Abstract

The quality of "personal" software processes is considered important for the success of software projects and organizations. Studies have shown that the Personal Software Process (PSP) approach, defined by Humphrey, improves an individual's software processes in terms of defect quality of the software developed, size and time estimation abilities, and task planning. While encouraging, previous studies have treated PSP as a "black-box" tool for personal process improvement. In this talk, we describe results that complement the previous findings on PSP. Our study investigated some underlying factors that affect personal software processes, e.g., the impact of "appraisal-to-failure ratio" on "defect removal rate". Several observations and inferences will be described, together with their implications for personal process improvement.

(Research carried out in collaboration with: Xiaoming Zhong and Khaled El Emam.
Published in the special issue on PSP, IEEE Software, Dec. 2000)