Peer reviews in real life - motivators and demotivators

Peer reviews are an efficient quality assurance method in software development. Several reviewing methods exist to match the needs of different organizations and situations. Still, peer reviews are not practiced as commonly as one would suppose. This study aims at finding out what types of reviewing methods are in use in software companies, surveying the most important benefits of peer reviews and investigating reasons for not utilizing reviews. The study is carried out in companies locating in the Oulu region, but the results can be generalized to all small software companies. The results show that companies that use reviews have adjusted the process for their own needs. The main motivator for arranging reviews is the decreased amount of defects in products while the other aspects of reviews, such as process improvement or knowledge sharing are not considered as important. The main demotivator for reviews is lack of time and people resources.