Validation: Making Sure My Website Rocks

Last year I read a book called "Why Software Sucks" by David S. Platt. As you can tell from the title itself, Mr. Platt can get away with a writing style that some other people -- like me, representing an SEI Partner organization -- simply can't.

Mr. Platt is not too bashful to say things like this: "Listen, Microsoft - how many times have I said it in this book? Your. User. Is. Not. You. All the spin in the world won't make a bad product good or even mediocre."

Whoa!

The premise of the book is that "...the skill of talking with the logical, error-free, stupid chip is completely different from the skill of talking with the irrational, error-prone, intelligent human. But the guy who's good at the former is automatically assumed to be good at the latter. He's usually not, and he almost never realizes that he's not. That's what causes programmer's user interface designs to suck..."

Enter "validation." No, folks, we're not talking about free parking in designated garages. We're talking about "confirmation that the product or service, as provided (or as it will be provided), will fulfill its intended use." [CMMI-SVC glossary]

This activity is so critical in systems development that CMMI-DEV has an entire process area named after it! And indeed, if I were a "development shop," I'd unquestionably give it my undivided attention for projects like pulling together my new corporate website.

The reality, however, is that I I don't make my living building websites. A full-scale CMMI-DEV approach to validation for an organization of my size, with my business objectives, for a potentially "one-off" website, might be excessive.

Instead, let's look at validation from the CMMI-SVC perspective. I am, after all, a service organization. Per my last Diary entry, my new website is simply one component within a larger "service system" that I'm developing. So, take a look at the PA appropriately named Service System Development (SSD). In it, you'll find the following: SP 3.4 Validate the service system to ensure that it is suitable for use in the intended delivery environment and meets stakeholder expectations.

This is exactly what I'm doing right now with my site, as it's being developed. Re-read those words after the comma, people, because they're pretty important. If I wait until the end to do all my validation, it'll be too late. Changes at that point would be cumbersome at best, and maybe even impossible. And in all likelihood I'd end up with a site that looks like this, or even more menacingly, this.

Who's actually doing this "validation"? Well, I'm certainly not doing it myself. Whether you take it literally or simply metaphorically, drinking your own bathwater is usually not a good idea. Instead, I've recruited five people to help -- three of my former CMMI students and two business associates. Together, they're a reasonable stand-in for the website's target audience -- students wanting to take a CMMI course, and managers looking to approve their students' attendance or to bring a class onsite.

Please say hello to:

• DCU99 - Probably the only Lead Appraiser for CMMI-DEV and SVC that is an Environmental Engineer
• G.O.A.T. - A quality and process improvement professional with a sense of humor
• MeasurementLead - Measurement lead for a leading systems integrator
• SmilingCG - Quality manager for a small IT consulting firm based in the DC area
• QC-Dave - Project manager for a west coast IT consulting firm.

What's the best thing about this dedicated team, other than their inherent talent level, utterly charming personalities, and off-the-chart incredibly good looks? (As you might guess, they could end up reading this...) Well... they're not costing actual cash money! Almost unbelievably, they're working for a motley assortment of leftover promotional gift cards, discounts on upcoming classes, and grocery store coupons. (Note to Validation Team: I've replaced the "cash" we talked about with "coupons"...I hope you don't mind.)

In an upcoming entry I may actually say a bit more about what exactly it is that they're doing. Right now, though, I really must cut this entry short. I need to get back to addressing the issues they're finding.