tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54937230672818049142024-02-21T08:43:03.018-06:00Testing & Movies & StuffMelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-52919005700477394132023-05-03T16:32:00.005-05:002023-05-03T16:32:52.510-05:00Moved House - Visit My New Blog on Substack<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://melthetechie.substack.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="1344" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGWGeubKmuupyxTOXCNAYcdIWj-eNGHArrrIiBDUDWx7zCwsbopJ7o6hnODmrXvxuXRGMY4Cz9cdPi_rt2BmV8yT15BTQyUGaADq3wI4SZLDN48nUChlM_rQlZ3VlAUNykcIEQdkfpKEUx-BFkvSgv7hxZd1Ichc1i-p373nUnYGqAtYLWI7WzbYo/w620-h118/Wordmark%20Quality%20Technologist.gif" width="620" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Check out my new blog! I've moved all the posts from this one to Substack and will continue posting from there. You can even subscribe to get my posts directly into your inbox. I've even changed my name to <b>MelTheTechie</b> better encompass all the topics I'll be talking about. <br /></p><p><b>Go to: https://melthetechie.substack.com/</b></p><p>Enjoy!</p><p>MelTheTechie</p>MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-56306930032551644552022-07-25T20:51:00.001-05:002022-07-25T20:51:21.543-05:00 Change Logs: The Treasure Maps of Committed Code<h3 style="text-align: left;">Change Logs: The Treasure Maps of Committed Code</h3><p>Picture this: Your team is working hard, landing commits, shipping them out the door, and then something hits a snag.</p><p>You might use a source tool to narrow down the error message that came up. Or maybe pick apart a test that failed to find out why there is suddenly something mucked up in the code. You may even swim through a sea of commits in an attempt to find the one that might have possibly caused the issue, especially if you didn't find it in the last commit. </p><p>There is a simple tool that could help you and your customers. Using a change log can give a team several advantages. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>1) You can group commits into a timeline and apply them to a known release window.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>2) You can view multiple groupings in the same chronological change log. This could present a pattern that might help track down the issue.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>3) Your customers can also read the change log and know what they are receiving in the latest patch, update, or release you've deployed. </b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>4) You can automate the creation of the change log with commit messages. This also reinforces good commit message practices, which further helps with code hygiene. </b></p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not sure where or why the change log was abandoned for commits being the only record. I have a feeling it went about the same time as code comments because the code should be “readable.” Like commit messages should tell you everything you need to know about what was committed. </p><p>However, humans create code, they create commits, and often, even if there is a code review, the commit message isn't necessarily the priority of the reviewer. As long as it's readable now, who cares?</p><p>The problem with that kind of thinking about commit messages and code comments is that once you've moved past the shared context, it's lost to time. Customers might guess, but often they'll end up asking questions, and then you might end up asking questions yourself like “What did I mean by that anyway?” or “When did we ship the bug fix?”</p><p>Commits and code are like looking for buried treasure. Even if you have tools that could bisect the code and find the problem. It could take that tool minutes to hours. If you had a change log, you might narrow the search or pinpoint it better. </p><p>This works best when you have code you're maintaining, or isn't often updated but needs to stick around. Active code bases might not need change logs. There might be good reasons to skip the practice of creating a change log (though I can't think of one). </p><p>If you're not using one now, ask yourself why? What's keeping you from creating one, especially if it could be automated?</p><p>There are several blogs and even a git repo with a tool that can help you automate your commit messages. </p><p>Here's one I liked: <a href="https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/a-beginners-guide-to-git-what-is-a-changelog-and-how-to-generate-it/">What is a Change Log and How To Generate It</a></p><p>Investing two hours in setting up a change log could save you days later. This is for ANY code base, not just prod code, but infrastructure, test harnesses, any code that's over five commits big, you should seriously consider a change log. </p><p><br /></p>MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-60037752316515559342022-03-15T16:15:00.004-05:002022-03-15T16:19:57.349-05:00 The Defect Expiration Date<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbx0oqkdCZI0OZldzRFewzEzffZS6UfURT24t4PyMkr8i3yezn7J3gcI5prRu2HOCi39YZUhIIgxaB7iQV083Ux44Guz9aX0cZccUKREjjHz1oYkAOHKN3FCL8XU5pNLnTRaSTm-VqIRMIB11fmXXnSEJjJNRyOiY8c7AvAcROAnTx726VUjdwzkk_=s1920" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1920" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbx0oqkdCZI0OZldzRFewzEzffZS6UfURT24t4PyMkr8i3yezn7J3gcI5prRu2HOCi39YZUhIIgxaB7iQV083Ux44Guz9aX0cZccUKREjjHz1oYkAOHKN3FCL8XU5pNLnTRaSTm-VqIRMIB11fmXXnSEJjJNRyOiY8c7AvAcROAnTx726VUjdwzkk_=w640-h438" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />(Originally Posted on CrossBrowserTesting.org)
To understand how to reach a zero defect status quo, think about defects like you might think about bread. Bread is the absolute best right out of the oven. Slather it with butter and pop it into your mouth. It’s heaven. The worst bread can get is when it’s molded over and completely inedible, but it can also be helpful. </span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-aa8a3267-7fff-0818-6390-5b661b38d3c2"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defects are often seen as bad things. That’s not necessarily true. Defects tell you something about what’s going on with the state of the application. If defects were to equal hot, tasty bread you pop right into your mouth, would you think about avoiding them? Maybe, maybe not. </span></p><br /><div align="left" dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;"></div><table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"><colgroup><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="background-color: #cccccc; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: solid; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">There are probably plenty of reasons to avoid bread. Allergies. Carbs. Gluten tolerance. Those reasons are absolutely respected. Replace the idea of bread with anything that works just as well. Suggestions are welcome!</span></b></i></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Measuring The Freshness Of A Defect</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s consider the bread analogy a little further. Bread goes through states of change. That’s how we can talk about piping hot bread and moldy bread. Now if I shift that to talking about defects using a bread timeline it looks something like this:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bread vs Defect</span></p><br /><div align="center" dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 21pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hot Out Of The Oven</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Less Than An Hour Old</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fresh</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Less Than A Day Old</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stale</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Less Than 2 Weeks Old</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moldy</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More Than 2 Weeks Old</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is It Still Bread?</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Older Than A Month</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking at defects with a very visible time measurement makes them valuable in gauging the health of an application. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have a low number of defects waiting for a while due to complexity or dependencies, that’s probably OK. If you have a large number of defects that could have been resolved within hours of them being found but they are so stale no one really knows if they are still defects, then that would indicate there are some issues in how defects are being handled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s a balancing act. You want to handle each one correctly and in their own time, but trying to discover what that time frame is and how quickly it needs to be handled is always a trial and error approach. The best way to start surfacing wait times and delays would be to create some rules around defect types or flavors. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is an example of some defect flavors and handling rules to go with them:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Severity (functional issues usually)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ High – don't log it–fix it!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ Med – log it (but make the logging relevant - make a new story.)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ Low – why bother logging it? Note it on the current story card and move on.</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Priority (business rules issues usually)</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ High - Get it into a sprint stat!</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ Med – Put it into the next sprint or you might as well delete it.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ Low – ask a PM. If they don't care, don't bother. Note it somewhere and move on.</span></p></li><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p></li></ul></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Relevance (relation to current feature work/business goals)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ High – Three Amigos time – make a decision and go with it.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ Med – Next standup – make a decision and go with it.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">▪ Low – If there isn't a stakeholder, even a hidden one, no defect needed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Note it in your testing logs and move on.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There should be some initial discussion about what defects are ranking where. That’s important. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also note that the information should be documented somewhere, either in testing logs or the story card. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t let the information get lost. If the defect suddenly becomes relevant or someone wants to know why no one found it before, you can point back to your logs or a story and then move it into a card or a defect management system. Before that point, defects that don’t rank high enough are only creating noise. </span></p><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Defect Backlogs Cost Money And Time</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a maturity model for a company, one of the things that can be seen as a sign of development lifecycle maturity is how quickly and efficiently defects are handled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are not using a zero defect approach of immediately resolving or working towards resolving your defects; you, your team, or management are probably engaged in doing two or three of these things:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A triage meeting to groom the defects which haven’t been resolved or are not in flight</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maintaining a backlog which needs updating and managing </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paying or upkeeping a defect management tool (If you are only using story cards, you are moving in the right direction).</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If no one is reviewing defects or maintaining them, the management tool and the backlog are basically where defects go to die. The company engaged in this unfruitful process is wasting money and time. It’s an act of literally writing something that will never be used into a tool that the company is paying for, whether that’s an open source tool on a server or a cloud product, which has no meaning to anyone because no one is looking at it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defect backlogs or management systems are only helpful if they are kept current and folks are reviewing them on a regular basis. This costs money to have meetings, upkeep tools, and make sure defects are being handled properly. This method can cost more than the leaving the defects to die because people are engaged in the process. That’s OK. When there is complexity or necessity, this isn’t a bad process to have, but it’s a lot to maintain and threatens slipping back into the habit of the defect graveyard.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moving to a zero defect process can do a couple of things for a software development lifecycle.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It lets people quickly make a decision about how to handle the defect. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It uses the original story as a reference for the bug OR turns the defect into a story which goes into the backlog for a sprint and is handled like a STORY instead of a defect.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defects passed to teams from other teams like Customer Service have an answer immediately instead of waiting for someone to tell them it’s fixed, they know it will be resolved by the next release, or never.</span></p></li></ol><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Setting Standards For A Zero Defect Process</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The goal of a zero defect process is to reduce the time in the backlog or management of a defect to zero by either fixing, converting, or closing the defect. Using the example standards above you’ll want to target at least three areas for setting standards for the following defect types:</span></p><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defects which originate from within the team</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Defects which originate from external teams but involve your team</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a Defect presented (either internal or external) is changed to a story or closed.</span></p></li></ul><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enhancements Are Not Defects</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some organizations like to lump enhancement requests in with defects, mostly because they are generated from the same place, the customer. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a customer asks for an enhancement request, that information shouldn’t be hanging out in a defect management tool or story backlog, it should be handled with a weekly report or some kind of hand off to the Product Management folks. Leaving it in a backlog means that someone is missing trends, customer requests, or possibly the next big feature idea. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Customers can ask for some pretty crazy things, but if your business model is centered around reporting and they are asking for a reporting feature, it might be important to tell someone rather than write a bug and close it as “enhancement request.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find a different handling method for those requests. Get Product Management to reply to customers directly. You’d be surprised how much customers like being acknowledged even if they know they aren’t going to get exactly what they wanted.</span></p><br /><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Always Have A Plan</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether you are moving towards a zero defect practice or dealing with defect graveyards, having a plan is better than no plan at all. Communication is very key in dealing with any defect of any severity. Create standards, tweak them, change them when they stop working, make every effort to make backlogs and graveyards disappear. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another alternative is to go for the radical option and declare defect bankruptcy and start over! At least then it would be a clean slate for your team or all the departments that want to take that route. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are there other methods or approaches which have led you to a zero defect practice? Comment here or blog about them. It’s not impossible. It’s much like losing weight or going gluten free, you need to commit to the process and move forward, that’s the only way it gets better.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-76019304920439760482020-11-18T12:48:00.002-06:002020-11-19T03:43:38.978-06:00Tester Interrupted<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Public Relations for Quality</span></h1><p>I haven't made very many posts this year, but I figure QUALITY over quantity is a good thing. It's what I do after all. </p><p>It's odd. First because - I had a lot of plans at the end of last year about how 2020 would roll out for me. Like everyone did. I had several conferences I was speaking at. Several articles and workshops planned. Several -- you get the point. The world changed, and I found myself at home, working, like a majority of people in Techland. </p><p>Not only that, but my job changed. Four times at Unity. Yeah *mentally checks count*. I was hired at Unity Technologies as a Quality Lead. When I went to Unity from Thought Works, I only had two other folks. </p><p>Then, at Unity, I became a QA Manager, hired more people. Then I was shifted to a consulting and coaching role for an experimental team called Quality Elevation (like that name? I like it a lot.). I had an SDET and a Tech Writer reporting to me and we worked with three teams to help them "elevate their quality" (see what I did there) on whatever initiatives they were planning. In my job now (I think it's my mostly final form - as some of you Pokemon enthusiasts would say) is a Manager, for Software Engineering, focused on Quality. </p><p>What exactly does that mean?