2zero Web Development
>