Zero-bug policies are usually controversial, misunderstood, or both. Meanwhile, you probably live with a backlog of open bugs that you don’t expect to resolve any time soon. But you could. Zero-bug policies matter, because swarms of unfixed bugs waste time, hurt team morale, cause soul-destroying meetings, make development slow and unpredictable, and destroy customer trust.
This experience report from a Norwegian start-up in 2024 describes the journey from firefighting daily bug reports, to fixing the last open bug, and the joy of development with zero open bugs. Attendees will learn about the practical side of implementing a zero-bug policy, from introducing the idea, to achieving its goals. Our story includes the team dynamics of agreeing to give it a try, the objections and risks, and other implementation challenges. You’ll learn about why it’s worth the effort to fix (almost) all of the bugs, and which ones you can ignore.
This experience report from a Norwegian start-up in 2024 describes the journey from firefighting daily bug reports, to fixing the last open bug, and the joy of development with zero open bugs. Attendees will learn about the practical side of implementing a zero-bug policy, from introducing the idea, to achieving its goals. Our story includes the team dynamics of agreeing to give it a try, the objections and risks, and other implementation challenges. You’ll learn about why it’s worth the effort to fix (almost) all of the bugs, and which ones you can ignore.
Peter Hilton
På(fyll)
Peter Hilton is a product manager, writer, public speaker, and musician. His main professional interests are modern product management, software design, and product documentation. Peter currently works for a sustainability start-up, and delivers the occasional presentation and workshop. Peter has previously worked as a software developer, has presented at numerous European developer conferences, contributed to ‘97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know’ (O’Reilly), and co-authored ‘Play for Scala’ (Manning).