Pair testing with a flare of checking Martin Jansson
When I explain pair testing I usually say that you pair up two persons. One drives the testing while the other documents, comes with suggestions and asks for clarifications.
In this context, if we consider the use of testing and checking. What if the person driving focus on testing (that is usually the case) and the other focus on his other tasks but also that of managing checks? Try to avoid disrupting the creative, exploratory mind of the tester driving the testing. Still, at some stages asking if it is possible to check certain things. I am sure a lot of persons work this way and it is nothing new, still perhaps they have not expressed it this way.
If you set it up this way you might avoid the various biases and blindness that the driver might experience. Instead you let the passive player focus on those things. By having a dialog you will naturally affect the other, but perhaps not as much as when you focus on it yourself.
What if you in a pair testing session, switch place every now and then. Each time you switch place you also switch from Test Driven to Check Driven.
What if you did pair testing but both of you tested in the same area at the same time with collaborative note taking. One had focus on Test Driven Checking while the other had Check Driven Testing. Would you get any interesting result based on that?