In this episode Federico and Matthew talk about how to apply a concept from lean manufacturing to rethink the processes of software development. Taking the real example of a âRegression Runâ they discuss how to dissect the process to identify waste that the team can then drive to eliminate.
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The process of a regression run and the waste associated with it
- For our team, a regression run is the automated execution of tests that where written for features released in previous releases.
- For every process, the question to answer is âwhat does the customer wants for this processâ?
- If we think of a regression run as a process, we can define that what the customer wants from it is to be able to install a new version of the product and have his/her applications continue to work as before.
- The goal of a regression run is then to find breaking changes for the customer.
- Waste is any activity that does not add value to the outcome of the process. In the context of a regression run it could be any activity that did not identify a breaking change for the customer.
- Types of waste
- Waiting. Time spent waiting for results, for a tool or for fixes.
- Unnecessary analysis. Analyzing a failed test that was not caused by a breaking change.
- Over analysis. Analyzing a test that ensures higher quality than necessary.
- Time of analysis. Time spent between receiving a result and identifying the breaking change.
- Unused creativity. Creativity of the people that could be used to improve the process.
Instead of thinking about identifying and enhancing the value-add activities, you could work on identifying and eliminating the non-value-add activities.
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