sq 1 Flashcards
(5 cards)
Scenario:
A national payment platform is being rebuilt to improve customer trust and satisfaction. As the newly appointed software quality engineer, your role is to assess the system’s quality from different perspectives and propose a reliable evaluation framework.
a. Compare the following five views of software quality using one real-world analogy or application case for each:
Transcendental
User
Manufacturing
Product
Value-based
(10 marks)
b. From your comparison, which two views would be most critical for a security-sensitive system like online banking? Justify your answer.
(5 marks)
a.
Transcendental: Like Apple’s iOS UI – hard to define why, but users feel it’s high-quality.
User: WhatsApp meets the user’s need to chat quickly and securely.
Manufacturing: A government tax software built using strict ISO/IEEE standards.
Product: An e-commerce backend built with microservices for maintainability and testability.
Value-Based: Adobe Photoshop – customers buy it because they believe it’s worth the cost.
b.
User view – the system must fit user expectations of reliability and security.
Product view – internal design and correctness are vital for ensuring trust in transactions.
a. Discuss the key differences between a user’s quality expectation and a customer’s quality expectation, using a real-world software example where these roles are different.
(4 marks)
b. A developer insists that “internal code quality doesn’t matter as long as the app works.” Refute this using the concept of product view and explain how reducing coupling improves maintainability.
(4 marks)
c. Identify and explain any two sub-characteristics under Maintainability and give an example of how each affects software updates.
(4 marks)
a.
User expects the system to function reliably and meet usage needs (e.g., WhatsApp working for calls).
Customer (like an enterprise admin) also cares about cost and scalability over time.
b.
Internal quality matters in the product view because it ensures the software is easier to maintain and scale.
Reducing coupling = components don’t depend too tightly on each other → you can modify one without breaking the rest.
c.
Changeability: Easy to modify payment API without touching unrelated code.
Testability: New features like dark mode can be tested in isolation.
a. Explain how ISO-9126 provides a structured way to assess software quality. Discuss how its hierarchical model helps address different stakeholder concerns.
(6 marks)
b. Consider a video streaming app. For each of the following ISO-9126 characteristics, give one specific concern the QA team should evaluate:
Efficiency
Usability
Reliability
(6 marks)
c. What is the difference between Correctness and Functionality in quality assessment?
(2 marks)
a.
ISO-9126 breaks down software quality into 6 characteristics and sub-characteristics, allowing tailored evaluation.
E.g., usability helps front-end teams; maintainability helps devs; portability matters for deployment.
b.
Efficiency: Does video load fast without draining device battery?
Usability: Is it easy to search and select a video for first-time users?
Reliability: Can the app resume playback after a network error?
c.
Functionality = software has features needed
Correctness = features work as expected with no errors
Scenario:
You’ve been brought into a project where users report frequent failures, but developers claim the system passes all internal unit tests.
a. Using the concepts of error, fault, failure, and defect, describe what might be happening and how to trace the root cause.
(6 marks)
b. Illustrate with examples how a single error can lead to multiple failures in production.
(4 marks)
a.
Error: Developer misunderstood login validation logic
Fault: Wrong condition written in code
Failure: Users can’t log in after entering special characters
Defect: This full issue chain is the “bug”
Root cause tracing involves checking code commits → identify logic error → fix condition.
b.
E.g., Error in time zone calculation logic causes:
Late email notifications
Missed scheduled backups
Misaligned timestamps in logs
One error → many related failures.
a. The CUPRIMDS framework includes characteristics not in ISO-9126. List three and explain their significance in post-deployment customer satisfaction.
(6 marks)
b. Why might IBM include CUPRIMDSO (with “Overall Satisfaction”) in evaluating quality? Give one benefit and one risk of this approach.
(3 marks)
a.
Documentation: Helps users navigate features confidently
Service: Reliable customer support improves trust
Installation: Smooth install process reduces drop-off during onboarding
b.
Benefit: Measures real user perception beyond technical metrics
Risk: Satisfaction may be influenced by external bias (e.g., UI trends), not actual quality
