Posted inTesting

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…
Posted inQase Articles

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…
Posted inQase Articles

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 inTesting

Visual Models: cheat code for your memory

Once upon a time there was a test lead who didn’t believe in agile. She used to nod politely when teams talked about reducing waste, sprints and small deliveries. Then she turned around and did it The Right Way. Which, to her defense, worked. Her projects were typically on time, upheld a great quality standard and the launches usually were calm and fearless affairs.  Then one day, she hit the wall. A “simple” migration project…
Posted inTesting

The power of three

Background Yesterday, Christoffer Bennet invited me to a round table discussion on the topic of "How to get the best out of Engineers while they work remotely". It was a lovely discussion (I'll add the link to the recording once it is up) but what does it have to do with this blog post, you might ask. Well. In one question, around handling conflicts, I mentioned one of my favourite "exercises" when it comes to…
Posted inPair-blog Testing

Onboarding remotely during a pandemic – Pair-blog #4

Background In case you haven't read about my pair-blogging idea before, a short summary from the first post: A while back I asked on Twitter for people who would be up for pair-blogging. The idea was that we agree on a topic and a date and then we each write a post about that topic. We publish on the same date and promote each other’s posts.  Next up I get to pair with Lisa Crispin…
Posted inTesting

”Testers don’t break software!”

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Introduction I believe most of us have heard the statement "Testers don't break software, we break the illusion of it working". For a while, something has bothered me with that statement and I felt a need to get my thoughts onto "paper" to sort them out. I understand why the view of "testers break software" is hurtful and why people feel strongly about this. A lot of testers have gotten heat from…
Posted inTesting

Testing is like…

Background Again, Twitter comes to my "what should I write about next?"-rescue! Heather Reid shared a challenge from the Bloggers Club on the Ministry of Testing. The challenge is to write a blog post about the topic “Testing is like…” Testing is like... Photo by David Traña on Unsplash Testing is like fireworks.Lighting up my brain with ideas neverending. Challenging my thinking with endless possibilities. Testing is like a mosquito.An annoying buzzing keeping me awake at night. Always present, never close enough…