First, thank you for the great talk today during KWSQA and answering a few of my questions after the session concluded.

Michael replies: Thanks for the kind words. Good to talk to you, and thank you for the thoughful questions.

I found this particular blog post interesting as we have this exact same problem in our company. By no means are we large but we act like we are and perhaps this stymies useful feedback. We dont have a blogsphere or social media connection so that part of the recommendation isnt applicable for us (as of yet).

You don’t have a formal social media connection. And, as you say, yet.

However, it is frustrating for me to find continuously that development, (us as testers) and even the PMs often dont know who the ‘customer’ is. In other words, how will they use it when and for how long? What is it expected to accomplish and does it accomplish those things? How can I more readily inject myself into the process to understand the customer? what would you suggest?

Michael replies: I’ll put suggestions in the form of questions. Over the years, I’ve been able to provide positive answers to all of these things here but one.

As Jerry Weinberg, decisions about quality start with figuring out whose values matter, and customers are surely on the list. I must say I’m curious as to how the development group intends to develop relevant products or services without a deep understanding customers are, and what matters to them.

Dave

Thanks,
Ajay