Defect Prevention

Defect Prevention is one of the key process area for CMM Level 5.

The main purpose of Defect Prevention is to identify the root cause of the issue and prevent it from occurring again in the future by taking necessary actions.

The set of defects introduced are listed down and the root cause for them are analyzed. The trends are then observed and preventive measures are taken.

Defect Prevention process involves the following activities.

• Defect Prevention process is defined in Project Plan
• Defect Prevention Anchor is identified
• Defect Prevention Activities are implemented
• The results of DP activity is reviewed and addressed

 

Define Defect Prevention Process:

Defect Prevention Process should be defined as part of Project Plan. All standards and guidelines should be in place.

 

Defect Prevention Anchor:

Defect Prevention Anchor should be identified. He is the person responsible for conducting DP meeting and carrying out DP activities

 

Defect Prevention activities:

• Kick off meeting

Kick off meeting is conducted to make the team members aware of the DP process to be followed in the project. The DP anchor will be explaining about the process and meeting schedule and what is expected from the team members

• Casual Analysis Meeting:

The DP anchor will come up with the list of defects to be discussed in the meeting. This meeting will be attended by all responsible developers and testers in the project.

 

All the defects are analyzed/discussed one by one and the root cause for each defect is identified.

 

Based on the root cause and analysis, the Defect-Cause, Severity and Priority are determined for each defect as shown below.



Example: Defect Classification





After the defects are classified to appropriate cause category, a Pareto Chart is prepared to show the defect category and its frequency of occurrence.

            

Example: Pareto Analysis Chart

 



While discussing the defect causes in a brainstorming session, there may be different opinions. All the possible causes can be represented using Cause-and-Effect diagram also known as Fishbone Diagram or Ishikawa Diagram as shown below

 

Example: Fishbone Diagram

• Measures to Address the Root Causes:

Based on the Casual Analysis, top Problem Areas are identified and preventive measures to avoid the causes in future is recorded. Problem Areas, Benefits of addressing the problem, Action Items, the Person responsible for the action and actual implementation date of the action are all recorded in Casual Analysis and Resolution Report.

Defect Prevention Activity Review:

                The Defect Prevention Activity Results and Action Items status should be reviewed continuously.

Monitor whether the Defect Cause has been eliminated based on the action taken.

The DP activity data and results are recorded, so that other similar projects in the same organization can use it.

Finally the Software Quality Assurance group audits the DP activity report and use it to determine the CMM Level of the project.