http://blog.jonmountjoy.com/every-bug-becomes-equally-important-over-time/ Memes and Schemes from a Community Manager Consultant Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:27:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://blog.jonmountjoy.com/every-bug-becomes-equally-important-over-time/#comment-464 Doug Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:26:31 +0000 http://www.jonmountjoy.com/meme/every-bug-becomes-equally-important-over-time/#comment-464 I might agree that even minor bugs become major bugs as the user community expands. However, I'm really thrown by the thesis that "every bug is equally important over time". I used to be the manager of the emergency support team for a telecommunications equipment supplier. One of our emergencies was when, due to a bug, 999 (or 911) capability stoped working for a UK operator. It took us some time to fix it and I later found out that a man had a heart attack and the call to the ambulance didn't get through. My management told me that it was a severe coronary and he would likely have died anyway. However, 15 years later I still wonder if we had worked a bit faster or smarter, maybe he would have lived. So I have a hard time accepting that all bugs are equal. I might agree that even minor bugs become major bugs as the user community expands. However, I’m really thrown by the thesis that “every bug is equally important over time”. I used to be the manager of the emergency support team for a telecommunications equipment supplier. One of our emergencies was when, due to a bug, 999 (or 911) capability stoped working for a UK operator. It took us some time to fix it and I later found out that a man had a heart attack and the call to the ambulance didn’t get through. My management told me that it was a severe coronary and he would likely have died anyway. However, 15 years later I still wonder if we had worked a bit faster or smarter, maybe he would have lived. So I have a hard time accepting that all bugs are equal.

]]> http://blog.jonmountjoy.com/every-bug-becomes-equally-important-over-time/#comment-2 Jomdom Wed, 21 Jun 2006 22:03:09 +0000 http://www.jonmountjoy.com/meme/every-bug-becomes-equally-important-over-time/#comment-2 Great post, Jon. I never stopped to think that a "small bug" might be a huge one in someone else's case. The same applies to functionality of an app. As you know, I've recently switched to Mac and had to spend time looking for OS X equivilents of a lot of apps I used on Windows. This led to me looking for applications with very particular functionality, and if an application lacked a certain feature (no matter how "minimal" it may be) that was integral to my workflow within that application type, I skipped over it and looked for the next app. IM, FTP, Text Editor, etc. Great post, Jon. I never stopped to think that a “small bug” might be a huge one in someone else’s case. The same applies to functionality of an app. As you know, I’ve recently switched to Mac and had to spend time looking for OS X equivilents of a lot of apps I used on Windows. This led to me looking for applications with very particular functionality, and if an application lacked a certain feature (no matter how “minimal” it may be) that was integral to my workflow within that application type, I skipped over it and looked for the next app. IM, FTP, Text Editor, etc.

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