What Do You Think?...

I bought the book, How We Test Software at Microsoft, and read enough of it to get a grasp of it.  And now, testers at large, the upcoming, How Google Tests Software shall be hitting the shelves soon...

What I have seen with these two enterprises is a growing trend towards what I will refer to as “developer charged testing”. 

I like to learn about things that make me consider what I do, why I do it, how I can do it better…  I like to read a lot to keep myself up to date about what I need to know, what I need to learn, how I can improve my skills, how I can better serve my team/project/stakeholders.

I have a great deal of respect for Microsoft, especially under Bill Gates.    To me, they "write the songs"... They made user experiences change through the years, they orchestrated what we all see out there today…

And you should already know my love/hate forGoogle by now, if not, go back and check out the previous blogs on the subject…

 

So why do they come up again, you ask? 

These prize enterprises do not seem to need a manual tester in their organizations…

Why does this bother me? 

Perhaps because I am selfish, I AM a manual tester…

Perhaps because I think there is something between developer and tester that is a totally different mindset...

Perhaps because I believe It Takes a Village, to raise anything that is good...

Today I think it is because I was involved in a conversation that related to my own personal project, that made me have to think about some things…

 I work on a pretty good size team.  I have to say, this is a stellar team… brilliant… I venture to say most, if not all of the team, really wants success at the end of the day.  Not personal success, but overall success, for the team… for the stakeholders… for the customers… it’s a great feeling to know you are mostly, if not all, working to the same goal…

I hope I said enough to show how much I value the team I work with… before I point out what I believe was a fallacy of thought by one of the members of the team…

In this world of Agile/Scrum, it is said that all members should be able to step in and help out on bottle necks of the “time frame” of development.  Sounds good, actually sounds like the perfect team concept…  

Except… not all team-mates are equal… not all are able… not all can so quickly volunteer to do so…

This concept, to me, appears to be geared towards getting things moved to “Done”, not in actually being correctly done….

Let me elaborate on the point I am trying to make here…

As an avid researcher, I look to see what is missing more than what is actually here… I am not even beginning to talk about “crazy testing” ideas, just missing pieces… 

I work with a few developers (few to me is usually 3, maybe 4) who will report defects they find while they are coding, whether in their code or in other code that interacts with theirs… Gotta say, they ROCK!  But, dare I say, the majority are not at this level…

Like testers, the same is true for developers… some do it for love, others for their career and the end result of such…

 So, who keeps it in check?  And, if the Agile/Scrum method says all team mates can step in and help each other… does that mean the Business Analyst’s should step in and help code if development is bottlenecked?  Or does that mean I do?  Trust me, you don’t want that…

I took a couple classes on coding… I found I did not want to “create” anything, I simply like “gathering information”…. And passing it on.  I like study/research/learning/understanding… I did not want to “code”.  Does that make me less worthy to be on the team… I guess that depends on what the goal of the team is… what the goal of the project is… what the stakeholders want…

 I have read some blogs/articles not too long ago on testers being tired of hearing about “analogies” of testing, I personally am tired of hearing about developer-testers being the Coup de Grace of non-developer testers...

To me, it takes a bit of each element to make a successful release to customers…

Does anyone else see this trend?  Or its possible effect on the end results?

 

 

 

 

 

Failure to Test… But Big Success…

I set up the Black Magic trap to begin testing this past weekend…

However, there was really no way to test the trap that day.  The bait was still around until the end of the approximately 8 hour excursion, but the trap had no bites.  The wind never triggered a “fake flag”, but my other traps do not either.  So, the “never get another wind flag again” claim could have been a suggested “pass”, because there was a bit of a breeze, but I guess I am becoming a “super user”, and that had no effect on my personal testing…

My line was different on that trap than on others, and so was my hook, so I have to go on to a better test…

I think I will try to test what happens when I find a honey hole, and if that hole contains one of my typical traps, I will need to change it to this one.  This test will require that I put the same fishing line and the same hook as I did on the other traps I set up… as well as the same bait.  I will have to start to set up this test prior to my next trip out….  I will have to put on the same line and the same hook… and ultimately, use the same bait.

