Guideline: Set up a Review
This guideline helps with planning and preparation of setting up a review.
Main Description

Planning

We plan reviews to determine the focus and scope of the review, and to make sure all participants understand their role, and the goals of the review.

Prior to the review, define the scope of the review by determining the question that will be asked; define what will be assessed and why? See the Checklist for the work products to be reviewed for the types of questions that could be asked. The exact questions will depend on the phase in the project: earlier reviews will be concerned with broader architectural issues, later reviews will be more specific.

Once the scope of the review has been determined, define the review participants, the agenda, the information that will be required to perform the review. In selecting the participants, establish balance between software architecture expertise and domain expertise. Clearly and unambiguously designate an assessment leader who will coordinate the review. If necessary, draw upon other teams or other parts of the organization to supply domain or technical expertise.

The number of reviewers should be approximately seven or less. If chosen appropriately, they will be more than capable of identifying problems in the architecture. More reviewers actually reduce the quality of the review by making the meetings longer, making participation more difficult, and by injecting side issues and discussion into the review. Fewer than 4 reviewers increases the risk of review myopia, as the diversity of concerns is reduced.

Reviewers should be experienced in the area to be reviewed; for use cases, reviewers should have an understanding of the problem domain; for software architecture a knowledge of software design techniques is also needed. Inexperienced reviewers may learn something about the architecture by participating, but they will contribute little to the review and their presence may be distracting. Keep the group small; no more than seven people and no fewer than three. Fewer reviewers jeopardize the quality of the review, and more reviewers prevent interactive discussion essential to achieving quality results.

Select reviewers appropriate for the material:

  • those who have the background to understand the material presented
  • those who have an active stake in the quality of product or work product being reviewed

Preparation

Prior to the review, the work products to be reviewed and any background material should be gathered and distributed to the review participants. This must be done sufficiently in advance of the review meeting for reviewers to review the material and gather issues. Distributing review materials sufficiently in advance, and allowing reviewers to have time to prepare for the review significantly improves the quality of review results. Preparation for reviews also greatly improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the review.

Reviewers should study the documentation, forming questions and identifying issues to discuss, prior to the review. Given normal workload of reviewers, a few working days is usually the minimum time needed to prepare for the review.