• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ben Barden

Products - Projects - Process

  • Ben Barden
  • Home
  • Music
  • Weekly blogging in 2021
  • About
You are here: Home / Product management / Software quality: why you shouldn’t ignore the small things

11th August 2018 by Ben Barden

Software quality: why you shouldn’t ignore the small things

When your product to-do list (aka the product backlog) is very long, with “urgent” items or requests from your biggest or most demanding users, the natural path is to focus on the high value work.

New features that could bring in new users or retain existing ones. Major bugs. Quick wins.

Everywhere I’ve worked, and in fact in most software projects I’ve heard of, there’s always more to do than you can actually get through. You can’t do everything, so you have to prioritise what to work on next.

As part of gathering feedback from users, QAs, or your own product review cycles, you’ll sometimes identify issues or potential tweaks which, in the grand scheme of things, seem very minor. Perhaps there’s a small layout bug on iOS. A little-used setting doesn’t work for a small number of users. An old page that hardly anybody goes to doesn’t look right with a recent design overhaul. Or a page is retired and removed from the navigation links – but it’s still accessible if you visit it directly.

I’ve heard numerous excuses for not dealing with minor changes such as the above. It’s not important. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. We’re too busy. Etc. However, if you ignore all of these small issues, they can build up and collectively give users the impression that the product is being neglected.

It’s a broken window situation.

In The Pragmatic Programmer, there’s a section called Software Entropy that mentions broken windows. I’d like to highlight this quote:

Don’t leave “broken windows” (bad designs, wrong decisions, or poor code) unrepaired. Fix each one as soon as it is discovered. If there is insufficient time to fix it properly, then board it up. Perhaps you can comment out the offending code, or display a “Not Implemented” message, or substitute dummy data instead. Take some action to prevent further damage and to show that you’re on top of the situation.

If something’s broken, fix it. If it’s not used anymore, remove it. To help with this, gather feedback to see if users are finding pain points that you’re not aware of. Use analytics to see which parts of the product are being used.

Don’t ignore the minor things. While one small UX quirk might not make much difference if you fix it, lots of UX issues in the same area of the product can really annoy your users. Leaving this unresolved can make software feel awkward and frustrating to use, or just plain broken.

Is that the kind of product you want?

Filed Under: Product management Tagged With: product strategy, software, software development, tech, technology improvement

About the author

Web dev, bug finder, writer of niche music
Founder/coder at switchscores.com
Product Manager at Octopus Energy / Kraken Technologies Read More…

Primary Sidebar

benbarden

New music now on Spotify! It's a disco EP - well, New music now on Spotify! It's a disco EP - well, some of it. Search for GFD and look for this pic. Or use this link, but you'll have to copy it: https://open.spotify.com/album/04eiQOEeJZiOThpRyjm60w?si=gsRT8JHwQHeQFXIPqTyw_g&utm_source=copy-link
New disco/dance album, coming to Spotify etc in a New disco/dance album, coming to Spotify etc in a couple of weeks 😁🕺💥❤
I love this game. Very happy to have it on the #Ni I love this game. Very happy to have it on the #NintendoSwitch !
So much food, but it was good! So much food, but it was good!
What? You got up, it's not your seat anymore #cats What? You got up, it's not your seat anymore #catsofinstagram
Lots of snow! #uksnow Lots of snow! #uksnow
This was good! Nothing clever but 😁👍 This was good! Nothing clever but 😁👍
Watching Sophie Ellis Bextor on Graham Norton with Watching Sophie Ellis Bextor on Graham Norton with a band wearing animal masks/heads. A very 2020 way to round out a very surreal year. Great music, too! #HappyNewYear2021
Lunch was good today! Lunch was good today!
Guildford Castle, 25th Dec 2020. Merry Christmas. Guildford Castle, 25th Dec 2020. Merry Christmas. 

#loveguildford #guildford #guildfordcastle #christmas
Winter sun. Winter sun.
Sunday walk. Sunday walk.
Sunday afternoon walk. Sunday afternoon walk.
This year's #topnine ... This year's #topnine ...
#glutenfree beers 😁🕺 Oh hey, my latest musi #glutenfree beers 😁🕺

Oh hey, my latest music is now up on Spotify! Link in my profile!
New music coming soon to #spotify and most other o New music coming soon to #spotify and most other online stores. Release date tbc.

This is my 3rd release, containing 2 tracks: November Dawn, and Legacy Layers.

The tracks originally featured as part of my self-produced albums, Symmetry 1 and 2. Each track on Symmetry 1 has a companion track on Symmetry 2. These two are cut from the same cloth and are a kind of "trance guitar" style.

Newly-mastered for 2020, I think the music sounds nice and fresh. Maybe you'll like them!

Slowly building up my discography... you can find me under the name "GFD".
4pm. Must be November. 4pm. Must be November.
The #glutenfree way to have beer and Pringles. 🕺
Just arrive: Thirty years of #thedivinecomedy boxs Just arrive: Thirty years of #thedivinecomedy boxset 😁 this should be good. I've been a fan since 1996, and know the albums well. But I've missed loads of B-sides - and I know there are plenty. This set is a huge collection of music and will take some time to get through fully!!
Coffee time! Coffee time!
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Recent Posts

  • Posting on Medium
  • 4 tips to get your in progress column moving
  • Navigating estimates and due dates in Agile
  • The Agile board should reflect reality
  • Why personal projects are worth pursuing

Archives

Categories

Handcrafted with on the Genesis Framework