This part of testing is something I am not sure many in the “stakeholder” group understand.  Sometimes the set up and planning of one test can take some considerable time, but when the defect/bug/test is written, it seems so simple.  "Set up" time can be longer than the actual "test time" in many situations... In fact, maintenance of virtual machines and test equipment is seldom considered in the projects I have been on... they just seem to be magically "there"... They are not.  With the amount of scenarios that can be tested for any individual feature in an application/system/product under test, it is near impossible to be ready to re-test immediately when requested... and nearly impossible to explain this to anyone outside of testing... 

Sometimes a test set up is so slim that I hate to even accrue time for it.  But, sometimes the set up takes more time than running the actual test itself.  “When” and “if” play a large role in these tests… and they both require time that exceeds the actual test.   This is where the old “how long do you need to test this” comes into play and makes you wonder if you can ever explain what you do as a tester... 

 I have set this particular project to be my winter test project.  I am really hoping to either pass or fail this trap… at the same time I know I have many scenarios to test it with.  Luck/bait/location/line/hook/etc. will all play a role in testing this “tool”.   One season is all I have to test.  I have the project… and the time frame.   And it is a bit of a crunch because I cannot ice fish every day...  on every available body of water… with every available species of fish, with every available bait type...  So the tests have to be “good enough” to pass inspection of the stakeholder(s), who in this case… is me.

As in every project I have been on, I have come out with some great stuff/knowledge… even if I did not accomplish what I set out to do within the test cycle/period...

 In the case of this project, while I failed to really pull of a good test on this particular trap… my 8-year-old daughter caught the biggest land-locked salmon of our group that day… and that is one heck of a Big Success in my book…

 

 

Products are Relationships… A Rant... Appeal...

I read an article today that stated some things I have been thinking about for quite some time, but haven’t had the opportunity to actually sum up for myself.  Google Is Facebook Is AOL: What Happens When a Good Google Goes Bad.  


It is not strange to anyone who converses with me about Google that I have a love/hate relationship with “them”. 
 

I first came to love Google because of their amazing and pure search engine.  What research/information addict would not fall in love with Google?  They gave me results from all over the planet in seconds.  They gave me the opportunity to find new things/ideas/thoughts/puzzles/places/information/etc.  They expanded my horizons, broadened my views, heck… let’s go with it, they were helping me to do what Star Trek inspired me to do….

 

Then... they developed, and gave me without consent, the +1…  For quite some time, due to my schedule and my ignorance, this “feature” has been in place and it is making my search queries deliver the same information over and over again… This is what I would call search purgatory… bordering on the theme of the movie Groundhog Day .

As a research enthusiast, and an information junkie, I do not want to search for things I already have information on… I want what is new, what is cutting edge, what is taking a front seat… I want pure search.  This +1 thing is making it all about me.

Maybe Google thinks that the success of “social networking” is based solely on people who are so into themselves that they take pics of themselves and try to make it look like someone else took them.    I would understand that "snap judgement"  , I make those myself - sometimes - until I get to know the person in the photo. 

 

I bring up the “social networking” segment because I considered Google Plus, but reconsidered very quickly when I saw what I did on the page to sign up… another +1 thing… I don’t want to share my searches, they are random, they are sometimes silly, they are sometimes my personal thoughts, they belong to “me”.

I signed the SOPA  petition through Google’s home page, only to realize they want to take away my privacy… again.

My point of this blog is to say to Google...  that I love what you did; when you did it to me right… but now you seem to be seeking to take from me what I hold dearest to my heart… my privacy.  I want a way to not have to give any more of that away without my permission.  I want you to go back a bit to your roots… don’t pull the plug on where you are going… just remember your own mission statements.  Put me first, my rights, my privacy, my research, my searches, me…

As in any relationship, it takes 2.  And each one needs to hold the other one above itself to be successful. 

I want out of +1, and I don’t want to have to ask for it.  

I don’t need to “search” for things I already know… unless I desire to do so… and/or I need/want a reminder.

I want to keep my privacy… decide who can “see” any part of me… decide what I “share” with anyone… In real life, I share “real” things with so few people I can count them on one hand or less, don’t try to force me to do that with others, don’t try to give others info that will make them think things about me, make snap judgments about me, when they don’t even know me…

Work with me, work for me… I know who I am… do you still really know who you are?  

