What is the Fagan Inspection Method? Can this old method still save your project?”

Published on: September 04, 2024
Last updated: September 29, 2025 Read in fullscreen view

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There are several methods to find errors during software development, such as reviews, walkthroughs, and inspections. Among them, Inspection, also known as the Fagan Inspection, is considered the most effective. It was developed by Michael Fagan at IBM in the 1970s.

What is the Fagan Inspection Method?

The Fagan Inspection method is a process designed to identify defects at any stage of a project—whether in documents, source code, or implementation processes.

In software projects, documents are just as important as code. Technical specifications (Functional Specifications), user requirements (User Requirement Specifications), and business requirements (Business Requirement Specifications) are all essential inputs for the software system. If the inputs are poor, the outputs cannot be perfect. This means the documents themselves may contain many errors.

Living documents, such as schedules, milestone-based WBS, or sprint plans, are continuously updated during the project lifecycle. Early inspection for these is less critical. But frozen documents, like BRS, URS, or Functional Specifications, cannot easily be changed because they are tied to contracts or formal agreements. For these, early inspection is highly recommended.

Stages of the Fagan Inspection Process

Planning: Managed by the project management team.
Overview Meeting: Introduce the work product and its context.
Preparation: Inspectors review the work product to identify potential defects.
Inspection Meeting: The author presents the work piece by piece, and inspectors point out defects in each section.
Rework: Make changes according to the actions identified in the inspection meeting.
Follow-up: Verify that all changes have been correctly applied.

The Preparation, Inspection Meeting, and Rework stages can be repeated multiple times if needed.

How to Conduct Fagan Inspections

Ensure results are balanced, considering both the effort of the creator and the benefits of inspection.
Inspectors should not only find defects but also remain impartial, recognizing good work and quantifying outstanding results.
Make the benefits of the inspection clear and tangible.
Use inspection results to inform future project planning as part of overall project management.

Why Are Inspections Rarely Used?

Fagan Inspection is highly useful for quality assurance, though not many people know its name. Different inspection approaches follow similar logic. When applied correctly and at the right time, it can be very effective. Overuse, however, can create unforeseen problems. Some reasons to consider before using this method include:

There is no absolute measure of success.
Benefits are not immediately obvious and require careful analysis to ensure time and cost savings.
Deep technical insights may be overlooked, limiting the opportunity to answer "Why".
It may create a divide between implementers and inspectors.
It can foster a critical work environment, which may conflict with a culture where staff feel comfortable admitting mistakes or sharing information.

Source: TIGO Solutions

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