Imagine this… You’ve just launched a new feature your customers love. Applause from users. Praise from stakeholders. But behind the scenes, your development team is stuck. Progress slows down. Bugs increase. New releases become riskier and costlier. What happened? Chances are, the issue lies not in what users see - but in what they don’t. The internal quality.
When we talk about Quality Assurance and delivering a qualitative software product, most business leaders are familiar with external quality. More simply: what customers interact with and what they see:
A polished user interface
Seamless working functionalities
Fast performance
Low rate of customer-reported bugs
Favorable user reviews
And rightfully so. Because a product that meets user expectations, operates seamlessly across devices and minimises frustration, directly impacts your customer satisfaction, retention rates, brand loyalty and thus your business success.
But what if we told you that the long-term success of your product hinges just as much - if not more - on something users never see? Cue in internal quality.
Internal quality focuses on what only the developers see and refers to the software’s
architectural soundness, code maintainability, scalability, security, the clarity of code,
modularity, documentation and naming conventions.
It’s what allows your development teams to accelerate on three different layers:
Fast flow is about moving code changes rapidly and safely from development into production. When internal quality is high, the codebase is modular, well-architected, and resilient to change. (e.g. modular architecture, automated testing, trunk based development, …)
Fast feedback means that developers receive immediate information about the quality and impact of their changes. This rapid cycle is key to maintaining high internal quality because it allows teams to catch issues early—before they escalate into bigger problems (e.g. performance monitoring, static analysis tools, pro-active failure notifications, …)
A climate for learning emphasises a culture where continuous improvement, experimentation, and knowledge sharing are valued. When teams prioritise internal quality, they create an environment that welcomes honest discussions about code quality, design decisions, and system performance. (e.g. developer trainings, code reviews, post mortems,…)
Because internal quality isn’t customer-facing, it’s often deprioritised in favor of quick wins. That’s a mistake - and a costly one at that. Here’s what research shows about the business value of internal quality.
You don’t need not be the one who is reading or writing code, to influence
internal quality. Here are some best practices that can be implemented immediately.
In today’s digital economy, your product is your code. Prioritise what’s beneath the surface as much as what’s above it. Next time you prioritise your roadmap, don’t just look at what your customers see, but think about how you’ll
keep delivering what they want on time too.
Internal quality may be invisible, but its ROI is unmistakable.