When YOU Get Tested…

• ·         Do you “crash”
• ·         Do you “fail”
• ·         Do you “hide”  or “omit” data
• ·         Do you “expose a symptom” of a bigger issue

There is a part of my brain that understands that I get tested as often, if not more, than the things/products/applications/ideas/people I test. Or, maybe it is just a suspicious/non-trusting trait that I have, which makes me “think” I understand this…

I have four daughters – current ages:  24, 22, 19, and 8… I understand being “tested” to a certain point… 

The first three daughters had regimen  in their lives.  Their mother was like a feminine drill sergeant.  There were rules and they were strictly enforced.  Child number four, not so much… which ultimately led me to this testing that I am going through now…

I shall call this chapter of my life “The Problem with Vegetables”.   And I am learning a lot about Agile Child Development throughout this chapter…  

I have not actively participated in any New Year’s celebrations or traditions forever… or at least for so long that I cannot recall a single resolution I may have ever made… until this year…

I made a resolution to make my 8 year old daughter eat more veggies every day…

It is only the 19^th day of January, which means this is the 19^th day of the resolution, and I have seen and learned so much…  If you think you are mentally strong…  engage your brain with that of a child… you will soon see you have much to think about… 

The first thing I learned so far, was that this resolution really wasn’t to get “her to eat more veggies every day”, it was for ME to encourage and enforce it… so the specs were off… and please note, they usually are off a bit in software testing as well…

The second thing I learned was that I totally have a new respect for developers… I will use a simple IF THEN to show what I mean:

IF child eats said veggies in front of me, THEN she will continue to do so when I don’t look

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

I left out the error handling when I made this resolution…

• ·         What IF child hides veggies
• ·         What IF child flushes veggies
• ·         What IF child throws up
• ·         What IF child attempts to make deals
• ·         What IF child is stubborn

I have a whole new respect for developers who are just trying to “code” what is “expected”… and forget what is not expected…

The third thing I have learned is using humor as a tool… You cannot get too frustrated when the plan does not go your way, or when roadblocks appear…

One of the persons I am super fond of when it comes to raising children is Bill Cosby.  To me, he really gets parenting… and he really helped me feel so “not alone” so many times in my life as a parent.  

If you have the time, and you are a parent, please watch this video:

The fourth thing I have learned is that I don’t have to have all the answers to begin to do what I should do.  I don’t  have to “know” everything about the situation.  I just have to commit to it.  And sometimes that has to be enough to move forth with the journey…

There is much to learn and know out there in our little worlds, and we can use that to teach us how to be the best we can be in the bigger world… 

Each time I am tested I have an opportunity to learn and grow… and fix my own “code”… it’s really all an adventure of thinking… 

**Note:  I quoted Wikipedia quite a bit tonight… on purpose…  kudos to them on what they did about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act. 

 

Testing - Tip Up…

As I have established in my last post, I really don’t have the opportunity to “eat my own dog food”, I don’t really use the software that is developed by the team I work with…

However, there are plenty of things I do use.  So there is always plenty of testing going on in my life.  Some of it is on purpose, and some of it is out of necessity.

I live in an area of the United States that has 3 seasons:  Summer, Winter, and Mud.   It is essential that you find things to do during Winter up here, since it is pretty much the longest season we have.  You can find many different options to choose from if you look hard enough, or, as in my case, someone introduces you to something….

My introduction, a few years ago, was to Ice Fishing.  I never went fishing until I was an adult, and I never would have know about ice fishing if it weren’t for The Fisherman. 

To date, my Teacher has bought all my tip ups/traps.  He bought me these based on his experience with the same models… and because they had pink ones available J

Recently The Fisherman bought a new trap to “test”, so I got to thinking perhaps I should do the same… 

Here is a picture of the tip up I purchased:

Now, let’s say YOU are given this to test and YOU don’t ice fish, which means you do not “eat your own dog food”… What are you going to do?

Never fear… documentation is here:

So… now what?  Where do you begin?  How are you going to test something you may never even be able to use?  Unless you live somewhere that you can walk on the water in winter, how can you successfully test this?  Can you?  Will you "take the bait"?

I really AM going to test this new tip up… and I have some knowledge of what that means…

I challenge you to willfully test something this week… as if it were software.  If you think about it, it won't be that hard to come up with something.  Do you generally use a certain cleaning solution to get a job done at home?  Shake it up, try something else that claims to be better/easier/as good as the product you use.  Actually approach it as if it is the product/application you have to test.  

