July 31, 2009 - The Wow Factor - Puffery for Your QA Department

I was reading a free, ad-supported trade magazine for the QA and Tester market, and was struck by the sheer volume of puffery in nearly every ad.

According to Wikipedia, "puffery as a legal term refers to promotional statements and claims that express subjective rather than objective views, such that no reasonable person would take literally. Puffery is especially featured in testimonials."

I understand that this is what ad-writers and marketers do.  I understand that you aren't supposed to take it literally.  But this seemed even more over-the-top than usual.

From an Application Lifecycle Management provider:

• 50% faster to market
• 25% more productive
• You can avoid cutting heads
• Ensure your Agile success

From a test tool vendor:

• Cut testing time in half
• Test faster while protecting quality

From a testing services vendor:

• Compete with confidence
• Optimizing complex test enviroments
• Accelerated results unmatched in the industry

From an automation design tool vendor:

• A New Era of Automated Web Testing
• Unprecedented productivity
• Boost productivity and communication!

From a training vendor:

• Accelerate Your Career
• World-Class Expert Instructors
• Perfect solution
• One of the best investments you can make

This all sounds great.  Who wouldn't want to ensure success, protect quality, have optimized, unmatched results, and find a perfect solution in a new era?  Very exciting.  Very - Wow!  Should I go right out and purchase all of them?

So what if we started talking about our QA efforts within our own companies using similar language?  From now on, let's add a bunch of Wow Factor in how we speak:

• A New Era in Quality Software Releases!
• 99% fewer bugs in the field!
• Ensure corporate success
• Perfect bug reports
• Unprecedented quality

Will we get a higher salary?  Would we get more time to test?  Might we get more resources?

Maybe not.

Any comments on this article?
Email Me