Category: Communication
How to write a test strategy
June 20, 2016
I’ve documented my overall approach to rapid, lightweight test strategy before but thought it might be helpful to post an example. If you haven’t read the original post above, see that first. This is the a sanitised version of the first I ever did, and while there are some concessions to enterprise concerns, it mostly […]
Tools for thinking about context – Agile sliders reimagined
June 3, 2016
Philosophically, I’m aligned to the context-driven testing view of the world. Largely, this is influenced by a very early awareness of contextual factors to success in my first job, and the wild difference between games testing and corporate testing roles that I had. Since 2003, the work of the context-driven school founders has been a […]
Presstimates
January 6, 2010
Presstimate: The number you give to get a manager off your back when you’re being hassled to give an estimate; Your best guess of what estimate of effort management will accept, not how long the work will actually take.
A first step toward saying what we mean when we say "Automated testing"
July 27, 2008
“In the universe, nothing can be said to be automatic, as nothing can be said to be without design. An imperfect parallel may be found in human inventions; springs may move springs, and wheels, indexes; but the motion and the regulation must be derived from the artist;” From Elements of Chemical Philosophy Part 1, Vol.1 […]
Answering a question…
July 15, 2008
A few weeks ago, Designer commented on Software testing, art and productivity. The question got lost in amongst the comment spam, so I thought I’d give my answer a bit more prominently than usual. The question was: …Many people who want to get a web-developed project don’t even understand the details of work. They just […]
Software testing, art and productivity
June 10, 2008
In the Yahoo software-testing list, Shrini Kulkarni stated “…productvity as a term is “bad” for creative work like “testing” or “art”. That makes me to feel that I am a low skilled labour on a manufacturing assembly line (not that – it is a bad profession but that does not represent the kind of job […]
What are your users doing (or interview techniques for project analysis)
December 6, 2007
For the first time, I’m helping run planning sessions for an agile project. Planning has been a bit of a bugbear for me on many of my recent projects, so I’m excited to have a chance to try some things out. So far, it seems to be going well. It’s a short project, so I […]
Passing and failing tests considered harmful
November 8, 2007
Alan Page of Microsoft suggests that there is a perfect world of passed and failed tests, and shades of grey that help us provide more useful information. He then asks “What else do you report as test results (to supplement test case pass/fail counts)? What do those results mean?” Read more at: http://blogs.msdn.com/alanpa/archive/2007/11/07/pass-fail-and-other.aspx I think […]
Project Manifestos
August 14, 2007
Having worked on the trial project mentioned in Michael Ruschena’s recent blog entry on Project Manifestos, I can say it’s well worth trying out. And when I say ‘trying out’, I mean having the conversations and going through the thought processes required to figure out how you might work together as a team. I find […]
Why (most) agile projects aren't the best you ever work on
May 27, 2007
Matt Heusser’s recent blog entry on Tester/Developer communications prompted me to comment on the dreams of agile projects and tester heaven. Now, I’ve been tempted to have that conversation, but the conversations I have had instead are much more along these lines: Me: “Hey dev guy, here’s 20 years of accumulated knowledge describing why the […]