</p><p>Well, glad you asked.</p><p>It means I'm doing a similar job as the experimental team I was running, but instead of applying it to three teams, I'm applying it to a WHOLE ORGANIZATION. Seventy teams. Over a hundred team leads, manager, directors... and part of my job, along with those on my team, is to help all of them assess what they are currently doing, find gaps or places where we could make quality improvements. OR just help them improve things in general. </p><p>My definition of quality has changed over my career. I don't only associated it to the software under development. I associate it with customer interactions, documentation, network reliability, developer friction, and general "QUALITY OF LIFE" for everyone that ever approaches Unity Technology in some manner internally or externally.</p><p>Is that too broad? </p><p>Maybe. But if I think about it like that, and then I have those around me think about it like that, and then they share there thoughts with others around them.... well, hopefully you get the idea. It's not a one-person job, but it's my PR campaign.</p><p><i>*OMG - My PR Teacher from college is going to flip. I told Kathy Menzie at one point that I didn't think I would ever go into Public Relations, and here I am... doing PR for Quality. My words are bitter, but delicious, as I eat them*</i></p><p>I've had a moment to breathe, figure out this new role, and adapt. So, I thought I would stick my head up and let you all know what I've been up to this year. </p><p>I did manage to do one webinar. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPaDoJARFHw">(You can check it out here.)</a></p><p>I've been quiet on my Tech-Twitter account, mostly. I've been doing retweets because there were more important things happening in the world with more informed people talking about them. </p><p>Which brings me back to this blog. My hope is that for 2021, I can start writing more *crosses fingers* about my management experiences, about my PR for quality experiences, and my consulting and coaching experiences. I'm going to aim for having a post once a month related to a tech topic or one of the topics I listed above. That's twelve blog posts. Pretty manageable. <br /></p><p>Another thing that changed with all of the things I've been doing at work - finding a way to have a creative outlet that WAS NOT WORK. That took a lot of therapy and time to develop. My creative writing has been a huge source of my defocusing process and has overwhelmingly contributed to me being more successful at my job. </p><p>How did that work?</p><p>Well - when you are hyper focused on your job - funny enough - your job becomes your life. This was detrimental to my overall mental health. As with all things in life, sometimes you have to find the experts that you'll listen to that tell you "Hey, let's make some healthier decisions here."</p><p>So, you see, I'm not exactly a tester any longer. However, I'm not looking to update my tech handle. Testing and quality related topics are where I came from. They are the waters I still move through on a daily basis. <br /><br />After all of the changes of this year (UNDERSTATEMENT), and likely more changes to come, I can say that I'm pretty happy about where I'm at right now in Techland. I have a better work-life balance, and I understand what that phrase really means to me. </p><p>If you haven't seen me much, it's not because I haven't been busy. It's because I've been doing that heads-down work I needed to do to be able to come back and say hi - here's what I've got so far. Let's compare notes. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhoyIcwA_eHAUH851ZJt6D_LwmrmuaE-_z5EXjkJS3lbo4qba2UdT327xjQ0smCQCpBw52_a9TnVKtjiJFELrqKvtENechPkL7gHd7hn0bRZQ-PyuuWW1cSQQ7t9ymka9Hf7hquVeb7Zc/s1280/post-it-notes-1284667_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhoyIcwA_eHAUH851ZJt6D_LwmrmuaE-_z5EXjkJS3lbo4qba2UdT327xjQ0smCQCpBw52_a9TnVKtjiJFELrqKvtENechPkL7gHd7hn0bRZQ-PyuuWW1cSQQ7t9ymka9Hf7hquVeb7Zc/w400-h266/post-it-notes-1284667_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>P.S. - I am forever grateful how Ministry of Testing supported me in my career growth. If you have time, and a little to spare, <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/finlays-story" target="_blank">please help support others in our community and around it.</a></p><p><br /></p>MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-83995241368914483312020-06-20T22:07:00.002-05:002020-06-20T22:17:57.311-05:00Management: Your Recruitment Pipeline Is Your Responsibility<div><h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Management: Year One Series</span><i><br /></i></h2>
<i>This is my Year One series on Management. It’s going to be ongoing,
kinda like a serialized comic of sorts. I’ll tag these posts when I make
them so, at some point, maybe someone who is also getting into a
management role can see they are not alone. Batman wasn’t Batman in a
day. Even he has a Year One, Two, and Three.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I was recently in a diversity round table at work. We had discussions about how we could bring more diverse candidates into the company. The old reasons were brought out and I realized, maybe, because of the community I've been involved in, and the people I listen to that I need to say something about how you can bring in more diverse groups of people and build a culture of folks that use that diversity to their advantage. <br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">It's Not A Pipeline Problem</span><br /></h2></div><div>First and FOREMOST - It's not the pipeline. Whether you run a business or a conference. It's not the pipeline. It's literally the lack of community engagement and trust-building within different communities that is the problem. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If someone showed up at your house at midnight and asked for a thousand dollars that they said they would pay back over time, would you agree to that deal?</div><div><br /></div><div>When you ask folks schedule a job interview, or submit an application, and you've never presented yourself at any time before that initial interaction, if you flipped the tables, what would your reaction be?</div><div><br /></div><div>I know my reaction is to delete that query, or letter, or voicemail. It happens to me all the time. I get some random outreach, from some random company, and I'm expected to feel privileged that they contacted me. I'm a white woman in tech with all that entails, and that's my initial first reaction to something like that. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Now think of someone that's underrepresented, or marginalized. You reach out to them, cold, don't know anything but the words on a website, and you want them to go through all of the emotional labor to do an interview, to do a white board, to explain their qualifications, to possibly deal with hostile in-person interviews requiring them to "prove" more times than they can count that they are a qualified candidate.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you think I'm joking, <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Interview/GitHub-Senior-QA-Engineer-Interview-Questions-EI_IE671945.0,6_KO7,25.htm#InterviewReview_19651480">read this.</a> I know this person. I know for a fact that they are a very qualified individual (I tried to hire them myself at one point) and Github screwed them over. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">It's Not An Availability Problem</span></h2><div>When folks talk about not being able to get a diverse group of qualified speakers for a conference to talk about any topic, a lot of folks call BS. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Want an example: https://juneteenthconf.com/</div><div><br /></div><div>This conference was organized in less than a few months, was all online and featured all Black Tech folks from all over the place. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This tweet couldn't be more true in my opinion:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JuneteenthConf?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JuneteenthConf</a> has proven that there are plenty of Black speakers who are READY for your stages.<br /><br />I hear a LOT of talks and these are top caliber. And this lineup is just a small sample of Black tech speakers.<br /><br />The notion that we are hard to find or will require mentoring is BS.</p>— Angie Jones @ #JuneteenthConf (@techgirl1908) <a href="https://twitter.com/techgirl1908/status/1274035173651177472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote><div><br /></div>All of this was streamed online for free. There is no excuse. If you're an ally, and you notice that you've been accepted to a conference that doesn't have a diverse line up, or pay for speaker travel especially for folks that are not sponsored by a corporation, you should back out from that conference. The biggest impediment for some folks is the cost of travel, besides not being asked to speak at conferences. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbbgMoZpzSPu6nv1yysylHw/videos">Still wanna check out all that fab content? It's online for you, because the organizers are awesome like that.</a></div><div><span style="color: #f57c00;"><br /></span></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Do The Work</span></h2><div>If you are a <b>recruiter</b> that hasn't made connections into various communities before you need to tap those communities for roles, you're not doing the work. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If you're a <b>hiring manager</b> and you don't have a network of diverse folks that you can rely on to give your rec to awesome people, you're not doing the work. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Social media is the double edge sword. I get it. However, I can tell you with very little doubt that if you engage in a way that shows you are present and willing to listen, along with interacting respectfully, you'll build trust, you'll help build community, and you'll help build diversity no matter where you are and what you are doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Am I perfect at this? No. I'm human. I don't reach out often enough, I don't keep in touch on a regular basis like I should. Could I use excuses, yes. Excuses are my privilege talking. I'm in a place where I can use those excuses to justify why I'm not doing the work. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>When June is over, don't go back to your business as usual routine. Find one thing you can do while we are all in this COVID limbo to help people out. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My thing - the easiest thing - is to retweet as many diverse people as possible. Is it enough, no. Probably not by a long shot. I give money where I can. And I listen. <br /></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Except for right now - this is all me telling my fellow white managers, we need to do more. Maybe I'm stepping out of line here. Maybe this blog post is a mistake. But I can't keep working and ignore the fact that people want easy solutions to this, and there aren't. There are only hard ones. There are so many crazy things going on right now, the least you can do is find one thing to do that might help.<br /><br /></i></b>Reading:<br /><a href="https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/recruiting-diverse-engineering-candidates-what-tech-companies-still-get-wrong">Recruiting diverse engineering candidates what tech companies still get wrong</a></div><div><a href="https://www.today.com/tmrw/how-be-good-ally-t184330">Seven things you can do to be a better ally right now</a></div><div><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/black-tech-diversity-george-floyd-blm-180050729.html?_lrsc=7068adde-8074-4c98-a8f6-dd5a2d894538&utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=">Black voices in tech - We want change, not just charity</a></div><div><a href="https://www.42.us.org/celebrating-pride-voices-from-the-lgbtq-tech-community/">Celebrating Pride - Voices from the LGBTQ community</a></div><div><a href="https://www.techstars.com/the-line/advice/out-at-work-how-to-support-and-be-an-ally-to-lgbtq-colleagues">Out At Work: How to Support and Be an Ally to LGBTQ+ Colleagues</a><br /></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>(Please feel free to add more links to articles in the comments. I'll try to add more to this blog post as I come across them.)<br /></i></b></div><div><b><i></i></b><br /></div></div><div><br /><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</div></div>MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-26639036409158692512020-04-16T08:28:00.001-05:002020-04-16T08:28:57.781-05:00Self Evaluation & Personal EvolutionThis wasn't the blog post I was planning to write. I've been neck-deep into learning all-the-things about managing folks, hiring folks, training folks, and generally making myself better glue. My hope is that after I write this post, I can follow up on some of that as well.<br />
<br />
Since about October 2018, I've been doing a lot of soul searching, and evaluating skills, and trying to understand where my personal interests are and where my skills and talents are focused.<br />
<br />
Maybe it's a midlife crisis (though my therapist hesitates to call it that). I prefer to call it a midlife evaluation. We all take them from time to time. Some just for fun, and some as part of self-discovery. Personality evaluations, skill evaluations, mental health evaluations, physicals. Periodically, one or more of these turn up a few things we weren't aware of or didn't quite understand.<br />
<br />
For me, my career journey thus far has been one I'm very proud of and I have enjoyed (almost) every minute.<br />
<br />
I've done so much I never thought I would do and there's so much more that I'm thinking of doing and accomplishing. In the interest of self-evaluation, I've had to really think about my priorities and what I have space and time to accomplish.<br />
<br />
This past week, I made the tough decision to step back from my EditorBoss duties. It's always been a parttime gig for me, and I've helped a lot of people publish their first technical articles. I am very proud of the MoT style guide that I helped create so that our articles have the same read-through and structure. I'm proud of the work and all of the people I've met and worked with through MoT.<br />
<br />
It's bittersweet in some ways. The Ministry of Testing has given me a lot. Over the last six months I've had less time to focus on editing and technical writing. Part of this is because of the work I'm doing at Unity, which I'm extremely proud of. Another part is recognizing that because of the focus I've had on managing and developing a better quality culture at Unity, I've not been able to focus on the editing work that I've found enjoyable over the last three years or so.<br />
<br />
I hope, by stepping back from this role, it creates space for someone else to come in and make improvements, foster new voices, and grow the content MoT is working on in new and fun ways.<br />
<br />
This change in focus for me will also give me time to write more, not only for this blog, but also for the Ministry of Testing, and several other folks that have approached me and asked for articles and blog posts. While I love editing, I love writing more.<br />
<br />
That's the self-discovery I made recently - writing is a passion. I missed it. I've found it again. In this crazy, wacky time, we all need to hang on to things that we are passionate about. <br />
<br />
I'm still pretty passionate about developing quality software. I'm passionate about writing, and I enjoy speaking with folks a lot. Moving forward, I'm going to focus on these three things. <br />
<br />
The Ministry of Testing community has always been there for me. While I'm stepping back from the EditorBoss role, this doesn't mean I'm stepping back from the community. You'll still see me on the slack chats, and at TestBashes. I have an MoT tattoo, so my commitment to this community is permanently inked. <br />
<br />
I want to thank everyone at MoT for their time and patience. For often dealing with the American in their midst( and the timezone craziness). Also for being all-around excellent peers. I have no doubt we'll all cross paths again. Much love and heart.<br />
<br />
My challenge for you, dear reader, is this: What are you passionate about? What have you been thinking about that you haven't done in a while (that could still be done safely in quarantine or you could pick up afterward)? What things could you be doing if you got out of your own way?<br />
<br />
Find them. Either find the new things, or pick up the old ones you set down and see if they were put down on accident. Hang on to the ones that help. Thank the ones that were there when you needed them, and let them go with your best wishes. I know that sounds hokey, but sometimes the hokey and the sentimental things get us through tough times. <br />
<br />
Here's to personal evolution my friends and readers. I think we'll all be doing a lot of it in the not-too-distant future. MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-26450105860981854012019-12-30T16:03:00.000-06:002019-12-30T16:12:59.001-06:00The Gratitude JarI'm part of a really cool women in testing group and we have a chat called the gratitude jar. I really like this idea, but I felt like I needed to put mine in a more public place, and probably take up a lot more space that was polite if I posted in the chat.<br />
<br />
First off I want to thank the whole Ministry of Testing team. Rosie, Richard, Sarah D. , Heather, Aine, Mark, and Vernon. You all have helped me in a lot of ways and I can't thank you enough for the support and continued trust you have in the work I'm doing for the group and outside of the group. I'm coming up on year four (I think that's right) working with you all as a part-time mini boss. It's been a wonderful experience. I've learned a lot about myself and those that I've worked with over the last few years. It's no small thing to say that my career has been heavily influenced by the group and the work I've done with MoT.<br />
