Fixing vs Preventing Defects

The way a team handles defects reveals much about how their organisation approaches quality. When every defect must be added to a sprawling backlog with excruciatingly detailed information, it often signals a codebase burdened by technical debt and a product suffering from the consequences of that. Some of these defects may (or may never) be fixed in so-called “stabilisation sprints”. In contrast, consider a team that is focused on preventing defects in the first place. They rigorously apply techniques like TDD, ATDD, and BDD to accomplish this. Whenever a defect does slip through, the team pauses all other work and addresses it immediately. This reflects a fundamentally different mindset: no reliance on bug-tracking tools, and no time wasted on defect reporting. But more importantly, a focus on building in quality.