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~ using my evil powers for good

Category Archives: ISST

Est testing parfait?

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by claire in #testchat, Agile2013, AgileConnection, Experiments, Exploratory Testing, Hackathon, ISST, Lean Coffee, Podcast, Retrospective, Skype Test Chat, Social media, Software Testing Club Atlanta, Speaking, Tea-time With Testers, Techwell, Test Retreat, Testing Circus, TWiST, Volunteering, Weekend Testing

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I heard that Gerry Weinberg has an exercise called “Mary had a little lamb,” in which you analyze each word in the sentence to elicit implicit meaning that might be important. This sounded interesting enough to try, so when the opportunity came to propose a topic at Test Retreat 2013 I went for it. My topic “Is testing for me?” didn’t end up formally scheduled but made a nice interstitial topic to discuss with those milling about in the main room.

I chopped the sentence into separate words and wrote them top-to-bottom on a large sticky note. Then, instead of giving some sort of prepared remarks, I elicited brainstorming from the gathered participants. Having received interesting feedback on my professional and personal strengths at Agile2013 that had left me questioning how best to use my evil powers for good, I wanted to hear how others were thinking about the testing field and how it fit them.

The resulting scrawled notes ended up a mindmap, the path of least resistance for me. I won’t say the discussion solved all my problems, but it did give me some direction for future exploration – exploration that might also be helpful to a newbie wondering whether to pursue a career in testing.

Is testing for me?Which brings me to some interesting recent events:

  • the first ISST webinar by Ben Kelly
  • Our second meetup for Software Testing Club Atlanta
  • Randomly running across a new tester on Twitter
  • This testing blog post I read recently

I started composing a list of things I’d recommend to people just starting out as testers to help them to evaluate whether to continue. I wanted to encourage them to jump right in but also think big, not waiting them to wait 5 years to reach out to the wider world of testing (like I did).

Here’s my current list. I blogged about various experiments I tried, so you can read for yourself to see what it’s like to select what’s a good starting point for you.

  • First things first: Whatever you try, frequent retros
  • Social media, especially Twitter
  • Try exploratory testing
  • Weekend Testing
  • Chatting with other testers online
  • Books, Podcasts, Blogs, maybe even writing for some ezines or websites?
  • Meetups, local events, Lean Coffee, conferences – attend (in person or virtually), live-tweet a conference, volunteer, speak (lightning talk, whole session, workshop, tutorial)
  • Open Source, Hackathons, innovation days, etc
  • uTest/Applause? I’ve heard of this but not tried it. Seems like a lower barrier to entry/way to get started?
  • And, last but not least, who do you want to be?

No matter how many times I think I’ve found all the meaning in my testing career, suddenly I realize there are more layers… but like a parfait, not an onion.

Donkey: Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. What about cake? Everybody loves cake!
Shrek: I don’t care what everyone else likes! Ogres are not like cakes.
Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, “Let’s get some parfait,” they say, “Hell no, I don’t like no parfait”? Parfaits are delicious!
Shrek: NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later.
Donkey: Parfait’s gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet! – Shrek

Thanks for the inspiration to write, EmJayKay80 and Niyi!

Fresh Perspective

17 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by claire in CAST 2013, ISST, Training, User Experience

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fresh_princeI can’t remember what it was like to start working as a tester. Ten years later, the only impression I have left of that time is voracious learning. So yesterday’s debut of the ISST webinar series focusing on the first 2 weeks on the job as a tester was a good refresher for me.

Ben Kelly gave a description of two distinct new testers and their experiences of adjusting to the expectations for testers. This reminded me of Pradeep’s talk at CAST this year about his “baby shark” new testing trainees. I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me since they’re among the founding members of ISST.

Both emphasized that novices have an advantage: ignorance. While that doesn’t sound like a very positive description, one you might not want to claim for yourself, it resonates with me. Most of my professional progress has been made asking the dumb questions that filled in my ignorance, pointing me in the right direction rather than remaining stagnant.

But ignorance is not enough, merely lacking information one stagnates. Curiosity turns ignorance into action, transforming it into a powerful tool. (I think this is what people refer to as beginner’s mind, though I haven’t studied that concept myself.) Pradeep explains that newbies have a tactical advantage in not having been misled yet. Ben reminds us that while asking questions seems so simple it’s actually deep exploration of context, not just about business content but also about team expectations.

When Pradeep’s freshers (I think I’m using that right, right??) go out into the world to help start-ups with testing, they’re learning multiple contexts. This adds a bit of complexity to the already daunting task of acquiring testing skills. Sounds intimidating, doesn’t it? While these testers get on-the-job training, the start-ups experience the value of a context-driven testing approach focused on providing business value, which shifts from business to business.

Ben and Pradeep emphatically drilled us on providing information in the way the consumers can understand. Knowing that they have multiple audiences, testers must be excellent communicators. As an intuitive person, this intimidates me – and it sounds like other empathic testers may have similar trouble. I took my first stab at messaging about testing with members of my product team since that was most familiar to me. However, test reporting above the product team hasn’t been a big part of my career so far. My primary approach there has been getting to know the end users.

I know this webinar was aimed at less experienced testers, but I’m reminded that I could use a fresh approach myself. Like some (formal) practice in session debrief? Joining forces with sales for product demos? What approaches keep test reporting fresh for you?

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