Further thoughts by the author…

January 2002

Product testing needs to include a 'reasonable' consideration of how a company can ensure that the product's life will not erode the company's return on investment (ROI) to the point that the product is not profitable. What is 'reasonable' to a company depends on many factors including knowledge, time frame, budget, and ethics. Such ROI insurance, in this case, is called Product Validation Testing and it needs to be done, and ideally, before the product reaches the market place.

One part of Product Validation Testing that gets minimal attention in the quick-paced, high-tech industry is product life testing. Life testing is based on a company's consideration of (1) the expected length of time a product must correctly operate while in the users' hands before it fails and (2) how quickly and easily a repair or replacement can occur if the product does fail. Note: The users' expectations of a product's lifetime are usually based on what the company claims it should be.

To ensure that a product lasts as long as is claimed, the product's life (in the context as described above) must be validated. Since a perfect product is not possible, a company must define 'the' reasonable length of time before a product fails and 'the' reasonable period of time to repair or replace a failed unit and get it back into a user's hands. The product is designed to take both of these requirements into account and the product is tested to validate the design against the claims. Note: The business case for the product also needs to take into account the costs associated with such scenarios.

Mean-Time-Between-Failure (MTBF) and Mean-Time-To Repair (MTTR) are some of the well-known concepts which developers can use to help in the design and validation of product life. A small amount of time and money up-front can save loads of time and money (and possibly the product's success) when a product's life is validated before its entry into the market.

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