Effective Software Review Process Stages

1. Planning

During this stage, the author must collect all possible material to be reviewed and pass it to the moderator, who is responsible for the meeting, selecting members of the review team, and assigning each role. The facilitator will distribute the available material to the other attendees. In addition, the moderator will set the agenda for the meeting.

2. Preparation

This stage occurs prior to the review. It is the phase in which the inspection team should be formed to review the product. Individual responsibility involves reading the documentation released by the person responsible for the review. If it is necessary, members may meet with the author to obtain more information or ask about aspects that are not clear.

3. Introduction

This phase is conducted at the beginning of the review. The moderator will indicate the general aspects of the review to be performed. The author explains the technical aspects of the product, while the reader presents the information clearly. It is intended for the review group to make contact with the product. It is possible for anyone outside the review team to attend to improve the experience and the level of human resources within the company.

4. Review

At this stage, the author presents all available information for the product to the review panel. The moderator will involve elements of the review group in terms of their roles. There shall be a debate in which the author makes comments and, where necessary, gives appropriate explanations. The moderator ensures that the inspectors are trained in the subject.

Errors are extracted from the debate and entered by a secretary, who describes and classifies each error. Eventually, the error log will be validated by the participants. The review will conclude when product explanations are exhausted. The possible conclusions of the review are:

• The product is accepted as is.
• The product is accepted but with modifications.
• The product is rejected due to failure.

5. Amendments

After the review, if the author should change the product, they collect the error log, analyze it, and find solutions by applying appropriate fixes.

6. Follow-up

After the screening, follow-up is conducted at two levels:

• The person in charge of the review ensures that the author corrects the errors and that changes are made.
• The manager collects and generates the documentation with the results to be presented to the project manager.

The review is finished when the product is deemed fit. A document will be generated detailing the time of the review, who attended, the problems encountered, and an estimate of the effort required to correct the failures.