Beneficial and Harmful Agile Practices for Product Quality

TL;DR

This study analyzes survey data to identify Agile practices that positively or negatively impact product quality, helping organizations improve quality management in Agile environments.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of 49 Agile practices, distinguishing those beneficial or harmful for product quality, aiding better practice selection.

Findings

36 practices perceived as beneficial for quality

4 practices rated as harmful to quality

Results support improved Agile practice selection for quality

Abstract

There is the widespread belief that Agile neglects the product quality. This lack of understanding how Agile processes assure the quality of the product prevents especially companies from regulated domains from an adoption of Agile. This work aims to identify which Agile Practices contribute towards product quality. Hence, data from a survey study is analyzed to identify Ag-ile Practices which are beneficial or harmful for the quality of the product. From 49 practices that were used in the survey so far, 36 were perceived to have a positive impact on product quality, while four practices were rated as being harmful. The results enrich understanding of how product quality can be achieved in Agile, and support selection of practices to improve quality.