<br />
I'd like to thank Abby Bangser for being an amazing friend and mentor. Since we met at TestBash New York, it's been a hell of a ride and one that I appreciate even more now that we only manage to catch up every so often due to crazy busy schedules. To see your keynote at Agile Testing Days Germany this year was awesome. I am continually amazed at all the things you continue to do and very humbled to be your friend.<br />
<br />
At TestingUy this year, I gave a talk to a huge audience while it was translated into Spanish. It was a first for me. Claudia Badell, who is an organizer of TestingUy, invited me to talk and trusted me even though I was a fairly new speaker. We have been friends since Agile Testing Days Boston, and I can't say enough about her infectious energy, courage, and genuine camaraderie. Thank you my friend. <br />
<br />
To Janet Gregory and Lisa Crispin who have, hands down, influenced a large part of my 2019 journey. From working with Lisa at European Testing Conference and giving a workshop we originally gave at ATD Boston, (where they introduced me to Claudia) then they coached me through talking at TestingUy and I was able to assist Janet with the all day tutorial, by somewhat being the arms and legs for Lisa since she was unable to make the conference due to a broken leg. Then they were there again at Agile Testing Days in Germany helping and encouraging me. They both continue to help me along my career path and I'm forever grateful for the advice and patience they have show me and what they have taught me along the way.<br />
<br />
To Hilary Weaver Robb who has been a an amazing friend and who has shown so much strength and dedication to her craft as well as to her family. To see her dream of a TestBash Detroit happen is pretty amazing and there was no way I was going to miss it. I'm in awe of you my friend. Keep going!<br />
<br />
To Ash Hynie (artist formerly known as Ash Coleman); you out do yourself at every turn and when we first met and had a long talk at TestBash Philly, you were at a crossroads. I am so happy for you and happy to have met you. You are a huge inspiration and all around awesome. Also, you've given me the ability to never feel guilty for wanting a cookie. <br />
<br />
Angie Jones; I remember the first time I heard about you. You were speaking with Maaret Pyhäjärvi on a program MoT had called Testing Gems. You are a force of nature and I can't imagine the software development space without your presence, your energy, and constant injection of good will and hope. Thank you!<br />
<br />
My year really wouldn't be what it was at Unity without Alan Page. You put your trust in me and managed to help me trust myself when I'm pretty sure I didn't know what the hell I was doing. You've encouraged me, and kept me mostly sane through this first year. I am fairly certain if I had tried this management gig without your constant guidance and input, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have worked out like it did. I don't know what the next year is going to bring, but know that I appreciate everything you've done to help me along the way.<br />
<br />
Also want to thank Alan and Brent Jensen for the Modern Testing Principles. I developed a talk this year and have given it a couple of times about MTP. I feel like its one of my best talks yet. They really do resonate with a lot of people. Thank you for codifying the good stuff. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it grows and works with different industries.<br />
<br />
To my valentine gals Elizabeth Zagroba and Alex Schladebeck - thank you for a wonderful evening and also thank you for all the encouragement and frank conversations. Still one of the best Valentines Days I've ever had and in an amazing place! My younger self would have been floored. Now I can only hope that kismet lets something fun like that happen again. <br />
<br />
Marianne Duijst - thank you for all the conversations. We've been chatting since WeTest and I have appreciated every single conversation since. You are a giving person, super creative, and empathic to those around you. You've even helped me recently get some perspective that was immeasurable. I can't thank you enough.<br />
<br />
To everyone I've met and spoken with at conferences or meetups this year, and the organizers that have invited me to talk. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Know that you encourage me to continue speaking and I am honestly humbled by the kind words and encouragement you all give me. Many Thanks!<br />
<br />
To the Women in Testing Community - THANK YOU! The amazing support via chats and twitter have been epic. It's very much appreciated on a daily basis. <br />
<br />
My very special thanks to Vernon, Elizabeth, Alex, and Marianne, for encouraging the non-tester part of my brain and taking a crazy ride via my first, serious creative project. Whether you make it all the way through or not, doesn't matter. Your willingness to try forever earns a debt of gratitude (and maybe a place on the dedication page) from me.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
All the best to everyone in 2020!</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCk2W8n7RVZuElgpFLFVfhjvqHjbXKBeGebFIvjXLlOWARb0fFFvl3vNjOJxtfqXU3irtjpTeAMuaPkasc9kMOvSuMQ2A_-Ci8sjTXrHX38MQZdrh-KI26O9tUmcftg6EKqDVeHResagw/s1600/clapping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCk2W8n7RVZuElgpFLFVfhjvqHjbXKBeGebFIvjXLlOWARb0fFFvl3vNjOJxtfqXU3irtjpTeAMuaPkasc9kMOvSuMQ2A_-Ci8sjTXrHX38MQZdrh-KI26O9tUmcftg6EKqDVeHResagw/s1600/clapping.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
</h3>
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-31431717027507480772019-08-01T10:27:00.000-05:002019-08-01T10:27:51.945-05:00Managing Your Management Expectations <h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Management: Year One Series</span><i><br /></i></h2>
<i>This is my Year One series on Management. It’s going to be ongoing, kinda like a serialized comic of sorts. I’ll tag these posts when I make them so, at some point, maybe someone who is also getting into a management role can see they are not alone. Batman wasn’t Batman in a day. Even he has a Year One, Two, and Three.</i>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">The Shift</span> </h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MNtULmJ5njXIooykBMRxP3f7TVITeqaAhbDLFhfrwtdxdytNBAs7l0pzoZ4nyN31YnunB32ZKQhLXkvqulAM6i5XUG3R4pl1qVV5_XWQ5G12lZS57tdUFbNyPF0L5tcGO6Zsi9KDXIU/s1600/Batman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="384" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MNtULmJ5njXIooykBMRxP3f7TVITeqaAhbDLFhfrwtdxdytNBAs7l0pzoZ4nyN31YnunB32ZKQhLXkvqulAM6i5XUG3R4pl1qVV5_XWQ5G12lZS57tdUFbNyPF0L5tcGO6Zsi9KDXIU/s200/Batman.jpg" width="127" /></a>It’s a bit ironic to me that one of the talks I give is about finding ways to stay an individual contributor in an organization. I’ve recently found myself in a managing role however, and while my advice still stands, I know I chose to take on this role because I wanted to learn from it and gain information and experience I might not have been able to gain otherwise.
<br />
<br />
That said, I think in my research of taking on a leadership role, often, what people tell you are ways about how you can conduct and manage yourself in that role. What they don’t often tell you are the hardships and mental dilemmas that you end up taking on if you are managing people.
<br />
<br />
As a technical lead, coming up with ways to solve process issues or experiment with tech never seemed like a challenge to me, or rather, it was a challenge I was always willing to take. I jumped into roles around being a technical leader because I liked those technical conversations and with much of my career training in testing, planning and process, getting into the technical weeds seemed a natural fit.
<br />
<br />
It wasn’t until recently, when I was asked to move into a hiring manager role, that I realized I was jumping into the deep end of managing waters, and there wasn’t very much folks could do to help me out.
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">The Upside Down</span></h2>
It does make me think that a lot of companies get this backwards. They throw people into the deep end, sometimes with a little mentorship, sometimes, with not much more than someone to report to with issues above you, and hope you can figure it out, and swim.
<br />
<br />
What companies should be doing is grooming leaders, sending them to training way in advance of when they come into leadership roles, and continue to keep them and everyone else up-to-date with the latest management changes and practices. I don’t think this happens often enough for mid-level management. I think there are definitely programs for folks being mentored into director, VP, and C-level roles at larger companies, because I’ve heard about them, but this might also be lacking for smaller companies unless someone has been proactive about setting up this kind of training and mentorships for themselves and their own folks.
<br />
<br />
What generally happens, I think, is that often folks are hired with leadership abilities, like me, and then the training comes later. I have mentors in my current situation, so I’m not completely on the management island by myself, but it can be lonely at times.
<br />
<br />
Some of the things people should be talking about more are the harder issues of management.<br />
Here are some of the following examples that would be nice to know about:
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>What happens if there is a conflict between employees?
</li>
<li>What happens if someone reports conduct issues that amount to harassment and/or sexual harassment?
</li>
<li>What happens if you have to coach an employee that is having mental health issues or health issues?
</li>
<li>What happens when you have to coach an employee in an unsafe home environment?
</li>
<li>What happens when you have to coach an employee where they are under-performing and there isn’t a clear reason?
</li>
<li>What happens when you want to be objective about the folks you hire, and be aware of Diversity and Inclusion issues?
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>(Note: some of this I’ve had to deal with and some of it actually happened to me as an individual contributor. Other questions here are more planning or problem solving. It’s a lot of “What if’s” I’m not comfortable with as someone that is supposed to be leading folks.)</i>
<br />
<br />
Maybe there are helpful resources folks can point me and others to dealing with all of these different issues. I’m sifting through various ones and trying to find resources for myself, but I have to admit, there is only so much reading I can do from day-to-day.
<br />
<br />
Does managing people really come down to instinct, open mindedness, and a willingness to help others? My gut reaction is, yes, very likely it does. The problem with that is mistakes will be made, and no one is perfect when it comes to managing people.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Harsh-ing My Harsh</span></h2>
I’ve been a harsh judge of managers that I’ve had over the years. Those that were some of the best, in my opinion, looked forward to mentoring people, often gave advice and feedback (even critical feedback), and found a way to make things better for their employees regardless of whether what they tried to do caught them a large amount of flack from other managers or the directors to which they reported.
<br />
<br />
Much of those actions that managers take on, seem fairly invisible until recently. Not only have I peeked behind the curtain, but I’m also now part of the whole backstage process that makes part of the magic happen.
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Obsessed With Visibility</span></h2>
In my role as a tester, I’ve often talked about making things more visible to folks on the team, or other teams around you so you can manage expectations and also get feedback about what information teams are looking for in their testing information.
<br />
<br />
I feel like as a manager, I’ve entered a fight club of sorts, where it’s known that it’s a fight club, but we can’t talk about fight club, because we’re not supposed to talk about it.
<br />
<br />
What if we start talking about it? I know there is privileged information and things that can’t be shared because of all kinds of regulations, so I’m not talking about that exactly, but maybe more of the day-to-day issues, and more of the “holy crap!” issues, and maybe even discussions around hiring, managing problematic situations, and mental health would be good as well.
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Jerry Maguire This</span></h2>
I’m curious if other folks would like to see these issues discussed more. I’m also curious about what format would best serve these kinds of topics. If you have an opinion, or an idea, please feel free to comment in the comments section.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34UWmgqn1_jGTp0ChgK3c_vmLKImoN7pNuYWUmERFlRBl0gieu5sXI4eOl-ubY7v0_1q3SwSdmgQ-GhyfZM-YF8tMV7tnJUz3CDlGsOIZxpq3E-CjjVQv6r5F3MxIm3qyX3mRSSjENvg/s1600/Yoda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1131" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34UWmgqn1_jGTp0ChgK3c_vmLKImoN7pNuYWUmERFlRBl0gieu5sXI4eOl-ubY7v0_1q3SwSdmgQ-GhyfZM-YF8tMV7tnJUz3CDlGsOIZxpq3E-CjjVQv6r5F3MxIm3qyX3mRSSjENvg/s320/Yoda.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-28949297372892370292019-08-01T10:23:00.001-05:002019-08-01T10:27:43.123-05:00Interviewing With Empathy<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Management: Year One Series</span><i><br /></i></h2>
<i>This is my Year One series on Management. It’s going to be ongoing, kinda like a serialized comic of sorts. I’ll tag these posts when I make them so, at some point, maybe someone who is also getting into a management role can see they are not alone. Batman wasn’t Batman in a day. Even he has a Year One, Two, and Three.</i><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Talking Your Face Off</span></h2>
<div>
I've had a lot of conversations the last few months with a lot of different people of various skill sets and talents. I've enjoyed speaking with most people and I have to tell you, dear reader, there are a lot of great people out there looking for a job. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From time-to-time, I've encountered a few folks that I know I'm not going to be able to offer the job to, and they are looking for that first break. They have, something I'll call a spark, that tells me, if someone could point them in the right direction, share a few things, maybe they can find what they are looking for in their career. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's hard for me not to feel empathy for folks and it's even harder for me to sit back and play at being an impartial interviewer, because I'm not. I'm human. I want to acknowledge my biases and my faults, but I also want to be real with folks I know I could help, if I only said something instead.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I've started saying something. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've had three instances where I've offered information, I've offered to connect on LinkedIn and I've offered to see if someone could take on a Jr Developer. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">The JR Dev Experience</span></h2>
<div>
There are a lot of Junior Developers applying for Testing Roles. It's odd. I'm not sure what to think about that yet. I also know that some companies welcome it to a degree. At the same time, I've counseled other newly minted developers, who are very interested in being developers, not to jump into testing unless they really care about it and want to give it a shot, or think it might be the career for them. There is still a lot of stigma around switching from testing to development. I would save folks that pain if at all possible. I wish it wasn't the case, but I've seen it too often. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also, it's a disservice to the person who wants to be a developer to stick them into a testing role that isn't anywhere close to what they expected to be working on or doing. Whether that person has a Computer Science degree or 400 hours of bootcamp training, they put in the time and want to be a developer. Like I put in the time to testing. It's always an option to apply for a testing job and see if you can get in a company that way, but I would make sure to state that the desired goal is to move onto a developer role. Companies can think about that, and that risk. Most are willing to take it on depending on the candidate.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">The Under Skilled</span></h2>
<div>
This category is the one that hurts me the most. I've been exactly where these folks are and I've wanted someone to point me in the right direction. I've made career changes to get my hands on tech or to have someone teach me things I knew I would need to keep progressing forward. At one point in time I could write a SQL query in my head (simple join, nothing fancy), but I was working with SQL a lot, and Ruby, and Selenium. Turns out, when you change jobs, what you know and what you need to know comes into stark contrast. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I find a candidate that fits this criteria, I'll often redirect the conversation to talking about different resources I think would be helpful to get them more skills. I point them to all of the things I didn't have when I first started. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is a huge wealth of information out there! From Test Automation U to Ministry of Testing to Automation In Testing to Alan Richardson's Patreon, there is so much out there to help folks learn skills these days. That's not to mention all sites that help with learning languages or other skills like version control and shell scripting. I know there are a ton more too! (Mention your favorite in the comments!)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I can't sit quietly and let folks I know looking for better opportunities not know about these wonderful tools to learn that could help them grow their skills. They have a wonderful foundation knowledge around testing, and they only need someone willing to point to things for them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">A Bit Of A Rant</span></h3>
