Steve Upton

The Affordances of Quality

What if your development process made quality the easiest option? Learn how to design systems where doing the right thing is the path of least resistance.

The Affordances of Quality
#1about 5 minutes

Understanding affordances through everyday object design

The concept of affordances, which determine what actions are easy, is introduced using examples like well-designed doors and messy desks.

#2about 3 minutes

Removing the QA column from your workflow board

A dedicated QA column on a task board acts as a bad affordance, making it too easy to defer quality concerns instead of building them in.

#3about 5 minutes

Why a testable system is a well-designed system

Making testability a first-class design concern leads to systems that are modular, observable, and simple, which are also hallmarks of good design.

#4about 6 minutes

Using continuous delivery to enable business agility

Continuous delivery transforms releases from a complex, technical bottleneck into a simple, repeatable business decision.

#5about 3 minutes

How frequent releases increase both speed and safety

Releasing software frequently makes the process practiced and reliable, demonstrating that speed and safety are complementary, not contradictory.

#6about 2 minutes

The evolution of QA from gatekeeper to enabler

The modern QA role shifts from being an adversarial gatekeeper to a collaborative enabler who helps teams build affordances for quality into their process.

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Matching moments

Establishing quality gates in the development process
07:55 MIN

Establishing quality gates in the development process

DB UX Design System – How we’ve open sourced our largest inner source project

Q&A: Workshop participation and QA-to-developer ratio
24:52 MIN

Q&A: Workshop participation and QA-to-developer ratio

Quality Strategy with a side of Swiss Cheese

Introducing the QUEST framework for daily improvement
18:38 MIN

Introducing the QUEST framework for daily improvement

The QUEST for Better Software

Q&A: Advocating for architecture on understaffed teams
38:47 MIN

Q&A: Advocating for architecture on understaffed teams

Move fast with Software Architecture

How poor internal quality slows down development over time
10:44 MIN

How poor internal quality slows down development over time

Move fast with Software Architecture

Q&A on accessibility culture and implementation
27:49 MIN

Q&A on accessibility culture and implementation

Making Interactions Accessible to All Users

Making the business case for software quality
07:42 MIN

Making the business case for software quality

Why I Love End-2-End Tests and How To Get Them Right

Implementing a comprehensive quality assurance strategy
06:21 MIN

Implementing a comprehensive quality assurance strategy

Automated Code Quality Checks with Custom SonarQube Rules

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