Six Sigma Quality

What is Six Sigma Quality and DIAMC?

Six Sigma is a set of quality measurement techniques that improve business processes. Some industries use the term Five Nines to indicate 99999% quality acceptance. The SMART Quality team developed six sigma metrics to measure the quality and usability of technical documentation. The symbol sigma (σ) represents a quality measurement, from one sigma (low) to six sigma (high).

The acronym DIAMC indicates five processes, Design, Improve, Analyze, Measure and Control. The writers use the MAXit Checker to control, correct and edit errors in software documentation. For example, the cost of 1 hour of downtime on an oil rig can cost $750,000. Automobile software errors can cost millions of dollars and loss of customer satisfaction. The 2024 CrowdStrike software error allegedly cost Delta Airlines $350+ million. These errors are related to documentation quality.

How the MAXit Six Sigma reporting works

The MAXit Checker reads a technical document and gathers statistics. The statistics are based on the number and type of errors in the 40 MAXit Error Classes that represent 19,000 AI rules. A document can score one sigma (poor) to six sigma (excellent).

1. document is poor quality.
2. document is very-low quality.
3. document has too many defects.
4. document needs editing, use MAXit.
5. good quality document, edit MAXit suggestions.
6. PERFECT

MAXit Six Sigma Report - No. 1

This screen shows a Six Sigma report for .xml FrameMaker document.

MAXit Traffic Light - report No. 2

A quick method to get an analysis is the MAXit Traffic Light. A GREEN LIGHT means the document has less than a 2% error rate. An AMBER LIGHT means the text needs editing. A RED LIGHT means the text is not acceptable.
The traffic light function adds an audit trail that shows the writer, timestamp and six sigma score.