<div>
I mostly blame companies that don't offer some kind of career development or education resources. Different companies think differently about this topic. I wonder at times, if instead of subsidies or tax cuts if cities and states could also stipulated that companies get those lush breaks for providing training and education to their employees and also the community where they exist. It makes sense to me. There should be more trade-offs. If companies want educated work forces, the should help communities grow them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">The Almost Candidate</span></h2>
<div>
These are the tough ones. These are the ones that have all the skills and the knowhow and might be a good fit technically, but over the course of the conversation, you realize that they would be miserable doing the work you have available for them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These folks like more structured environments to work in, or more chaotic and less process oriented ones. They prefer offices to open spaces or vice versa. They want to start with something already in place, or they want greenfield and a chance to draw their own lines and make a mark. They want a ton of money - that they rightly deserve - but you have a budget you have to think about. They are a junior candidate which has a ton of potential if you had another person to pair them with, but you don't. For whatever reason, it's not the skills, it's literally some environmental factor. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I never realized, when I started as a manager looking at these things from the inside out, that I would need to consider all of these factors, not just the skills someone brings to the job. Let me tell you, this is hard, very hard. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The best you can do in these circumstances is make sure that you have a rubric, and a diverse candidate pool. Think about the problems, both technical and cultural, you want to address, the skills you need for the team, and then hope for the best. A lot of interviewing is fate, luck, and some mix of objective and subjective things that can help you can make a judgement call with in a very short amount of time. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From the one that got away because you couldn't get them in to interview fast enough, to the one that got all the way to the end of the process and rejected your offer, it's probably the most disheartening part about going through the interviewing process from hiring side of things. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have way more empathy for how much time and effort it takes to hire someone than I did before. I've been the candidate with multiple offers and turned one down. Now I understand what that costs, literally, in people-hours and actual money. It's frustrating as hell, and I don't have a good suggestion here to make it better, unfortunately.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Thirty Minutes Could Change Everything</span></h2>
<div>
I've started looking at these 30 minute introductory candidate sessions as learning opportunities for me and for whomever I'm speaking with at the time. If I can help them, I'll try to do that, and if I can possibly work with them, I'll move them onto the next round. The time I spend working to understand folks that are applying for testing positions is not a waste of time. It's the start of something small that could grow into something amazing whether I'm involved later or not. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you are currently interviewing or helping to interview people, think about your approach. Think about the impression you are leaving with the person you are interviewing. Be honest about the next steps and your thought process. You can help someone the next time they interview, especially if they are open to it, do it. It's putting something great back into the world with very little effort. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfygjQze87oe1DkBl4tfB08oh62vT-lQpOoL8-gqpJy7cSnDqDGzmWUlcqJnRwd87Mxpw1Ms5vURcMTmsBW8a1VXFAxN_8nfS_he1kwK4pbdRfm-kyNVYW8gI_gG7ptTFO1PtoBH3K8qw/s1600/InterviewImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfygjQze87oe1DkBl4tfB08oh62vT-lQpOoL8-gqpJy7cSnDqDGzmWUlcqJnRwd87Mxpw1Ms5vURcMTmsBW8a1VXFAxN_8nfS_he1kwK4pbdRfm-kyNVYW8gI_gG7ptTFO1PtoBH3K8qw/s320/InterviewImage.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-74876132634446015092019-04-24T16:46:00.000-05:002019-04-24T16:46:29.625-05:00Learning From Failure: The Tricky iOS Environment<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space." </span></b></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">- Johnny Cash</span></b></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-923f1528-7fff-2bb2-0b49-786e00d8c4ad"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are times when our work, as a team, as testers on a team can give us insight into how we can improve things for the overall success of the product. Often those things are issues or defects which can present themselves at the most inconvenient times, in the most inconsistent ways. When we can learn from them and improve things for everyone on the team, the team benefits. When the team owns the defects and the testing strategy, not only the testers, then customers benefit as well.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1491f453-7fff-9bda-ac51-064d270d04a7"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was working remotely verifying a release and only had simulators and emulators to work with as I was testing mobile builds. Often folks mistrust builds which only use emulated software and not real devices for fairly good reasons. It’s usually not the best indicator of how the hardware will work with the software. What we forget is that with users involved replicating a production environment is extremely hard. Even deploying to a real device doesn’t always inform us of interactions with other software or what users could be doing with it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-f675fbc8-7fff-c6c3-f2e9-5170b143ff9c"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presenting the risk is part of the job. Testing needed to be done, and I did the best I could. All of the testing from my side of things went well. I reported my findings. The release went forward. </span></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<h3>
<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;">The Next Day....</span></b></h3>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-68acdfab-7fff-109f-687a-04f86a87f8b2"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The following day, we immediately heard from customers that there was an issue with iOS. I was surprised. iOS generally works the same on a Mac desktop as it does on an iPhone because of the closed proprietary nature of the system. I’ve rarely found something on a device that I wouldn’t have found on a simulator. Questions were asked immediately:</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why didn’t you test on a real device?” </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why didn’t you inform us that you were not testing on real devices?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Did you do a regular build or a development build?”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Were you aware that development builds don’t strip editor code like regular builds?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a473c3ed-7fff-5867-c1be-d4bfd57829a1"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All the questions were fair, but also a bit worrisome. While I had tested with an emulator, the initial thought was that I would have caught the defect if I was testing with a real device. Later it was discovered that it had nothing to do with the device or the emulator, but how I had built the project for Xcode. I had built it in Developer Mode, which doesn’t deploy the same code stripping as a project built without this mode. The problem was with the stripping, which I had inadvertently bypassed because I did not know that there would be a difference in data handling with build types like these. I only thought I was getting a log output from the app versus not getting one. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;">Feedback Loops Are Hard</span></h3>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I made notes were to make it more clear in the future about how I tested and what I tested when. I worked with another team member to come up with a small test report to give a better indication on stories how things were tested. We wrote a test plan to fill out details a bit more, and to gather feedback. Better progress reports on how testing is going and what might be potential risks in the future. My hope was that if we had faster feedback cycles on automated testing, and for manual testing, it might help the team catch issues faster or suggest other things to test so that we aren’t all surprised by something when it’s released to production. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning about the data handling issue triggered a change in how I built my projects after that event. It also made it clear that we needed a solution people could use remotely. Another clear issue was that we should find a way to have the CI create a project, build it, and deploy it to a device where it could be tested with automation, rather than spend time testing it manually. We might have gotten faster feedback with the automated build process, especially for a build defect.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We, as a team, learned from the defect. The defect was corrected quickly and patched to production. The team has a plan in place to minimize these kinds of events in the future. We learned from the defect and used it as a way to create an action plan to move forward with better testing.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h3>
<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;">The Future Is Slow To Happen Sometimes</span></b></h3>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have we been able to get all of our automated testing in place yet? No, it will take time and while progress is being made, we are aware that our manual testing needs to consider emulators versus real devices and how best to leverage those things. Nothing we have on our action plan is a simple fix, but when it is in place, it will give us more time to test other things and allow us to have more agility in our deployment cycles. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Issues, like the one I encountered with iOS, can give us an opportunity to change practices, habits, and better understand the system we are working with. The team can gauge risk better and move faster with code changes and deployments. Looking at the longer term risks, or even the trends, in application behaviors based on reported defects can allow teams to focus on testing in those areas instead of using a more scattershot approach, hoping to find something critical. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing things happen when you can reliably, and rapidly test the functionality of the software. Testing can open into many other avenues like accessibility, security, and performance. System health and quality can be raised by everyone by stabilizing the functional feedback cycle. Manual testing is a good start, but it can’t be the only way and your development workflow should be evaluated and changed to bring new processes in which could help a team reach a fast functional feedback system. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't get frustrated when this doesn't happen overnight. This is a marathon not a sprint to change. Sometimes things can happen immediately, and that's good. When developing a plan, set them up as short, medium, and long-term goals. Set an overall timeline to help keep the team on track for making those goals. It's possible. Patience and dedication can lead everyone to a safer, more stable and happy release cycle.</span></div>
</div>
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-31773957414886207232019-04-08T22:00:00.000-05:002019-04-08T22:00:23.133-05:00"Cheating" Is Necessary<div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;">
I love doing research. It's like cheating, but with permission.<br />
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/greg_rucka_744747</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i> "I love doing research, it's like cheating with permission"</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i> - Greg Rucka</i></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
I had something happen during my talk at TestBash Essentials that I wish I had been a little quicker, maybe even a little more clever about how I responded to it. I've had a couple of days to chew on it, and realized this needed a blog.<br />
<br />
I was walking folks through how to research their domains. The talk was going really well. I was getting a lot of focus and engagement from the crowd. I was pumped to present this information as I think it's the very key to how testers can bring more value into their work, and into the meetings we have which helps that work evolve.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">The Moment Of Truth</span> </h3>
When it came time to do the first Kata/exercise of the talk, I showed examples, and said that we were going to take 30 seconds to write up a similar examples I showed based on everyone's own experiences with their current jobs. Someone from the crowd asked to see the examples again. I said sure, and backed up the slides to one of the examples, someone called out and said 'That's Cheating' - I responded immediately that 'Cheating was OK, we look up things all the time' - or something to that effect. (I honestly vaguely remember because the moment was so completely unscripted, and I've only had something like that whole exchange happen in a workshop or a meetup talk). I moved forward.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">My Formulated Thoughts</span></h3>
This has been nagging at me though. I thought asking to see the example was perfectly fair. I was asking folks to make a mind map, to figure out how to map their domain based on seeing a slide for what was probably less than 15 seconds at best. It was fair to ask. I'm glad someone did ask. I know the "cheating" comment was a bit of a joke as well.<br />
<br />
What I wish I had said was:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>It's not cheating to look something up. It's not cheating to ask a question. It's absolutely not cheating to try to understand or ask someone to clarify what they want you to accomplish as a task.</b></span></span></i></span><br />
<h3>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></i><span style="color: #e69138;">The Bigger Issue </span></h3>
I'm sure folks let it go as the joke that it probably was, but the underlying implication of the exchange made me think there was a much bigger issue here that I missed the opportunity to address. I'm hoping here I can address it and let it go, let it get out of my brain. Because my brain is burning with frustration about it.<br />
<br />
I don't like the idea that having someone ask to see a resource is considered cheating. It wasn't a test after all, and I wanted people to succeed at this task. That's what I was there to do; to help people figure out how to find information.<br />
<br />
If asking questions and looking things up is cheating then CHEAT ALL THE TIME! We need to know how to find things. Having someone know, absolutely, some fact, or some idea, or some process 15 seconds after they see it is ridiculous. Life is not a quiz show. We shouldn't assume that we know everything and have perfect memories about anything. I know I don't, and if that means I cheat, then I cheat. I look things up. I ask questions. I absolutely ask to look at resources again. I also use search engines A LOT! Stack Overflow was invented to ask questions and look things up.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">What Is An Engineer Made Of, O' Reader</span></h3>
This sub-context of cheating plays into a couple of things. Assumptions about assumptions or ideas of what a "good engineer" is:<br />
<br />
1) That you have to know something stone-cold to understand it, or write it, or perform it.<br />
<br />
2) That you can do something from memory regardless of what that task is and how complicated it might be.<br />
<br />
3) That asking about references or looking at references are considered activities associated with cheating which in that context implies the engineer is cheating or not really an engineer.<br />
<br />
These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. It plays into why folks think white board exercises are perfectly acceptable, because folks should know something completely without looking it up. I can write something on a board, but it's going to be crap and it's going to continue to be crap until I research it and/or pair with someone else to learn about that technique or idea.<br />
<br />
The argument I can hear for this is if you claim to be a professional, you need to be able to take a white board or an oral exam and prove that you know things. I get that I don't want folks working in fields that might kill people because of a mistake and I would like them to be relatively good at their jobs, and I would like them to know things based on common understanding of the area of expertise.<br />
<br />
For example, I would expect a doctor to know that elevated heart rates and other risk factors could lead to a heart attack, and they know this because they study a long time, learn through experience and route knowledge that these risk factors can lead to consequences of an undesired outcome. Would they be able to recognize a rare genetic disorder or infection on sight? No. That takes research, time and understanding. Medicine is full of these moments where people have seen scores of doctors, only to find out that in the end, the one doctor that figured it out had some life experience that let them understand what they were looking at and how to treat it.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">Where I Am And What I Know </span></h3>
