thoughts from the test eye

I used to be a bit skeptic towards the word “heuristic”. It seemed needlessly advanced, and things are possible to explain in other words. But when I read Gigerenzer’s Gut Feelings about how to catch a flying ball, it all came together. For software testing, which can’t be complete, is dependent on many factors, with […]

This is a follow-up from Working with the testing debt – part 1 [1]. The reason for the clarification is that you so easily come up with a tip without a context or example. Tip 2: Focus on what adds value to developers, business analysers and other stakeholders. If you do not know what they […]

This began as an answer to Rikard’s post http://thetesteye.com/blog/2011/06/a-word-of-caution/ where the discussion on “traditional testing” came up. I often hear comparisons with our “industry” and the Automotive industry. In that context, you could say that “traditional testing” corresponds to the methods and practices that are applied in line production of large car companies. And the […]

If you are a faithful reader of this blog, you have probably read some challenges of established ways of testing. I write stuff like “anyone can do non-functional testing”, “look at the whole picture”, “test coverage is messing things up”, “you can skip all testing techniques”, “requirements are covered elsewhere, so focus on what’s truly […]

I have for a long time felt that something is wrong with the established software testing theories; on test design tutorials I only recognize a small part of the test design I live in. So it felt like a revelation when I read Gerd Gigerenzer’s Adaptive Thinking where he describes his tools-to-theories heuristic, which says […]

Jerry Weinberg made an excellent comment on my previous article Turning the tide of bad testing [1] where he wanted more examples/experience on the tips. It is sometimes a bit too easy just to come up with a tip that lacks context or explains how you used the specific tip in a situation and where it […]

Credit cards are taking over the usage of notes and coins. This has benefits, but it is not possible to toss a coin with credit cards. Bob van de Burgt coined (!) the term flipability at EuroSTAR 2010 Michael Bolton tutorial, coin exercise. It is a lovely word, and can be used more generally to […]

In many cases, it is worthwhile to take a look at how your competitors do similar things. Among competitors I include products you’re trying to beat, in-house solutions (e.g. handmade Excel sheets) and analogue solutions, solving the problem without computer products. Charisma is difficult to test, but competitor comparison is one way to go. You […]

I have completed a trilogy on the theme The Eye of a Skilled Software Tester edition 1: Lightning Talk, Danish Alliance, EuroSTAR 2010 edition 2: Article, The Testing Planet, March 2011 – Issue 4 edition 3: Presentation, Scandinavian Developer Conference, april 2011 Some things have changed over time; in the first two I didn’t focus […]

Background When I first got in contact with software testers, I worked as PM and developer for a language tool. Our CEO had said that he had hired two testers, easily since you can just pick them from any street corner. Sadly they had no clue what to do and did not find any bugs, […]