One particular client wanted to automate as much of their testing as possible. I thought of a metaphor to help describe how trying to automate almost all “regression testing” is a difficult path to success. There are benefits and weaknesses to automation that need to be considered in addition to the costs. Consider your software…
I have been interviewing and hiring testers since 1999. I like to think that I am pretty good at finding testers who can think, communicate, and fit into the team. I have three questions that I like to ask that really help me determine if the person can think and communicate. I don’t have any…
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to explain why you can’t test everything or why sometimes bugs escaped your best efforts to find them. When I am talking to (most) people involved in the technical aspects of developing software this explanation can be straight forward. They will likely understand the impossibility…
There are some jobs in the world that have routines that do not change much (they involve repetitive steps without much modification) and some jobs that require frequent new approaches and more thought (changes to what is done on a daily basis). Unfortunately, a lot of people/companies place testing into the first category and not…
Peer Conference Facilitation Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a facilitator of LAWST-style peer conferences? Are you interested in knowing how the facilitators keep track of so many threads? How they decide who gets to speak next? Well in this post I hope to be able to shed some light on the…
The History of K-cards – a Revolution in Peer Conference Facilitation Before I can talk about the “K-cards” I feel it is necessary to explain how I became a facilitator of peer conferences. If you just want to read about the K-cards then please just skip down to that section. In this post, when I…
I have talked about and against bad metrics during my Rapid Software Testing courses and at conferences for a couple of years now. The “Lightning Talk” metrics rant that I did at CAST 2011 is available on YouTube (click here to view) although it is very “rough”. I felt that it was time that I…