I know basics about coding. I know what if/else statements are; I know loops; I know a basic query for a SQL database. I know these things because I've taken classes and I've studied them. Am I absolutely good at writing them? No. I'm not. I'm not focused on writing good code all the time. I'm focused on learning how to put good products together, and only sometimes do I focus on the code to do that. I don't practice coding every day, so that's not where my skill focus is all that often. Do I keep learning, sure. I want to know what something should look like, and how it should function, that function of learning lets me do my job.<br />
<br />
I wish we could leave the tests in college and universities and let the fact that someone can learn something be the reason we hire folks. But since it's not, I'll encourage folks to "cheat" and find the things they need to do the job correctly, whether that's resources from Stack Overflow, or talking to someone to get an idea about how to approach a problem. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/CodeWisdom/status/1114565683147411456" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen." border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="797" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-m_IwbhuAob5UbhzCrTfBcflUMtXMpyF3E7TjXlvkgDSWHXvV-UzOC3hWvjZ5DbIJykoHrmKW9beGx-Q4Ox_K1N2NeYb14Nr8Fb2VDEnu1rzFqlh4FS_sbDDwfUFd4MtQSNrWBKuZ2qo/s400/ProWisdom.png" title="Programming Wisdom" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twitter-verse strikes again!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-83153973827218798702018-11-14T17:52:00.001-06:002018-11-14T17:52:13.385-06:00Life Lessons From Space Camp<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjO6b4aA-u-J0XCmhUCK5fixVhPG8xykETz1PpBd2818c3Ss9Mqm-c29S1hjmkrxWRdLuFRyqUnzp8CNocF26hDZ6Js1HBl6c1mqtwTClXh6YmZMz5aLPf03vLqvYrHtespj-BUbxP6KY/s1600/SpaceCamp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="728" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjO6b4aA-u-J0XCmhUCK5fixVhPG8xykETz1PpBd2818c3Ss9Mqm-c29S1hjmkrxWRdLuFRyqUnzp8CNocF26hDZ6Js1HBl6c1mqtwTClXh6YmZMz5aLPf03vLqvYrHtespj-BUbxP6KY/s400/SpaceCamp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SpaceCamp - 1986</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In
1986, the Challenger disaster was fresh on everyone's mind. Six months
later, SpaceCamp opened to audiences that weren't sure they wanted to
see a movie about a shuttle and near disaster. For me, it was a defining
moment in my childhood.<br />
<br />
Space had always held a
fascination for me from a very, very young age. I would look up at the
stars and wonder who and what could be out there. I give Star Trek the
credit for most of that wonder, but the Space Program and the Space
Shuttle seemed like the human dream of roaming the stars was heading
towards reality.<br />
<br />
In 1986, I was still a kid full of
wonder and possibility. I wanted to be an astronaut so badly, I wrote an
essay to try to win a scholarship to Space Camp. I never had the chance
to attend, but to this day, I still hold a very wild, wide eye dream of
"going up".<br />
<br />
The movie, which I was obsessed with for
most of my young life, well, still obsessed with actually, gave me a
bunch of life lessons I still think about today.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Always Worry About What You Say To Robots </span></h3>
Max
and Jinx develop a relationship in this movie which is completely
adorable and innocent until Jinx, NASA's tiny developing AI robot, takes
it into it processing that Max wants to really go to space, all because
Max says something off-handed, while being sad, about wishing he was is
space.<br />
<br />
With machine learning and AI becoming a big
part of software and how we manage software all these years later, I
worry about what we are communicating to these small, intelligent
programs, even passively.<br />
<br />
When we are trying to determine
something as simple as layout verification, or something as complex as
security risks; I have to ask, what are we using as deterministic
factors ourselves, and then what are we giving the software to determine
this?<br />
<br />
Our world views, especially in the US right
now, with the rise of machine learning, seriously bothers me to the
point that I have a very healthy skepticism about trusting machines the
industry is currently programming to do tasks.<br />
<br />
Machines
don't have feelings, they can't correct for a ingrained bias for the
English language, they are not often taught about cultures in an
inclusive manner, because we are not focused on doing so. We are too
interested in playing with the software and seeing what it can do before
we actually think about what could happen and why.<br />
<br />
I
get that it's possibly a very naive view, but I recently watched a talk
about a program that was designed to flag security risks. One of the
criteria for this was how much was displayed on a page. The image the
speaker showed to contrast this was several mobile applications where
one column was trusted, and the other wasn't. It was interesting to me
that the non-trusted column was all applications which appeared to be in
Chinese.<br />
<br />
While I do understand that there are a great
many websites and mobile applications which could be malicious from
several places known to harbor hackers which routinely commit attacks on
US companies and infrastructure, I very much hesitate to lump all
applications into an non-trusted category because of origin or
language.<br />
<br />
Our US/English centralist view needs to
change drastically before we create something we can't stop or
reprogram. The sad thing is, it might already be too late. Only time
will tell.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Leadership Isn't About Being Bossy</span></h3>
There is an
awesome quote Lea Thompson's character (Kathryn) makes while they are
stuck in Space and she's considered the leader of the group but can't
seem to make the right decisions, or her frustration gets the better of
her and she butts in where she shouldn't.<br />
<br />
This
character was very self-assured in the beginning of the movie only to be
taken down a few pegs while they were all in a crisis.<br />
<br />
Kathryn is allowed redemption when she saves everyone by piloting the shuttle to safety while Andie is incapacitated.<br />
<br />
The quote is:<br />
"My mom always says that being boss and being bossy aren't the same."<br />
<br />
Yesterday, this came back to me as I was thinking about my next career transition and mentoring.<br />
<br />
Towards
the beginning of my career, I saw myself as assertive, blunt, and
realistic. I didn't think that I was coming across as anything
different. I didn't think there was another way to be understood,
especially in large groups of men.<br />
<br />
Sometimes this is true,
and sometimes this backfires. Over the careers I have had, I've learned
better communication techniques. I've learned to try to observe first
before commenting, though I admit, I still let myself react instead of
think about things sometimes.<br />
<br />
I mentioned in a talk
recently that consulting was the hardest skill I've had to learn. I
absolutely believe this as you have to put yourself in a leadership role
whether you realize it or not, and then you have to figure out how to
lead people that might not want to be led in the direction they are
asking you to take them. It's convoluted at times, and perplexing, but
lessons from consulting have given me tools for understanding and
engaging in better leadership practices. <br />
<br />
When I
first started consulting with ThoughtWorks, I had several encounters
where I could have done better had I understood more about the dynamics
of the situations I was in at the time. Some of them were completely out
of my control and I was not going to succeed regardless of the
circumstances, others I've reflected on and realize that while I have a
natural inclination towards leadership, maybe I wasn't being the leader I
should have been, or wanted to be at the time.<br />
<br />
People
make mistakes. Leaders make mistakes. We make mistakes with our leaders.
As I transition to my new role at Unity, this is a reminder to myself
to be the leader I want to see in others. I want to continue to be the
accidental mentor; to be the kind of leader that is helpful and
directing, but not controlling. I am hopeful and excited to learn as
well. I hope that by keeping learning as the centerpiece of how I want
to lead, I can be successful.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Smart, Talented People Come In All Shapes, Colors, And Sizes</span></h3>
One of the cool things this movie taught me was that "smart" people weren't always the goofy looking dudes with glasses.<br />
<br />
Rudy
(played by Larry B. Scott) was absolutely a huge influence on me. He
loved science, loved doing science like things, but was always feeling
like he didn't know enough or wasn't smart enough. I identified with
that so much it hurt. I seemed to be good at some things and not so good
at others. Some of it wasn't my fault but rather my brain and how it
read things and how it chooses to understand words. Computers literally
became a lifeline to studying. If I hadn't of had access to computers
when I did, I don't know that I would have made it through high school,
let alone college.<br />
<br />
Rudy's story kept playing out for
me though because I was constantly trying and constantly not quite
making the high marks in my science classes. Some I did, others were a
struggle. When I finally made it through Cellular Biology on the third
try, I felt like I was floating on a cloud of awesome. What changed that
time? Spelling. I constantly practiced my word spellings. It was often
the biggest thing holding me back.<br />
<br />
Trish (played by
Kelly Preston) was an influence in a different way. I was envious of her
ability to remember everything she had ever read. At the same time, I
was encouraged that she wasn't the typical smart kid. She dressed funky,
she loved pink and had a funky personality. She gave me hope that while
I was a weirdo, in my odd shaped, and awkward self, that anyone could
be who they wanted to be and actually be smart and talented.<br />
<br />
Some
of these things don't hold up in the adult world so well. People don't
get the opportunities they should for all kinds of reasons, some of them
very horrible, and racist. However, as a ten-year-old, I had no clue,
and being clueless was kinda awesome. It gave me hope that the odd bunch
of kids launched into Space could be the odd bunch of adults launched
into space, that space could be there for anyone eventually. It wasn't
just for governments or private businesses, but eventually it would be
for the future, for kids, just like them, just like me.<br />
<br />
We
are pretty far from that today I think. The hope of routinely tripping
between the Earth and the Moon for work, or vacations is still pretty
far off unfortunately. If we stopped doing all of the bullshit we
currently do, like wars, and crazy polarizing politics, how far could we
have come towards being out there, in space, in the solar system,
exploring?<br />
<br />
Star Wars and Star Trek played huge parts
in this movie as well. The idea that it was always darkest before the
dawn played out a lot, even as they would see the "dawn" in various
parts of the movie, over and over. My hope is that we don't have to
realize our potential before humanity or our leaders do something to
take us over that brink or a cliff we can't come back from.<br />
<br />
With
the Shuttle program officially ended, it's hard to watch this movie and
not be nostalgic for what the Shuttle represented. The flight of humans
into space. Rockets are cool and all, but they don't hold the same
fascination for me as the Shuttle did. In some ways, I'll always be one
of those kids who will think about when "I'm Going up."<br />
<br />
<br />
References:<br />
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091993/" target="_blank">IMdB: SpaceCamp</a><br />
<a href="https://io9.gizmodo.com/30-years-later-the-space-camp-movie-is-still-fantastic-1780460215" target="_blank">30 Years Later, the SpaceCamp Movie Is Still Fantastic </a><br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-52850238799228452032018-10-15T00:58:00.001-05:002018-11-18T09:38:59.095-06:00Searching For Answers And Clairty With Perspective & FeedbackSometimes when I've been working in a situation for too long and I don't understand why things are behaving the way they are, getting someone else to come and sit in on the situation can give you a whole new perspective around what's happening. It could tell you whether you are crazy, or if you've really not lost your mind, or if you've somehow become dragged down into the muck with everything else happening around you.<br />
<br />
When you throw in the towel from frustration and realize you are demoralized because those around you are demoralized, it's hard to gain perspective again. You need a coach or someone to come in and observe, with clarity, with detachment, with objectivity, what's happening around you to give you some much needed confirmation that you are not crazy, that maybe you are not screwing up, but only need help and encouragement.<br />
<br />
I try to do this for people all the time, but I also forget to do this for myself. I need that small amount of feedback to let me know how I can change things or how I can understand how I got myself in the situation I'm in, and what I can still do about it.<br />
<br />
Change is not a bad thing sometimes. Things do not work out, or they don't go according to plan. Often people are pulled in different directions by their own desires and needs. People don't want to fight the general consensus when that consensus is against them and they don't feel they have ground to stand on.<br />
<br />
When you are told that people are talking about you and around you, that maybe your approach could be changed, but you don't know how and they don't know how, sometimes it's hard to see. When someone explains it to you via a story, from the same place you've been, even though the approach is border line condescending, maybe taking a step back and listening to the message, removing the parts that rankle, and using what they are saying as a motivation, as a way to get back to the place you want to be, is a good start.<br />
<br />
<i>SIDE NOTE: There are negatives and then there is bulling and putting someone down or just being nasty. Feedback doesn't have to be nasty, it doesn't have to be hurtful. If someone is giving you feedback in this vein, it's best to ignore it. Or you can play the game of why they are being so harsh, but in that way leads to madness.</i><br />
<br />
The parts that rankle are good too. You need those as well. They aren't the best things to hear sometimes, but when you take them and sit with them for a little while, you understand that feedback only hurts if you let it. It's there to show you another perspective on your own actions and behaviors.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Maybe you are pushing too hard in one direction and need to balance things out. </li>
<li>Maybe you are taking too much responsibility on and need to let things drop so that others feel like they are doing their jobs. </li>
<li>Maybe you are striking out too far on your own without asking enough questions. </li>
<li>Maybe you thought you set expectations, but you really didn't. </li>
<li>Maybe you left out of conversations because other voices are afraid to be overpowered </li>
</ul>
<br />
Many times, all there for someone to see and talk about if you are brave enough to listen. Even if the message isn't perfect, there's always something to someone's response. <br />
<ul>
<li>Sometimes it's because you are a woman. </li>
<li>Sometimes it's because people are intimidated and don't know how to approach the situation.</li>
<li>Sometimes it's because you don't understand yourself how to get along and where your focus should be and why you are distracted.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Some things are doomed to fail if they remain the same. Changing them can be the hardest thing you can participate in, especially when you know sometimes the only change is taking yourself out of the situation and letting someone else balance out the team and give more hope to the situation.<br />
<br />
Sometimes leaving is better than trying to fix it. Sometimes letting someone else come in, giving them the chance to see what they can do could make all the difference, but you have to brave enough to realize it and move on.<br />
<br />
Sometimes all the change in the world doesn't make a difference. You have to balance doing things for the sake of a team, or doing things for the sake of your own mental health.<br />
<br />
Lessons are funny like that. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-70402988118352546722018-08-17T21:26:00.002-05:002019-03-30T16:58:16.216-05:00Podcast Review: AB Testing #86 - Not the Customer's Champion<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Your most unhappy customers are your </span></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">greatest source of learning - Bill Gates"</span> </span></i></b></div>
<br />
<br />
Here are a few ideas and things I've been thinking about since I listened to <a href="https://www.angryweasel.com/ABTesting/ab-testing-episode-86-not-the-customers-champion/" target="_blank">AB Testing podcast #86. </a><br />
<br />
It's always fun to listen to Alan and Brent chat about testing, and their brain-child Modern Testing Principles. In this podcast, they review the fifth principle, which states:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">"FIVE - We believe that the customer is the only one capable to judge and</span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> evaluate the quality of our product."</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-f16e6d2a-7fff-8748-a789-5b97e6dbb8b8" style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><a href="https://www.ministryoftesting.com/dojo/lessons/modern-testing-principles" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">(Check out the complete list here!) </span></a></span></div>
<br />
I generally like the points these guys are making about testers not being the customer, or pretending to be the customer.<br />
<br />