If nothing else, the exercise will de-focus you from your own testing and may even give you some ideas on testing that you have not thought of… 

Testing Misconceptions…

“You work with computers, right?”  Friend/Family… insert any name here…

“No, I work with people… who use computers…”  Me.

“I have this problem with my laptop, it keeps doing such-and-such, what do you think is wrong?  Can you take a look at it?”  Again… Friend/Family… insert any name here…

“I really don’t know anything about fixing laptops, sorry,” Me.

“Is that because you work with desktops only?” Person above…

“No, I work with people…”, Me again.

“Hey, do you think you can take a look at my investment portfolio,” Friend/Family… insert any name here….

“uhhh”, Me.

“Oh, come on now, isn’t that what you guys do?”

“You mean the software we develop and test?” Me

“Yeah!”

“Just because we develop and test the software, doesn’t mean we are investment brokers…”, Me.

“Is that a no?”

Conception…

Understanding…

Questions…

Sometimes I wonder why some in management do not understand what I do when I test.  Then I remember those who “know” me and still don’t understand “me” or “what I do”…

It reminds me that I cannot actually get angry at those who do not understand what I do when I test… because those I love don’t understand it either…

Over the years I have come in contact with management who doesn’t understand what testing “is”, or what “service” it provides… but how can I not continue to investigate ways to explain this to them when those I hold dear have no clue…

Answer is… I cannot… I must always remember that unless you actually do/actively participate in something… you cannot understand… and I must temper my explanations… with knowing this…  

How do you explain your career to others?  Do you get mad/angry… try to convince?  Do you treat them like children?  Draw pictures?  Tell a story? 

It is not easy to explain “yourself” or “what you do” to anyone… I challenge you to take pause and think of how you handle this as a tester… sometimes it can take down walls… sometimes it matters only to you…

May not be easy… but it certainly does make you think about your approach to explaining what you do… and that… is not a bad thing.  Investigating this, at the very least, may remind YOU what YOU do and why YOU do it…

When not questioning your application/product under test… DO question yourself... It helps YOU learn... It is a teacher without a student loan... 

My youngest daughter has begun to learn about systems and critical thinking…  She is 8-years-old, going on 13, and in third grade….

It is an interesting learning experience for me.  I think something different happens as you get older, something makes you realize you have as much to learn as you already have learned in life.  

The child was having some struggles in Biology/Science.   I spoke with her teacher, read her text book, and came to the conclusion that this type of thinking is “not” necessarily an easy thing to grasp.

I have had to begin to take some time to learn how to teach some things to my daughter, to help her understand things that she does not, by nature or by genetics, understand.

The system they have begun with is the ecosystem.  Wow… I really missed some fundamental learning when I was in school… or it just slipped by me because I did not understand it at the time.   What a great way to introduce systems thinking to children!  I think I must have understood something about systems, but did not grasp the vast meaning it had for “other” systems I would come in contact with, but watching a child struggle with such things… it makes you want to teach… to show… to pass on knowledge…

And critical thinking… the text book actually has passages dedicated to this, but does not show the “how to” on doing such…  this has been an amazing thing to observe, likely because I have gathered enough information over the years to make me “see” things differently… to “look” at things with questions.

I have learned that some things that I understand may not be so easy to put into words or tutorials for others to understand.  Thinking is not an easy thing to pass on.  It is especially not easy if the thinking styles are different among those in conversation.   (Google “thinking styles” and take a look at a few different sites to see what I mean.)

I have an innate ability to understand some things, and I understand bias enough to know I sometimes think others should/could/do understand the same things… but I also know enough to know this may not be true… hard to balance this at times, but it is life.  Because I know the difference between thinking, I recently bought a book to help me teach my child how to “see” systems…. How to “understand” a bit more about discerning them in the things she is learning. 

I found Thinking in Systems... a Primer  to be a good teaching/learning book.  I have only just begun to read/digest chapter 1, but I already like the direction it is heading in.   This book has given me several examples to easily compress for my daughter a bit of enlightenment on thinking in systems…  I already recommend reading this book, especially if you do not really understand systems thinking, but want to learn how to digest it… before you read An Introduction to General Systems Thinking .by Gerald M. Weinberg.... which will definitely lead you to the next level...