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Too close to see the canvas – Part 4

The Pattern beyond the pixels – You get what you measure In the previous parts we covered the project and the problem, reactive work and the stress cone, and the possibility to change what looks unchangeable. Now we are getting into something that I believe is a killer of a lot of change initiatives, and many first steps into automation: measuring the wrong things, and not noticing you're doing it. The number everyone was watching…
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Too close to see the canvas – Part 3

The Pattern beyond the pixels – Change it up In the first post we introduced the project and the problem, and in the last post we got into how reactive work never runs out and how stress affects our ability to see beyond the (seemingly) urgent. My second big learning relates to change, seeing possibilities and understanding why the people right in the middle of the problem often can't. "It's impossible" is more often "I…
Posted inTesting

Too close to see the canvas – Part 2

The Pattern beyond the pixels - Reactive vs Proactive work In the last post we introduced the project and the problem. We talked about how I dug into data and started asking specific questions to figure out why I was sensing a problem when both testers and management seemed happy with the progress. In this post we'll dig into the first of several learnings: the difference between reactive and proactive work and switching from what…
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Too close to see the canvas – Part 1

The pattern beyond the pixels Once upon a time I started a new job. I didn't do it lightly, in fact I fought against it for a long time, but I did take it in the end. The reasons I was reluctant were based on 50% ego and 50% being burnt by promises before. Ego-wise: I wanted the tasks and responsibilities, but the title felt like a step down and a potential trap. I had…
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How to use bug bashes to build better products and stronger teams

The term bug bash has been around for decades yet does not seem to have a formal definition. It is widely used and understood by many people, yet in two distinct ways. Over the years, I’ve participated in and organized two different types of bug bashes with different goals and results. A bug bash could refer to one of two activities: A time-boxed event where you bring in people from inside and outside of the…
Posted inQase Articles

What is software testing, really?

I recently had another interesting conversation about testing. I’ve had this discussion many times throughout my career: What is software testing? Or perhaps more specifically, what isn’t testing? Typically, these conversations start with someone stating something that limits the bounds of testing in a way that I either don’t understand or don’t agree with. After twenty-plus years, my view has not shifted much. This article is not meant to be the universal truth. However, everything is based on what…
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The QA and Dev relationship: a complicated love story

Anyone who has been in the software industry for a while has probably come across jokes, memes, or comments about the strained relationships between testers and developers. Testers get frustrated and complain about developers saying things like, “It works on my machine.” Meanwhile, developers dismissively joke that testers are people who couldn’t make it as developers because they’re too rigid and prone to thinking up new problems and unlikely edge cases.  Some people may read that…
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Getting intentional with heuristics in software testing

Before I started working in software testing, I had never heard of heuristics. Over the years, I kept hearing the word “heuristics,” but I never really understood what they were or how to use them. The first time I deliberately researched the topic was for a workshop in 2019. Before this, I thought they were a fancy term used by a specific school of testing, but I learned that heuristics are a well-known and well-used concept in…
Posted inSoftware development Testing

The Jurassic Park Problem & Software Development (Part 3)

How you can (should?) use them to guide your work In the previous parts one and two we covered the basics of what possible, ethical and legal looks like in software development and looked at 4 challenging scenarios. To finish up, in this part we will try to wrap everything up by giving some suggestions for how you can work on getting “is it legal to build this” and “should we build this” to be…
Posted inSoftware development

The Jurassic Park Problem & Software Development (Part 2)

What happens when the forces are not aligned In the previous part of this three-part article we had a look at three aspects of building software: is it technically possible, is it ethical and is it legal. In this second part we will look further into some conflicts of interest and what can happen when our three powers don’t pull the same way. Finally in part three we will suggest how you can move towards…