It's the idea that we need to go deeper than that and ask questions about what exactly it is that we are trying to make. This seems to head a tad bit into business analyst territory, but that's OK. Testers are analysts too, and business oriented folks can't think of everything. Often, testers pairing with business analysts or product/project folks can help better refine the requirements.<br />
<br />
This essentially at it's root is a question everyone should be asking:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What problem are we trying to solve?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Once everybody gets to that point, especially when thinking about starting a new project, especially when people are looking for work to do, and ideas to test, if we all asked this question on a regular basis, everybody makes money, hopefully.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Hidden Problems </span></span></h3>
Asking "What's the problem we are trying to solve?" is great in theory, and it's something I tend to ask a lot, or something like it, such as: <i>"What are we trying to accomplish and why?"</i><br />
<br />
But it makes me think, based on some experiences I've had, and what I've been TOLD to do over the years: <i>How does this idea/question work in a less idealistic setting?</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">The Plot vs The Setting</span></span></h4>
When you first land on a team, the idea of asking what problem you are trying to solve seems a little idealistic in terms of business and team dynamics. Often the business has a plan, or an idea of a plan. They likely have been told from the top down that they will figure out what those things are based on some metric. Like conversion rates, or adoption, or downloads.<br />
<br />
The example Brent gives about trying to create a simplified smart phone to sell overstocked equipment is a great example of over-engineering a problem. An example of trying to solve the problem with the wrong solution. From the sound of the story, Brent knew it wasn't going to work, but he had to work on it anyway to finish out a contract.<br />
<br />
If a company like Microsoft can make mistakes like that, and often mistakes created by business people far removed from the development process, how can a team of developers and/or testers stop that before the bad idea gets to them? Should they stop it? Is it worth doing the bad idea to prove to the business that it didn't work in the first place?<br />
<br />
It's possible that some folks could influence up and make others realize that an idea isn't a good one, or the right one. Could I manage that same feat from a team that has been delivered requirements and told to innovate on a problem? Maybe.<br />
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Using Risk Analysis To Head Off Bad Ideas</span></span></h3>
Sometimes the best thing you can do is write up risks. In this case, writing a risk that states your team might be developing the wrong solution could also be pretty risky if you don't have a lot of access to customers and analysis to back up your statement. Sometimes testers get this information, sometimes we don't.<br />
<br />
Most testers I know would like to have metrics, feedback, and market analysis, but often, we can't get to it, or for some weird reason, we are told we don't need it. In a lot of businesses, testing still isn't in the room where the ideas happen and where testers can be a voice of reason around ideas which might or might not solve a problem.<br />
<br />
<b>Risk Analysis</b> in this situation is akin to <b>Domain</b> knowledge. If you've done your research, understand who competitors are, what the market is doing in the technical space you are in, you can help your company make better informed decisions. If you've read an article that a competitor is abandoning a technology, and they detail out WHY, and then there is your company thinking about picking it up, it might be a good idea to check and see if people have at least read the article.<br />
A great example of this is the article recently written by a group out of <a href="https://medium.com/airbnb-engineering/react-native-at-airbnb-f95aa460be1c" target="_blank">AirBnB about React Native</a>. They list a lot of great pros and cons for their situation. It was a great write-up on their experience with the tech and how it worked for them.<br />
<br />
In my opinion, testers should be tuned into these things. We should be reading these kinds of half tech, half marketing research articles to help guide our thinking, and in turn, at least be able to float an opinion, or offer research around a topic like picking a technology, or adding a crazy feature set which might not be solving a problem.<br />
<br />
When you add areas like security, accessibility, and usability to the mix, these caches of knowledge can help address questions around value, problem solving, and general understanding of what the solution should be with a given problem. Even if we can't really change the decision, it's possible someone at some point comes back and asks why a decision was made.<br />
<br />
When a business fails to deliver something meaningful, testers often get the brunt of "not catching... xyz." If you've given a risk analysis/domain viewpoint, or information, you've done what you can, and after that, you can hold up the information you previously presented when someone asks why you didn't catch something or say something. It takes a couple of times before people catch on. But when they do, that shift in thinking around creating an idea and winging it verses testing an idea in a thought out, methodical approach can be pretty powerful.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: large;">
Marketing & Capitalism</span></span></h3>
Businesses rarely think in terms of the customer because of capitalism. They think in terms of the metrics of selling more things to the customer which means, especially in marketing, convincing the customer to buy something they often don't really need. How does a team, for a business, balance the driving need to make money(because paychecks are nice), with the idea that a customer should be at the center of the decisions made for the direction of the product?<br />
<br />
Thinking in terms of customer retention is where we can get more customer centric thinking around solving for a problem the customer is actually having. This is verses a problem the customer is having with the product, verses creating a problem for the customer to have which in turn creates a problem to solve for the customer, which causes them to spend more money.<br />
<br />
Example: Apple's latest MacBook Pro, which has adopted USB-C. It has a touch interface where the function keys were. It has been widely discussed and even despised in some cases, along with the limitations of only having USB-C ports. The adoption of the ports are innovative, even forward thinking. The sale of all the various adapters and connectors to allow someone to continue to use various peripheral devices is an added bonus to Apple's bottom line.<br />
<br />
It's the best kind of market to have, one that you artificially create. Apple has been doing it for years. Amazon does similar things, offering services on demand you didn't know you needed until they offered them.<br />
<br />
All this is to say, sometimes what's wrong or what's right is a grey area. Projects fail all the time. Google glasses for instance are a good example, while the Chrome book is working out alright. Sometimes we can't predict what will work or won't, though understanding the risks and stating them should be part of the job description for testers at any level. Innovation is risky.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Innovation Question</span></span></h3>
If you have the right problem, and you are working on several solutions because you don't know for sure which one will work exactly, how does the question change? It might change to something like:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>I understand your problem, does this solve it for you, the customer?</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
That's a feedback loop. It's even a step further than "What's the problem I'm trying to solve for you, the customer?" Feedback is absolutely necessary even if you are only asking the first version of the question to the customer. This leads us to principle number six:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">"SIX - We use data extensively to deeply understand customer usage and then close the gaps between product hypotheses and business impact."</span></span><br />
<br />
Development teams should keep asking this question as they continue along the development process as well. It's vital to continuing towards creating the right solution. The initial idea could change over time, and then as that happens, the customer needs to be involved to figure out the 'Did we get it right?' part. That can take a lot of money and time to get to that question. If some how, identifying the risks can shortcut to the correct answer (similar to something Brent mentioned around the Microsoft example), then it's worth asking, every time.<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-37589081445787593632018-07-29T14:24:00.000-05:002018-08-21T13:28:26.473-05:00A Vigilante For Quality vs Bridging The Us VS Them Gap<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJJ-XalTA2OmHrY84K_TRHqgkuQj_Sji9Jhy8kRRPMthJKGdDpoauYgNw0Sr0WUCn80TEfNYBb_oOYv2i6u_YLFVwsvuhyGCf31_9r4rEpdYnF_IM16aPD4kMrRTUElQAwXIX5xXi3yA/s1600/island_oliver_queen_cover-1020x560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1020" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJJ-XalTA2OmHrY84K_TRHqgkuQj_Sji9Jhy8kRRPMthJKGdDpoauYgNw0Sr0WUCn80TEfNYBb_oOYv2i6u_YLFVwsvuhyGCf31_9r4rEpdYnF_IM16aPD4kMrRTUElQAwXIX5xXi3yA/s400/island_oliver_queen_cover-1020x560.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>We all have to start somewhere, even superhero vigilantes.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Earlier in my career, when I first started working with tech, I always wondered how developers solved problems. My first jobs in tech were customer service related. I took phone calls. I wrote up issues with products. I reported my own investigations. That's as far as I was allowed to go.<br />
<br />
Then, a few years later, I was offered the opportunity to do something more around development. This was exciting to me because I found I had a passion for good working software, not because the company needed to have good working software, but because the poor customer service folks who had to explain poor working software to people that would call to ask for directions or who would find defects and report them. That was where my passion was when I first started in software development as a tester.<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;">The Vigilante For Quality</span></h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
My first year was akin to any superhero's first year. You think you are doing the right thing by taking names (aka finding bugs) and then finding the culprit. I hunted down developers with very little thought for how they would feel having someone tell them they made a mistake. I often found myself in heated arguments over defects which were regularly backlogged. I didn't understand why everyone else didn't see the problems I saw in the application. I didn't understand why they weren't as concerned as I was about the quality of the application we were creating.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVj1KRs1_93kVYa7u1PofjEFf6H7IJ6OPayGk7d4tpKq39yxm6Es2X7Y_xQkoN9ngIjtaS-A0bm82OJn6mPujO45ahC2ezlxv2V7g9gerRTmqxWMt0lcwEMF6BV1HcHiHPOu6bl1UELrw/s1600/arrow_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVj1KRs1_93kVYa7u1PofjEFf6H7IJ6OPayGk7d4tpKq39yxm6Es2X7Y_xQkoN9ngIjtaS-A0bm82OJn6mPujO45ahC2ezlxv2V7g9gerRTmqxWMt0lcwEMF6BV1HcHiHPOu6bl1UELrw/s400/arrow_cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>You Failed This Software!</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I often got comments and feedback later around these moments of engagement. I was too harsh. I wasn't thinking about the bigger picture. Or I was thinking too much about the bigger picture. I needed to change my tone. I needed to be less confrontational. <br />
<br />
The other side of my superhero problem was I was willing to sacrifice my life, health, and general mental stability to see quality be a priority. To render quality as a tangible thing that could deliver as much, if not more value to the customer than any delivered feature.<br />
<br />
No defect was too small, no effort too large. No building too tall... you see my point. Everything was a challenge and I was the quality hero that was going to nail it down, even if I had to do it all by myself.<br />
<br />
This caused other things to happen around me. Developers were less keen to talk to me. People didn't like my absolute, black or white, yes or no nature. It works for some things, but not everything and certainly not with people.<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;">Learning To Modify My Approach</span></h4>
It took a better part of a year, with coaching, to make changes to my approach. I still thought I was right. I still had a lot of these hard line values, but I tried to bridge the divide in some way. I approached people with suggestions instead of demands. I made more of an effort to understand the problem from a different point of view before attacking it like a planned mission on a criminal organization.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rQ9TbXri-Q6UwklQ9x261ChIPPW97W-DcAbaTnVnX9hc2LZVB8p9JsfYLWFJ_iBYeK5dbR3Ue5fmBWYooTKFURZ0zEkAE-gS5vTukcePMWP6nT5NOju6-9IfJsWKjHGO8FSPEmqle-Q/s1600/OliverMayor.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rQ9TbXri-Q6UwklQ9x261ChIPPW97W-DcAbaTnVnX9hc2LZVB8p9JsfYLWFJ_iBYeK5dbR3Ue5fmBWYooTKFURZ0zEkAE-gS5vTukcePMWP6nT5NOju6-9IfJsWKjHGO8FSPEmqle-Q/s320/OliverMayor.jpeg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Leading in the Light of Day</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While I didn't believe in what I was doing at first, doing it slowly made me change into less of a hardliner and more of a collaborator. I gained more awareness of situations because I was trusted to help understand and influence those situations. I was part of a team. I balanced being a defender of quality with empathy and understanding that people make mistakes. Perfection isn't the goal, but rather an ideal, and a poor one at that.<br />
<br />
Having values over rules, but applying the rules when necessary became my focus. Understanding people and politics rather than applying some bad labeling has given me better approaches to how I advocate for software quality. Understanding whether to be a visible leader or to put on a mask and go rogue is a valuable skill set to have. You have to be prepared for the risk from both sides. You need to be prepared to fail at an objective to attempt it. <br />
<br />
Fictional heroes fail all the time. Real heroes fail quite a lot as well. Those consequences can be pretty catastrophic depending on what you are doing. When you start looking at risk and collateral damage; you take a step back; you gather more information; you make a more informed plan of action. Mitigation is a hard skill to master, and it's even harder to put into practice when you have a lot of unknown unknowns.<br />
<br />
The biggest lesson heroes and villains give us is that sometimes the world isn't so Us vs Them. It's really all of us together. It needs to be all of us together or none of it matters.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: x-large;">Bridging The Divide</span></h4>
Building relationships with people and disciplines that you would normally not think to talk to is a good first step. Removing the barrier of developer and tester collaboration is even better. Don't treat software like a double-blind study. It's not that kind of scientific experiment. It's a social one.<br />
<br />
If you are afraid of letting your testers talk to anyone about what they are testing because it might taint their testing results, then you might be worried about the wrong thing. Testers should be talking with everybody, respectfully, to try to understand from their perspective how they think things should work. At the same time testers can share what they think they understand about how something should work. This gives people access to view points which can minimize churn, missed development criteria, and improper feature development.<br />
<br />
