Escaped Defects Metric

Correct Answer: Deeper domain knowledge is needed in the team or the Domain may be more complex.

When a significant number of defects originate from one domain of an application, it is often an indicator that there is more complexity associated with that domain or there may be a lack of understanding among the team members about the specifics of that domain. This does not imply that the domain is unnecessary or should be removed (as per one of the other answers), because domains generally serve specific purposes within an application. It also does not suggest that the developers associated with that domain are malicious (as another answer implied). It is a problem solving approach to work on the deficiencies and improve, rather than blaming people or components. Lastly, it is unlikely that the domain code is incompatible with the application, as that would have been addressed during the initial development and integration phases.

Correct Answer: Analyze the root causes and plan for a strategy to improve the situation.

The best approach when defects are found to be leaking into the production phase is to analyze the root causes first. This is important to understand why these leaks are occurring, in order to devise an efficient strategy to address and prevent them. Changing the entire team immediately, as suggested in another answer, would be a drastic measure that may not address the underlying issue and could furthermore lead to disruptions and inefficiencies. Increasing the sprint length to accommodate more test time might seem an immediate solution but it doesn't necessarily address the root cause, which can result in reoccurrence of the same problem. Furthermore, merely ignoring the defects isn't a productive approach as it normalizes the existence of defects in production which can lead to lower quality outcomes and potentially dissatisfied customers.

Correct Answer: Facilitate a root cause analysis with the team for defects to identify patterns.

In the context of the Escaped Defects Metric and continuous improvement within a Scrum framework, the most effective action a Scrum Master can take is to facilitate a root cause analysis with the team for defects to identify patterns. This approach embraces the Scrum principles of transparency, inspection, and adaptation. By analyzing the root causes of defects that escaped into production, the team can identify and address systemic issues, leading to a more effective and sustainable improvement over simply increasing the frequency of activities like code reviews or adding more layers of testing. This analysis enables the team to implement targeted improvements in their development and QA processes, which is more efficient and effective than increasing the frequency of code reviews without understanding the specific causes of defects. Assigning dedicated quality assurance specialists or mandating additional testing phases may address symptoms, but not the underlying causes of escaped defects, and they could also lead to bottlenecks or reduce the team's flexibility and responsiveness. Therefore, conducting root cause analysis is a strategic approach to minimizing defects in the long term.