Exploratory Testing is not as widely used as it could be, because management doesn’t want it. Stated reasons for this could be unaccountable, unstructured, sloppy, non-scientific etc, reasons that can be refuted by communication. But I think the real reason is something Exploratory Testing can’t have: a controlled process. Management/Companies want to have a plan […]
It is good to strive for better requirements by critical analysis (and looking for what’s missing), but there is a danger in complaining about untestable requirements. If those vague requirements are changed (made too specific) or removed, the words in the requirements document have less meaning, and less chance of guiding towards great software. And […]
Let us assume you are a test lead and you have a group of testers. Some are totally new to the profession and some are old and experienced. In the scripted test environment you might setup a test matrix, plan test cases and allocate them among the testers. Some of the testers might have been […]
If you haven’t read the excellent articles by Michael Bolton regarding Testing vs. Checking yet, now is a good time to do it: http://www.developsense.com/blog/2009/08/testing-vs-checking/ http://www.developsense.com/blog/2009/09/transpection-and-three-elements-of/ http://www.developsense.com/blog/2009/09/pass-vs-fail-vs-is-there-problem-here/ Done? One thing that struck me with this is that the more testing you do will result in less testing and more checking. I.e., the more you test, the more […]
Over the years I have noticed that System Testing have had a special meaning at every place I have been at; and it has even meant different things for people on the same place. I.e. System Testing is depending on the context; and it is fuzzy because we are dealing with arbitrary and/or general systems. […]
I grew up in a small “town” in Värmland. Outside the village, most people live in isolated houses/farms on the countryside or in the woods. If you’d ask one of these persons what quality is, they would answer: dä ä väl att fôlk töcker att dä ä bra (guess it’s that people like it) This […]
When looking for personel in general it is common that we want passionate people who love their work. Most passionate testers that I read about are usually part of the context-driven movement. Can there be testers out there that are really passionate about how they work in the heavy scripted test environment, where someone else […]
Analogies are helpful, not because they come with truths, but because they can help you highlight and think in different ways about the phenomena you are comparing with. I think you can pick any subject you know a lot about, and after some thinking, interesting things will emerge. The important moments If two chess players […]
I have been thinking about qualitative research lately, and wondered what the question(s) would look like if testing was seen as a research project. The testing effort has many positive effects, but one common and important is to provide information about the product, so a good release decision can be made. We cannot prove that […]
Cem Kaner has updated his set of publications. I’ve been reading his well written articles over the last ten years. Have a nice time digging in!