Testers: Be visible with what you are doing. Demo you test cases. Demo the automation. Demo your thought process. Record your testing notes and testing sessions. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. Demo a new tool set. Get a developer to help you optimize the automation test suite. Look for opportunities of collaboration (aka pairing) wherever you can. Don't feel like you have to take on the whole ecosystem of software alone. You have allies; you only have to ask for help.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBFFvN8mM2y4qoQgfZLpP4Y7c9MW_5IhN376pS2Ulhj22CLHFB02r9lItBzlr20yMkwz72ns8BD3LqiReV6lOGTwTF9sxtgdybw9ivTvTqf9Xw-I1R1RuUxDptPumIKoX_aQcDpQJGzk/s1600/Arrowverse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBFFvN8mM2y4qoQgfZLpP4Y7c9MW_5IhN376pS2Ulhj22CLHFB02r9lItBzlr20yMkwz72ns8BD3LqiReV6lOGTwTF9sxtgdybw9ivTvTqf9Xw-I1R1RuUxDptPumIKoX_aQcDpQJGzk/s640/Arrowverse.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>Team work making the dream work!</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-68168145410525877112018-07-14T08:34:00.000-05:002018-07-14T08:41:51.569-05:00TestBash Philly 2017 - The Lost 99 Second Talk<span style="color: #b45f06;">Honestly, I didn't really lose it, it was buried with all my other writing notes. I wanted to post this today as a reminder that if you work in the tech industry, you are not non-technical. I'm sure someone out there will disagree with that statement, but I feel like it's important to keep saying it. Inclusion vs exclusion. You may not be as technically skilled as someone else, but that doesn't mean you are non-technical. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">This is the full text of the planned 99 second talk I gave at TestBash Philly 2017 (I omitted some things for time, but wanted to post the original here).</span><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Recognizing Your Technical Might</b></span></h2>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Who has a computer or smart phone?<br /><br />As owners of these things…have you called yourself Non-technical?<br /><br />Yes - Me Too!<br /><br /> It’s Bullshit!<br /><br />How many you have been free IT service for your relatives? <br /><br />Me too.<br /><br />We tell our devices all kinds of things everyday. We give our devices instructions, and those instructions trigger other instructions.<br /><br />We have become so clever in disguising the technical and making it mundane, most things we do now with a push of a button.<br /><br />A single input, a slick interface. <br /><br />Fact is, you all know more than you think you do. You know what’s under that button, that slick interface. You know how those programs and devices work in the real world. You might know more about how something works than the folks that created it.<br /><br />Testers are explorers of the digital frontier. You are the advanced mission, creating the map, redrawing parts of it as you know more, relaying that information back, helping to make changes or making those changes yourself. <br /><br />We boldly dive into all kinds of things everyday that didn’t exist until someone’s complied a bunch of symbols and a machine translated, then presented it upon request in whatever configuration you wished up at that moment.<br /><br />Do not accept anyone calling you non-technical. Do not accept a narrative someone else has created for you.<br /><br />Create your own.</i></span>MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-29275712053234344452018-05-20T22:47:00.001-05:002018-05-20T22:47:23.895-05:00Coaching & Mentoring: Sometimes It's About The Pebbles<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c3xQQTveS9XnNXNK5h9vgPu0FEaonKpMKItlnrCi0r1PpogCFuFnPJtWhXjPCHw5q_GYQbXalgDszEbaUTmJjknnJEv4hFW4ukFDaDnhqhWEbEcjxTJO_PNtqs8Uzv8x5TE0UZ3TLd0/s1600/PebblesBig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8c3xQQTveS9XnNXNK5h9vgPu0FEaonKpMKItlnrCi0r1PpogCFuFnPJtWhXjPCHw5q_GYQbXalgDszEbaUTmJjknnJEv4hFW4ukFDaDnhqhWEbEcjxTJO_PNtqs8Uzv8x5TE0UZ3TLd0/s400/PebblesBig.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://twitter.com/sdalfonzo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I've had the very cool, very humbling opportunities of mentoring and coaching other IT folks over the last two years or so. The topics are varied but mostly I try to encourage the people I've spoken with or understand what they are struggling with and see if we can solution something out between the two of us. It's been pretty exciting for me to give back to the IT community in this way.<br />
<br />
When I was starting in IT, I had a lot of coaches, managers, and mentors who did various things to encourage me and help me deal with some tough situations. Working as a woman in tech can get very discouraging at times and many folks were there to help me through situations and roadblocks which might have resulted in me quitting IT all together. Without mentors and coaches, many of us wouldn't be were we are today.<br />
<br />
I was recently discussing with a mentee some difficulties they were having trying to find a way to be valuable on a team. There were large problems that we both identified which should be addressed for some major roadblocks to be resolved. However, we also identified that neither one of us was in a really good position to resolve those roadblocks and issues which caused us to feel like we weren't doing our best testing.<br />
<br />
While there were many examples of issues which I could list here, I don't feel like those issues are important to the story. What is important; what we resolved in our discussion that day was to find ways we could gather pebbles and make those pebbles count.<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">What I Mean By Pebbles</span></h3>
We all see the glaring, huge problems day in and day out. However, many of us are not in the position to affect those problems and make sweeping changes. What we can do, what we are empowered to do is find small problems and fix them, or bring the problem down to our level and fix it locally.<br />
<br />
By looking at the problem mountain and picking a pebble off of it, we are making that conscience decision to lead by example. Moving pebbles can eventually cause avalanches and bring down mountains of problems. Moving pebbles can eventually have a chain reaction on a larger mountain of problems. It's an easier approach than trying to deal with a whole mountain of a problems at once which can seem pretty futile.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">One Example</span></h3>
While I mentioned earlier that I wasn't going to list the issues, I feel like this particular one is common enough in IT and an excellent example of how a problem can be reduced to a pebble and that pebble can effect change on a larger scale. <br />
<br />
I heard over and over again that a lot of people felt that testing wasn't visible enough in the organization. I thought about the problem. I thought about what could fix the problem on at a larger scale, and I realized I didn't have the power to affect the problem on that scale, yet.<br />
<br />
However, I brought the problem down to my level. What could I do to change the visibility of testing for developers and stakeholders I interact with? I started adding all my notes, screen shots, and workflow videos to the stories on the storyboard. By doing this, I created visibility for my team, and for stakeholders, and the larger organization. It's a simple thing. It's something I generally do anyway and it cost me very little effort. <br />
<br />
Since I started adding this information to the stories, I've had comments from team members, feedback from other teams, and stakeholders about how valuable the information is to them and what they plan on doing with it.<br />
<br />
This display of visibility is infectious. It filters out into the different groups I'm involved with and then is held up as an example of what people could do. This is the chain reaction I'm seeking. This is the start of what could eventually be a tipping point which turns into the avalanche which allows a larger change to happen.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138;">Looking For Pebbles</span> </h3>
The mountain is right there! It's huge! Why doesn't anyone see it? Well, sometimes people get used to the mountain being there and they don't see it as a problem anymore. They see it as part of the scenery that they have to bypass or work-around to accomplish what they need to do. While it could be applauded that many have found ways to work around issues, allowing issues like this to continue is detrimental to a larger organization eventually.<br />
<br />
There is a fine line between creating a work-around to an issue, fixing it for your team by setting an example, or adding to the problem. The thing is, you never know which one it is until you try something.<br />
<br />
Pebbles are ways of finding that small scale experiment and putting it to work, displaying it, and getting feedback. If something isn't working on a small scale, it won't work to solve the problem on a larger one. If your experiment works, but it's not creating enough momentum, you'll have to decide if it's worth continuing, or if you need to broadcast your results to a wider audience, aka - presentations, lighting talks, blogging, v-logging.<br />
<br />
Collect your pebbles. Show them to as many people as you can. You never know when those pebbles will move mountains. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxCOvtbB_LVz-vYTShF2hKiJ_REPGGTsT8jRLIZpPDKRGM3KuxzAPrtKVInSsspIgagJgkNupq9C37scD5NScZD26KCJACrZT3Nn8kWxokPHl230lUHLuw6NtnJIAuCDnXgAz62sip3Y/s1600/Quotefancy-1159846-3840x2160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxCOvtbB_LVz-vYTShF2hKiJ_REPGGTsT8jRLIZpPDKRGM3KuxzAPrtKVInSsspIgagJgkNupq9C37scD5NScZD26KCJACrZT3Nn8kWxokPHl230lUHLuw6NtnJIAuCDnXgAz62sip3Y/s400/Quotefancy-1159846-3840x2160.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-15511757217941794072018-05-20T21:50:00.004-05:002018-05-20T22:48:55.567-05:00Mob Testing A Mobile App<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<i>"We should seek the greatest value of our action."</i></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Stephen Hawking </i></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
I've only done mob "anything<i>" </i>at conferences. It's a skill I've learned and I've been itching to try out for a while and have never found a good opportunity to try it. I recently got my chance to facilitate a mob testing session after I proposed the idea to my team. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<i></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Currently we are working on a mobile application. We had a few days left in our sprint and a couple of stories which needed to be tested. I suggested we do a mob testing session so we could work through the last few stories together as a team. The team liked the idea! I was ecstatic, and then quickly had to figure out how I wanted the session to proceed. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<i></i></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">Assumptions</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I though the best way to get my team members to think about what they knew and communicate those thoughts to the other team members, was to write down assumptions we had about the application. I stole this idea from a recent twitter thread where several folks were commenting on assumptions and how best to handle them. Everybody has them, so why not make those assumptions known and share!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We wrote stickies of each of our assumptions and I grouped the similar ones on the board. I was asked by a team member about having the same assumptions as someone else in the group. I responded that it was OK, and actually not a bad thing. It means we are all thinking similarly about the problem. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Being aware of our assumptions can also help avoid the group-think around a problem. If we know we are all thinking we should "click the button and something happens" we can challenge that assumption with other interactions.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The end goal of reading out the assumptions everyone had was to give the navigator an informed testing path. I didn't purposefully write out test cases or scenarios. I didn't want to influence the navigators. I did get a comment from my team lead who thought that I should have had scenarios for the team to walk through instead of letting people drive the discovery. I noted that feedback, but upon reflection, I don't think we would have discovered and discussed things we found as much as we did if we had scenarios.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">Getting Started</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Our business analyst was also in attendance and he was the first one up as the driver. I was pleased that he wanted to join us and was also pleased that he had some great feedback after his driving session was completed. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Our team was organized like this: Driver, Navigator, Assistants to the Navigator, and Facilitator (which also played assistant navigator). We rotated roles every five minutes with the exception of Facilitator. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">In Progress</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The session was set for one hour total. I set up an emulator which I displayed on a large monitor so the whole team could participate. We managed to get through the whole user flow and discovered a few things about caching, state changes, and device behavior we hadn't anticipated. I referenced the assumptions we had written earlier and flagged ones that were wrong and also created notes for stories which needed to be in our backlog to handle other parts of the workflow we hadn't discussed but realized would present issues in future sprints. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While I might have caught these things myself during a testing session, having the team review the work and talk about the issues and assumptions let us all discover what we should be focused on and what might be of concern. It broadcast this information to the whole team instead of me filtering it through my testers lens and then communicating it back to the developers. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Since we were doing mob testing with an android emulator, some of the behaviors we discovered were discussed and noted by the iOS developers as well. They realized they might face similar issues when they picked up the same story in the next sprint. This exchange of information across the platforms happens in our group, often at standup, but rarely do the developers have time to really think about the issue in detail and try to think of possible solutions based on what the other set of developers and the tester discovered.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">Session Wrap Up</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I collected notes, gave our business analyst information for future stories which should be researched and gathered feedback from the team. They were extremely positive about the experience. We have plans to run a mob testing session every other Friday. Since we are using emulators, we can run these sessions remotely and discuss our findings via chat or Zoom. Our first remote mob testing session will be this week. I'm looking forward to letting you all know how it goes! </div>
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-74445368709306561392018-05-07T21:03:00.001-05:002018-05-07T21:03:42.131-05:00Testing Community Podcasting At It's Finest!<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<i>"You get to a certain
age, and you are forbidden access. You're not going to get the kind of
coverage that you would like in music magazines; you're not going to get
played on radio, and you're not going to get played on television. </i></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<i>I
have to survive on word of mouth." - David Bowie </i></h2>
<br />
<br />
I can't say enough about the experiences I've had with <a href="https://twitter.com/markontask" target="_blank"><span class="nbtbyline">Mark Tomlinson</span></a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Gem_Hill" target="_blank">Gem Hill</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/dustlined" target="_blank">Neil Studd</a>. All these podcasts are serving the community of testers exceptionally well. I've been privileged to be on them and for the most part I've not put my foot in my mouth too much.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #e69138;">Testers' Island Discs</span> </h2>
I think the one exception to that, or three rather, was a couple of date flubs I made on Neil's Island Tester's podcast, and I reversed words at one point stating one thing and describing another. It's out there for folks to listen too. The mistake is glaring to me when I hear it and someone who appreciated my input reached out and asked me if I meant what I said or if I goofed. I goofed. I'm not going to directly point it out (though I did in a tweet a while back) but I was having fun, and Neil was up late to record so we made it work. Neil even went back and edited things at the last minute that we both found (mostly around dates - I can't be trusted to remember the right date anymore). I'm grateful for being on the "island" and getting to do a unique podcast concept with Neil.<br />
<br />
One of the other reasons I picked duets is that I love music way, way too much and I wanted more than five songs. I wanted music that would inspire and trigger other songs in my head. More artists, more music to think about!<br />
<br />
If you ever want to be on a podcast, I would completely recommend signing up for this one! Neil is absolutely organized and is very professional. I have no idea how he does all the podcasts he does and still manages to work a full week! It's impressive and I'm in awe of it.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://dojo.ministryoftesting.com/dojo/series/testers-island-discs-podcast" target="_blank">You can find all the great Testers' Island Discs podcasts here!</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #e69138;">
TestBash Brighton Podcasts</span></h2>
The first podcast I did was for TestBash Brighton with Mark. It was a lovely conversation and I enjoyed chatting with Mark about the talk that I was going to give. I found out later there was a bit of a technical snafu with Mark's mic, and he had to re-record all of his bits because his original recording made him sound like Micky Mouse (his words, I swear!). I don't even notice it. He is such an expert that it blended in without to do about it.<br />
<br />
Mark's dedication to the Ministry of Testing community is without a doubt, above and beyond. He's hosted, invited people to his house for cookouts, and makes sure every speaker is comfortable and has everything they need to have a good speaking experience. He's not only worked TestBash New York and Philly, but also hosted Brighton, and probably others. Along with his hosting duties he's recorded speaker podcasts for Brighton and Philly, giving folks a sneak peek of what they are going to hear at conferences. Mark handed off his hosting duties last year and is taking a much needed break. I hope he continues with his own podcast and I look forward to seeing him at future events. If you see him, say hi, and thank him for all the hard work.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://dojo.ministryoftesting.com/dojo/series/podcast-series-ministry-of-testing" target="_blank">Here are a bunch of great podcasts from Ministry of Testing 2017!</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #e69138;">Let's Talk About Tests, Baby!</span></h2>
