In our continuing effort to shift the detection of defects and other mistakes to earlier and earlier phases in our development process, this week I'll discuss the role that design can play.

This week we will examine how defects can be detected and sometimes even prevented during the implementation of the product as analyzed and designed in the previous phases.

We're shifting left again, to the integration phase that precedes traditional testing. What defects can and should ideally be detected at this point, and how can we accomplish this? That's what this episode with examine.

We're shifting left, and the next shift involves uncovering bad or missing behavior during the traditional testing phase. Such testing is important and necessary, but is it enough? We'll see.

In this episode, I will investigate the first step in shifting left, which is to detect product defects at the time they are sold and deployed but before they are in use by the customer, and therefore cannot impact them.

The next series of podcasts will examine the concept of shift left, which deals with the way we determine and remediate defects in our product. This week I will start with the notions of detecting these defects when the product is being used.

This episode will introduce the concept of the "Shift Left" initiative in product development, and will set the stage for a series of podcasts that examine key aspects and implications of it.

This episode is about the creation of acceptance tests, who should write them and how they should be structured, to get the maximum value from them.