Taming the Engineering of Information Services Websites with Standards

Software and systems engineering are technical and complex processes. Without guidelines, software projects can be overwhelming to novice and experienced professional engineers alike. Standards are crucial as they describe essential proficiencies, including requirements-gathering methods, interface design for human cognitive abilities, and efficient and concise quality assurance tests for software and systems. The IEEE Computer Society’s Software and Systems Engineering Standards Committee publishes many technical standards that address software and systems development cycles. I had the opportunity to participate in the IEEE P23026 standards working group on revising IEEE Standard 23026 Systems and Software Engineering— Engineering and Management of Websites for Systems, Software, and Services Information.1 This revision includes best practices for planning, designing, and engineering service websites for the Internet and Web development industry, which is evolving at an extremely rapid pace. Here, I offer a glimpse into the process of revising the outdated standard.