In search of the potato… Rikard Edgren
When preparing for EuroSTAR 2009 presentation I drew a picture to try to explain that you need to test a lot more than the requirements, but we don’t have to (and can’t) test everything and the qualitative dilemma is to look for and find the important bugs in the product. Per K. instantly commented that […]
Notes from EuroSTAR 2009 Rikard Edgren
It was Stockholm again this year. Good to not have to travel far, but since you are travelling I wouldn’t object to something more exotic, and warmer. Next year it is Copenhagen, again. I had a full-packed program with 4 days of tutorials, workshops, tracks, short talks, test-labbing, conversations, so in total it is quite […]
Is our time estimation on testing valid? Martin Jansson
What do we actually base our time estimations on when delivering a plan to a project manager? I know that we initially can have a vague idea on what to include and what must be done. I am sure that we can even make a rough estimation on how many resources we need in some […]
The Inquisitive Tester – Part II: Question the specs the test eye
Statements in specifications try to clarify and are inevitably an interpretation of what the author thinks need to be more specific. I.e., they try to be a more specific model than what existed before the spec. And “Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful” (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_E._P._Box). Every specification you encounter is persons’ interpretations, and […]
Introducing exploratory testing in a scripted test environment Martin Jansson
In many organisations it is hard to change how you are working. You might be bound to certain CM tools, how things are expected to be planned, documentation systems, management expectations, project management expectations and so on. In many of these traditional environments you might also use the regular test plans, test matrices, test specifications, […]
Exploratory Testing vs. Scripted Testing – rich terminology Rikard Edgren
Exploratory Testing in its purest form is an approach that focus on learning, evolution and freedom. Cem Kaner’s definition is to the point: “Exploratory software testing is a style of software testing that emphasizes the personal freedom and responsibility of the individual tester to continually optimize the value of her work by treating test-related learning, […]
The Quality Status Reporting Fallacy Henrik Emilsson
A couple of weeks ago I had a discussion with someone that claimed that testers should (and could) report on quality. And especially he promoted the GQM-approach and how this could be designed to report the quality status. When I asked how that person defined quality, he pointed to ISO 9000:2000 which define quality as […]
When do you feel productive? Rikard Edgren
I believe that it is impossible to objectively capture important things about a software tester’s productivity. On the other hand I don’t believe there is a big difference between feeling productive and being productive. I feel productive when I * test a feature that is good, but not perfect * review specifications * do pair […]
Seven Categories of Requirements Rikard Edgren
I like to use categorizations to structure my understanding of a subject; and after the simplifications are made and I think I understand it well; the structures can be ripped apart, and you get a bit less confused by the complexity of reality. There are many forms of requirements, these are some a tester should […]
The power of a sound Martin Jansson
In my local food store they have this system where you scan the price tags on the food you buy and most often smoothly able to pay and exit without having to stay in any long queues. A time back they must have changed software in these scanners because their behavior changed and bugginess increased. […]