Test Talk – Testers & Developers: Bitter Enemies or Secret Lovers

 

Indeed, it was a great experience of speaking at ATA’s 13^th Meetup; which was held at Pune. I enjoyed while sharing my thoughts and it was very much interactive session. Participants were also sharing their experiences.

After the presentation; some of the participants asked me, how and why this interesting topic?

Well, answer is – as a Software Tester this is something we deal with on a daily basis and it’s good to give some thoughts around it. This presentation or topic actually originated from one of my blog posts (which you can find here) which was published approximately 1.3 years ago; and it’s a kind of extension to it.

The Presentation is available here –

Testers & Developers: Bitter Enemies or Secret Lovers by Yogesh Khairnar

Some of the pictures from the session –

Interaction with audience

 

Interaction with audience

Discussion over Tea/Coffee

 

The entire event was well organized and nicely executed. I would like to thank the ATA Team, BMC, all the Speakers, and Participants for creating such a wonderful forum. I am looking forward to more events like this.

Lessons that every Software Tester should learn from Kids

 

Whenever I spend time with Dhruv (my son), I feel like; I am getting an opportunity to reinvent myself as a Software Tester. I reckon; below are some of the lessons that every Software Tester should learn from kids.

How to explore a Product and develop Systems Thinking?

Kids have very good observation skills. Most of the times we don't need to tell them how to use the stuff or play with the toys, just hand it over to them and they will have a dignified way to use it or play with it.

Same way Software Tester's should have good observation skills and should learn to develop Systems Thinking (a mindset or perspective for understanding the application behaviour and its workflows).

 

How to ask questions?

I reckon; it’s really a tough job to answer a kid’s question. They are very curious about every single thing that they see or hear about. We are just clueless about the sources from which their questions are getting propagated. Most of the times we end up in a situation where we don't have an answer and we need to start finding a one which can accomplish their curiosity. People who have experienced this will understand it very well. :)

Software Testers should also learn to ask questions. No question is a silly question (as long it is asked in the right context). I believe; questions are the easiest and best way to gain deeper insight and understanding of the product or system.

 

How to Break a Product?

No matter what, kids will always find a way to break the things. Destroying and breaking the stuff is like a fun game for them. Most of the times they break the stuff intentionally and later on observe it.

Software Testers should also learn to test Software’s for unexpected results (Negative Testing) in addition to the expected results (Positive Testing). Testing for unexpected results helps to improve the Software Quality and find its weak points.

How to Love your Product?

In Spite of having all the toys with them; if just one of the Toys is missing they will keep crying until they have the missing one with them. Kids love their toys and stuff very much.

Software Testers should also learn to love their Product and take the ownership of it, they should always ensure that none of the Product feature is missing. Of course; Testers don’t need to cry if any of the Software feature is missing or not working. :) However, they should make sure that all the essential actions are taken to have it in place.