Witold Suryn

Usability Meanings and Interpretations in ISO Standards

The usability of a software product has recently become a key software quality factor. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a variety of models to specify and measure software usability but these individual models do not support all usability aspects. Furthermore, they are not yet well integrated into current software engineering practices and lack tool support. The aim of this research is to survey the actual representation (meanings and interpretations) of usability in ISO standards, indicate some of existing limitations and address them by proposing an enhanced, normative model for the evaluation of software usability.

In search for a widely applicable and accepted software quality model for software quality engineering

Software Quality Engineering is an emerging discipline that is concerned with improving the approach to software quality. It is important that this discipline be firmly rooted in a quality model satisfying its needs. In order to define the needs of this discipline, the meaning of quality is broadly defined by reviewing the literature on the subject. Software Quality Engineering needs a quality model that is usable throughout the software lifecycle and that it embraces all the perspectives of quality. The goal of this paper is to propose the characteristics of a quality model suitable for such a purpose, through the comparative evaluation of existing quality models and their respective support for Software Quality Engineering.

Software product quality practices - quality measurement and evaluation using TL9000 and ISO/IEC 9126

This paper presents a combined, high-level quality view of TL9000 handbook and ISO/IEC 9126 in the process of defining, measuring, evaluating and finally achieving appropriate quality of user-centered software products. In its practices-related part this paper discusses the benefits, which the use of TL9000 product operational (in-the-field) quality measures can bring to setting up, measuring and evaluating the quality of the software product being developed, through its entire life cycle.

The Evolution Path for Industrial Software Quality Evaluation Methods Applying ISO/IEC 9126: 2001 Quality Model: Example of MITRE's SQAE Method

Abstract This paper examines how the industrial applicability of both ISO/IEC 9126:2001 and MITRE Corporation’s Software Quality Assessment Exercise (SQAE) can be bolstered by migrating SQAE’s quality model to ISO/IEC 9126:2001. The migration of the quality model is accomplished through the definition of an abstraction layer. The consolidated quality model is examined and further improvements to enrich the assessment of quality are enumerated.

PEM: The small company-dedicated software process quality evaluation method combining CMMISM and ISO/IEC 14598

Many small software organizations have recognized the need to improve their software product. Evaluating the software product alone seems insufficient since it is known that its quality is largely dependant on the process that is used to create it. Thus, small organizations are asking for evaluation of their software processes and products. The ISO/IEC 14598-5 standard is already used as a methodology basis for evaluating software products. This article explores how it can be combined with the CMMI to produce a methodology that can be tailored for process evaluation in order to improve their software processes.

Harmonization of usability measurements in ISO9126 software engineering standards

The measurement of software usability is recommended in ISO 9126-2 to assess the external quality of software by allowing the user to test its usefulness before it is delivered to the client. Later, during the operation and maintenance phases, usability should be maintained, otherwise the software will have to be retired. This then raises harmonization issues about the proper positioning of the usability characteristic: does usability really belong to the external quality view of ISO 9126-2 and should the external quality characteristic of usability be harmonized with that of the quality in use model defined in ISO 9126-1 and ISO 9126-4? This paper analyzes these two questions: first, we identify and analyze the subset of ISO 9126-2 quality subcharacteristics and measures of usability that can be useful for quality in use, and then we recommend improvements to the harmonization of these ISO 9126 models

New directions in measurement for software quality control

Assessing and controlling software quality is still an immature discipline. One of the reasons for this is that many of the concepts and terms that are used in discussing and describing quality are overloaded with a history from manufacturing quality. We argue in this paper that a quite distinct approach is needed to software quality control as compared with manufacturing quality control. In particular, the emphasis in software quality control is in design to fulfill business needs, rather than replication to agreed standards. We will describe how quality goals can be derived from business needs. Following that, we will introduce an approach to quality control that uses rich causal models, which can take into account human as well as technological influences. A significant concern of developing such models is the limited sample sizes that are available for eliciting model parameters. In the final section of the paper we will show how expert judgment can be reliably used to elicit parameters in the absence of statistical data. In total this provides an agenda for developing a framework for quality control in software engineering that is freed from the shackles of an inappropriate legacy.

Software Trustworthiness: Past, Present and Future

Software controls an increasing number of complex technical systems, ranging from Internet-based e-health and e-government applications to embedded control systems in factories, cars, and aircrafts. Even though the quality assurance budgets of software makers are increasing, program failures happen quite often. The successful deployment of software systems depends on the extent to which we can justifiably trust them. Academia, government, and industry have conducted several efforts with the aim of providing a view of trustworthiness in software from system construction, evaluation and analysis. This paper investigates the previous and present activities that have been performed to achieve software trustworthiness and suggests some guidelines for future activities. The proposed approach uses the novel behaviouristic model for verifying software trustworthiness based on scenarios of interactions between the software and its users and environment [1].

From requirements to software trustworthiness using scenarios and finite state machine

The notion of software trustworthiness evaluation in the literature is inherently subjective. It depends on how the software is used and in what context it is used. Moreover different users evaluate a software system according to different criteria, point of view and background. Therefore to assess the software trustworthiness, it is not wise to look for a general set of characteristics and parameters; instead, there is need to define a model that is tailored to the functional and quality requirements that the software has to fulfill. This paper shows a way to model software trustworthiness by using Finite State Machine (FSM) notation and scenarios. The approach introduces a novel behavioristic model for verifying software trustworthiness based on scenarios of interactions between the software and its users and environment. These interactions consist of simple scenarios of examples or counterexamples of desired behavior. The approach supports incremental changes in requirements/scenarios. An experiment of application of the model for verifying software trustworthiness based on the scenarios of interactions between the software and its users and environment is presented in a separate case study [40].

Information Systems Typology According to Quality Attributes

Information systems support the way organizations drive their businesses and people conduct their lives. To execute this important task efficiently the quality of these systems must equal their importance. This article presents a topology of Information Systems classification according to their purpose. Each type is further divided into sub-categories representing features that enable users to drive their business and reach their goals. This paper summarizes the quality attributes that may be considered as most important and relevant to each type of information system of the classification.