thoughts from the test eye

I went to SAST Väst Gothenburg today to hold a presentation that can be translated to something like “Five Tricky Things With Testing”. It was a very nice day, and I met old and new friends. Plus an opportunity to write the first blog post in a long time, so here is a very condensed version:

1. People don’t understand testing, but still have opinions. They see it as a cost, without considering the value.
Remedy: Discuss information needs, important stuff testing can help you know.

2. Psychologically hard. The more problems you find, the longer it will take to get finished.
Remedy: Stress the long-term, for yourself and for others.

3. You are never finished. There is always more to test, but you have to stop.
Remedy: Talk more to colleagues, perform richer testing.

4. Tacit knowledge. It is extremely rare that you can write down how to test, and good testing will follow.
Remedy: More contact of the third degree.

5. There are needs, but less money.
Remedy: Talk about testing’s value with the right words, and deliver value with small effort, not only with bugs.

Summary: Make sure you provide value with your testing, also for the sake of the testing community,

There were very good questions, including one very difficult:
How do you make sure the information reaches the ones who should get it?

Answer: For people close to you, it is not so difficult; talk about which information to report and how from the beginning. I don’t like templates, so I usually make a new template for each project, and ask if it has the right information in it.

But I guess you mean people more far away, and especially if they are higher in the hierarchy this can be very difficult. It might be people you aren’t “allowed” to talk to, and you are not invited to the meetings.
One trick I have tried is to report in a spread-worthy format, meaning that it is very easy to copy and paste the essence so your words reach participants you don’t talk to.

Better answers is up to you to find for your context.