Making Quality Cool Again

The responsibility of quality assurance falls on the whole organization, not just the developers and/or testers. Our guest today joins us to share her thoughts on what it will take to make quality cool again. Raisa Mahomed is a technology executive at Bahwan CyberTek, a global provider of digital transformation solutions in Predictive Analytics, Digital Experience, and Digital Supply Chain Management. In this episode, Raisa discusses the state of software quality testing and how organizations can bring back excitement to quality. Join us as we discuss:How Raisa feels about the state of software quality testingThe importance of quality assurance in agile developmentEffective ways to combat the assumptions of what quality isNext steps that people can take to start moving towards the mindset of making quality cool

Over 300,000 whales, dolphins and sea turtles are killed annually due to human action. Should these keystone species go extinct, it would cause cascading ecological collapse, drastically impacting our ability to fish and support the people who rely on the ocean for food.Sam Malagon, CEO & CTO of Navfeas, and his team have set out to address this problem with Dynamic Ocean Management through spatial planning software and mathematical modeling, which can equip people to not just mitigate bycatch but to do avoidance.Join us as we discuss:The specific challenges that Navfeas is trying to solveHow data management plays a role in protecting our oceans keystone speciesThe gap between information about our ecosystems and the need to measure their impactWhat’s in store for the broader tech sector in this space

Over 300,000 whales, dolphins and sea turtles are killed annually due to human action. Should these keystone species go extinct, it would cause cascading ecological collapse, drastically impacting our ability to fish and support the people who rely on the ocean for food.Sam Malagon, CEO & CTO of Navfeas, and his team have set out to address this problem with Dynamic Ocean Management through spatial planning software and mathematical modeling, which can equip people to not just mitigate bycatch but to do avoidance.Join us as we discuss:The specific challenges that Navfeas is trying to solveHow data management plays a role in protecting our oceans keystone speciesThe gap between information about our ecosystems and the need to measure their impactWhat’s in store for the broader tech sector in this space

In some situations, testing for microservices can be tricky and complicated. Contract testing offers a way to make testing easy for microservices.Lewis Prescott, QA Lead at Cera, and his team are creating new ways to bring technology into homecare. Cera is transforming the healthcare industry by providing digital first healthcare at home. Join us as we discuss: How contract testing works.  How Cera is solving real world problems in homecare.  How Lewis and his team are improving how users give feedback and what they are doing in response. 

Bringing humanity into API design is vital for the ongoing development, collaboration, and empowerment of developer teams. Lorinda Brandon, VP of Engineering at BetterCloud, and her team are developing innovative new ways to discover, manage and secure the growing stack of SaaS applications across the digital workplace. Join us as we discuss:Setting API StandardsDeveloping Engineering Principles User-Centered API 

When creating space for engagement within open source software (OSS), is it as welcoming as it could be?Often, people from various non-technical backgrounds may not feel like they have much to contribute to OSS communities. So, even when those people spot potential areas of improvement, a host of problems might prevent them from sharing their observations and ideas. Where should those suggestions be made? What type of feedback should they expect to receive? Are there mentoring/learning/collaboration opportunities to meet other contributors?Listen as ​​Alexandra McDougall, Sr. RFP Specialist at SmartBear, and Yousaf Nabi, Developer Advocate at SmartBear share their perspectives on how to make feedback more inclusive and welcoming.Join us as we discuss:What makes an OSS community open and inclusiveThe importance of “outside” voices softwareCollaborating on elaborate issues

There’s no question that automation has been beneficial to testers, developers, and the entire software development lifecycle. But what context is being applied when deciding what to automate today, what to automate on a later date, and what to, perhaps, not automate at all? In Part Two of our conversation with Vernon Richards, Quality Coach and Founder of Abode of Quality, Vernon shares these questions and others that he asks the teams he’s worked with. Vernon and our hosts continue their discussion around the need for honest conversations around software quality and how to convince leadership of its importance.  Join us as we discuss:The debate around “100% automation”Advice around scaling necessary collaboration between developers, testers, and the businessHow coaching must eventually step out of the way, and let teams get to work  Check out these resources mentioned during the episode:https://www.vernonrichards.com/ https://typeshare.co/vernonrichards  To make sure you never miss an episode of The People Behind Your Favorite Apps podcast, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.   Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The People Behind Your Favorite Apps in your favorite podcast player.

When coaching software teams, it’s easy to bark orders and tell people what they’re doing wrong.  But if you want to foster creativity and positive output, try asking: What problem are you trying to solve? People are incredibly talented; what they often lack is perspective. A lesson Vernon Richards, Quality Coach and Founder of Abode of Quality, is here to teach alongside conversation on the proper time to start looking for quality in the software development life cycle. Join us as we discuss: The expectations of those who “own” software qualityThe (misinformed) idea that testing is a bottleneckCollaboration challenges and opportunities between siloed teams  To make sure you never miss an episode of The People Behind Your Favorite Apps podcast, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.   Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The People Behind Your Favorite Apps in your favorite podcast player.

Open source and commercial software solutions both offer their own unique benefits—and challenges—to organizations looking for powerful technologies to accelerate innovation. How do the organizations who build both open source and commercial solutions prioritize features, allocate resources, collaborate on a global scale, and recognize the important contributions made by their communities every day? We speak with Frank Karlitschek, Founder and CEO at Nextcloud GmbH, about how his company is delivering that much needed alternative.  Join us as we discuss:An overview of Nextcloud GmbHCompeting with Tech Giants Data Privacy in the CloudWhat it Means to Be an Open CompanyWhat’s next for Frank and NextCloud in the future  To make sure you never miss an episode of The People Behind Your Favorite Apps podcast, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.   Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The People Behind Your Favorite Apps in your favorite podcast player.

This podcast shines the spotlight on the developers, testers, and others who work tirelessly to bring amazing technologies to market. How they come up with solutions to big challenges, collaborate at scale, and deal with high-pressure deadlines and increased expectations from the business and customers alike.