Finally, Gem's podcast, "Let's Talk About Test, Baby" is such a great, intelligent bit of show that if you aren't listening to it, you might be missing out on some pretty cool things from cool people all over the community. We had a general discussion about a blog post I had written about trying to be more concise and learning how to get to the point quicker with less preamble or explaining the whole story. I've gotten better since I've written that blog post and recorded the podcast. If you are a patron of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/GemHill" target="_blank">Gem's podcast on Patreon</a>, you'll know that not only was the pod cast an hour long, but there were two additional 30 minute segments she edited and released to subscribers. She's had so many great guests on her show, and she's reached 100 podcasts! I don't know very many podcasters that can say that. It's an amazing milestone for an amazing show.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://letstalkabouttests.xyz/" target="_blank">Check out the Lets Talk About Tests, Baby podcasts here!</a><br />
<br />
I know the huge amount of work it takes to do these podcasts. I was on a four person podcast for a long time. It's over 10 years old and is still hanging out on iTunes. If you are looking for someone to talk a
lot, make up some interesting words, and sometimes be funny and/or
serious, and bring in a female's perspective, contact me!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLasOu6FCSX4L7_ZX72MXtFdwlL3JIDqmPOfgDPJAu_AAtlEe4KRaQn7DxhwtK9YyodmnjTC5cKp4z4BgHX-9kEiMglxpHAtoFokjvMoG2YMtVWYaaiKopDS7S9usOYCMcZmUuRFABOLY/s1600/elvis-presley-1482026_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLasOu6FCSX4L7_ZX72MXtFdwlL3JIDqmPOfgDPJAu_AAtlEe4KRaQn7DxhwtK9YyodmnjTC5cKp4z4BgHX-9kEiMglxpHAtoFokjvMoG2YMtVWYaaiKopDS7S9usOYCMcZmUuRFABOLY/s400/elvis-presley-1482026_640.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-34885726549188889732018-03-12T15:14:00.001-05:002018-03-12T15:14:18.900-05:00Media List for March 2018 - Week 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/March-18-Week-2-aa9fafab35ab4fc38580ef8968c9dbca" target="_blank"><img alt="March 2018 - Week 2" border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1440" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQMO8p3w4mbYtf0vjVn18EhPnjfk6tuJBfV_xwCdC5rpD1tsRyLQlhCf0OmV_Dmm9KYdYhBn1Ek72VUUhhCB3Ho68nDyag66ywhSE1d4wE-cTQyBkAVzSv21jGQRb40oyTHPqDrEC1qg/s640/MarchW2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This week saw me reading a lot about Black Panther, listening to the sound track and generally enjoying it's ride in the box office. You'll find new headers this week to look into. Movies, music, books are all there, including a header listing my own publications, because it pushes me to write more and put my ideas out there. <br />
<br />
From what I hear, Wrinkle In Time isn't fairing as well as it's brother-in-arms. That makes me sad as it's more focused on women and a young girl, being empowered. People that are fans of the book need to take a moment and realized that movies are a different medium and they should be allowed to take some liberties with the story. Most of the negative feedback seems to be coming from some folks that don't like the movie version because it wasn't true to the book. I got over the notion of things being true to a book when the first Dune movie came out, and again when Handmaiden's Tale (the movie, not the series, though the series is going beyond the book) had a better ending than the book.<br />
<br />
Lots to read this week! Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-34924610437605832912018-03-08T16:23:00.004-06:002018-03-08T16:23:46.522-06:00International Women's Day 2018 - Women Promoting Women<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGjKO1lVPwbRJHQrR5rr-NlMOsdONW0i6jXDBoI0rydjezu8ZgGe_fOb1MwxiDK_j5N3McQ2StqZA0ZJiAaTC7fRLDLFw_YOV2U10wgdILJBmnBgGphhWcgEBEk5VluIetjGrRr_mezc/s1600/180212113917-special-cut-michelle-obama-portrait-large-169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGjKO1lVPwbRJHQrR5rr-NlMOsdONW0i6jXDBoI0rydjezu8ZgGe_fOb1MwxiDK_j5N3McQ2StqZA0ZJiAaTC7fRLDLFw_YOV2U10wgdILJBmnBgGphhWcgEBEk5VluIetjGrRr_mezc/s320/180212113917-special-cut-michelle-obama-portrait-large-169.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The true international woman: Michelle Obama</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
International Women's Day 2018</h2>
I have been receiving notifications all day many in the testing community tweeting about the women that have influenced them or gave them an opportunity in their career.<br />
<br />
I have much the same story. I have a lot of people on my career path that have helped me, but there are two that changed the course of my career beyond my wild expectations. <br />
<h4>
Help Desk To Testing</h4>
When I moved to Austin, Texas, I moved to help further my career, change my life, do something new and exciting, even if I there was a possibility of falling on my face doing it.<br />
<br />
I after three months, I was still working remotely for Security Benefit back in Kansas. I was starting to lose hope that I wasn't going to find a job locally, that I was going to work nights for the foreseeable future. The only advantage I had was working as a contractor gave me a little more money and room to be picky about my opportunities.<br />
<br />
Eventually I landed a job at an education software company on their help desk team. Three months on that team was more like three years. By the end of three months, I knew the software pretty well, I was handling calls and chats at the same time. I was the person opening the phone lines every morning. The work was OK but was quickly becoming boring.<br />
<br />
This was until I an opening in the software development department for a QA Analyst. I didn't even know the role existed at the time. I knew I had a passion for trying to get things right for the customer without a bunch of workarounds.<br />
<br />
I met with a woman named Marii Thompson. She was the QA Manager, looking for more staff, and excited at the opportunity to help someone move into development.<br />
<br />
I was given the chance to move into development. My salary was undercut by HR. The help desk manager offered me $2 an hour more to stay in my current role. Obstacles be damned, I saw the testing light and I ran to it, even with little knowledge of what I would be doing, and less pay than I had working a help desk.<br />
<br />
I learned a lot of things the hard way that first year. I wrote so many test cases, and read so many books, took classes, stayed up late for releases, and babysat any number of projects which were under development. By the time I left the company, about six months after Marii did, I had increased my salary by 25% and had a job offer for more. Marii put me on this path. I don't know if she even knew how much she changed my life when she hired me. <br />
<h4>
The Tester & Editor </h4>
The second time I've had a like changing moment was August 2016. The same education company Marii and I had worked for lured me back to be the QA Lead. I was excited about the possibilities it offered and the chance to mentor other testers. Sometimes things don't turn out as expected.<br />
<br />
There were a lot of personalities on our team and around our team. The easy going, carefree people I knew were all gone except one or two and many of them were leaving as I had come back. The environment was tumultuous at best. I had plans. Those plans were thrown out for other plans, and then the company was bought. Layoffs were about a month away. I knew it was a distinct possibility that I was going to be one of the number of people let go.<br />
<br />
I put out a message to the Women In Testing group and asked for leads for new jobs. Abby Bangser, an awesome tester at ThoughtWorks, immediately pinged me and said that I needed to put in my application to ThoughtWorks. We met at TestBash in NYC and we had been in contact ever since.<br />
I followed through with that and a few other leads.<br />
<br />
The day came and a lot of the development team were laid off. I was one of them. I was half way through the interview process with ThoughtWorks and didn't know if I had a job or not. I went home and started studying again, networking through the Ministry of Testing slack, when one day a writer's slack channel popped up. I joined and followed it for a few days.<br />
<br />
Rosie Sherry posted a request to have someone do a second review of an article for publication. That article happened to be Maaret Pyhäjärvi's, and I jumped at the opportunity.<br />
<br />
That editing session led to writing articles, and then led to an editing job which I never thought I'd do as a tester. It was a dream in another career, in another place, that seemed like a lifetime away. Helping all number of people find their voices. Helping Ministry of Testing spread internationally. Helping me reach a goal I had made so many years ago for myself.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Raise Your Hand, Be Counted</h4>
Women were pivotal to my career. They led me through some of the most unstable times of my life and got me through and out the other side at a better place. It wasn't easy. Some of the worst moments, I wanted to quit and be a hermit somewhere, but I would take a day, or two and then come back and start over or continue, because it meant the world to me, the opportunities I was given to prove I could do exactly or more than people thought I could.<br />
<br />
I can only hope that I can pass that chance on, that experience, to other people who come into my life. That maybe I can give them some small chance and they can take that and make an opening for themselves to something better. MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-2744183617044514352018-03-05T08:39:00.001-06:002018-03-05T08:42:18.695-06:00Media List For March 2018 - Week 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/March-18-Week-1-68f53e160df041858bc1f6eacf589812" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/March-18-Week-1-68f53e160df041858bc1f6eacf589812" border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1466" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvSyim3eCU7WoynN02QoN0tYZK4aUedwmeQlPUUuX1lGAHItbACFheNpLpgQO2EQpsHuO0JS_Uc6_TxI6AVGOLpGwYUKUxnGKlefIdI6H6xCz8h_bPgur6Rj0fxeir6S_0yP3DfkMMr5Q/s640/MarchW1News.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Took the month of February off. I have lists, but I didn't post them as I was too freaking busy! Lots of articles published for Ministry of Testing, and Crossbrowser Testing (SmartBear). Attended ETC. Gave a talk/workshop at Ministry of Testing Dallas Meetup. I think I might have managed to get a blog post in during all that too.<br />
<br />
This week had some interesting reading, music, and books! I tweaked the format a little to add some other topics that I do enjoy through the week and want to note on my blog. I probably should have a movie column on there as well. Will add that next week.<br />
<br />
Enjoy! <br />
<br />
P.S: <a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/February-Topics-6c82398e092548dc8af95cc087594df7" target="_blank">Here are links to February Lists</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/January-Topics-5e0ee4a491b747239e426997a0458ed4" target="_blank">Also, here is a link to January Lists as well! </a><br />
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-41145963689674566792018-02-07T09:46:00.003-06:002018-02-07T09:46:52.284-06:00Mel's Thoughts: AB Testing Podcast #60<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"If you rely only on your eyes, </span></i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">your other senses weaken."
</span></i><br /> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">―
Frank Herbert,
</span></span></b></span><span id="quote_book_link_234225"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">
Dune</span></b></span>
</span></div>
<br />
If you haven't heard <a href="http://www.angryweasel.com/ABTesting/?p=224" target="_blank">this specific podcast episode</a> yet, you as a tester, as a developer, as an anything in the software development lifecycle, need to go listen to it.<br />
<br />
Alan and Brent are definitely on the right track with this podcast. I have been shifting towards these things they discuss, like using analytics to test data, features, and getting to the root of the what the customer wants.<br />
<br />
Customizable interfaces that machines build for people instead of people building specific tools. I've mentioned before that I don't think we will really have GUIs in the next 10 years. With the take over of voice user interfaces, and more APIs being made available in the public domain, the shift will come to the point that businesses will be about serving up information, they won't be able creating log-in features or displaying content. All of that will be scrapped, captured, and optimized by the user and served up however they would like it.<br />
<br />
Annoyed with too many graphics, want all text - done.<br />
Think text is too much, you want it to be audio read - no problem.<br />
Want to chat with someone and want video and screen sharing as options - easy.<br />
<br />
We are so close to this already. We'll start seeing macro packages that include the ability to enable a login for content. We'll see more integration between apps to where they won't be separate apps, but present as one seamless interface presenting the user features as they see or need them.<br />
<br />
This is basically what <a href="http://www.angryweasel.com/ABTesting/?p=224" target="_blank">AB Testing #60</a> is talking about.<br />
<br />
I've touched on similar trends in <a href="http://testingandmoviesandstuff.blogspot.com/2016/05/mels-prediction-corner.html" target="_blank">this blog</a> as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Road Bumps To The Bright Testing Future </span></span><br />
I think where we will hit some stumbling blocks isn't having testers with creative approaches or ideas as to how to test the application or learn new ways of testing, it will ultimately be a couple of things:<br />
<br />
1) <span style="color: #e69138;"><b>Companies lacking a mature development process.</b> </span>They are already unsure about what testers can do for them and we as part of the industry are not making it clear enough.<br />
<br />
2) <b><span style="color: #e69138;">Defining value of being an analyst tester rather than a quality analyst.</span> </b>Start shifting the job to be more systems analyst and less about functional testing.<br />
<br />
3) <b><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: #e69138;">Getting past the idea of what people think you should be doing and defining your job for you. </span> </span></b>It's imperative that analysts become better influencers. We'll need to start doing a better job of presenting data to back up issues we are seeing. We'll need to pair more and work with developers to guide them on the tests that need to be written. We'll need to understand analytics, how they are created, what they mean, and where they are lacking. We'll need to understand more about the ecosystem of the software and hardware and focus less on the functional.<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></b></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Evolution is a light illuminating all facts, </span></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">a curve that all lines must follow." </span></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
</span></i></b></span></div>
MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-90151115010916388052018-01-29T08:24:00.001-06:002018-01-29T08:24:50.004-06:00Reading List For Jaunary 2018 - Week 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/Jan-18-Week-4-8162068f888845c5be351ec120e274f6" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/Jan-18-Week-4-8162068f888845c5be351ec120e274f6" border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1316" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSAZpbNbPVArLYDNnJa6yjVC-WGx8VzVX1LZj2_xE28rlzMSWZCcXxLP0VsqmrGYZrfpH9wLw7CdTMKkz8baaguKHJzUheRRICx9PIvRqWDvc8oyqnCpxQGvgy1c3ghnJDfupCvFhrn0/s640/JanW4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Lots about writing and blogging this week in my reading. I found some good articles with writing guidelines I think could help lots of folks move towards professional writing, and help improve things for those of us that write on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
One call out to the TLJ article about the baby boomer mentality. I enjoyed it. I don't know if the movie is meant to be that heavy, but it's a good thought piece on the dynamics between generations and what it has cost in the relationship between them.<br />
<br />
Happy reading!<br />
<br />
<br />MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493723067281804914.post-66999147853978092852018-01-21T15:04:00.005-06:002018-03-05T08:46:03.963-06:00Reading List for January 2018 - Week 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/Jan-18-Week-3-cd9b9300e27e4c4694b4a5988dee5d73" target="_blank"><img alt="Reading List for January 2018, Week 3" border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1200" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYTuygz_PjnnZoFqWPp0bXcYjuMz3LXvoFRrYkaXSTaHIPzRzHehZcFzEUo4G6_fBVTKCM-4bFzgXNfEyqoAV8Rih1idfRoi92KoDuG_KQKN7MTTN8XBpGqKRakk7j_Uu7dxybz0jKZY/s640/JanW3.png" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This week we have some good picks from the news and from the industry at large. I've also added a few CFPs in the list to highlight that it's go time for those of us that want to submit conference papers for various conferences. I'm partial to TestBash'es, but mention KCDC since it's my home town as well.<br />
<br />
An FYI - The cinnamon roll story could be triggering for some. There are not a lot of graphic details about certain things, but the very creative way she describes how she makes and eats the cinnamon rolls could give those of us that have strange relationships with food a bit of a pause.<br />
<br />
The shutdown happened. We are all waiting for the collective of the White House and Congress to pull their heads out of their butts and figure it out. NASA and a number of science initiatives are affected, along with millions of kids and DREAMers. It's disgusting how being decent humans somehow doesn't figure into the picture for anyone in D.C. - that's a blanket statement and probably doesn't apply to everyone elected, but when shit hits a fan, bystanders get just as much on them as the folks that threw it in the first place.<br />
<br />
Feel free to comment either here or on the <a href="https://www.notion.so/melsreadingrecommendations/Jan-18-Week-3-cd9b9300e27e4c4694b4a5988dee5d73" target="_blank">Notion</a> page. Enjoy!MelTheTesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217757067869476891noreply@blogger.com0