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Being a “Good” TesterAttitudes, Skills, and Growth

Rex BlackRBCS, Inc.31520 Beck RoadBulverde, TX 78163 USA

Phone: +1 (830) 438-4830www.rexblackconsulting.com

[email protected]

Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality

The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0) Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black

One development manager once called testers “depraved minds..usefully employed”So, are we devils or angels?Alternative viewpoints on testers

We find bugs and tactfully point them out.We provide essential insight to manage quality risksWe advocate the customer’s experience of qualityRex Black Consulting Services motto: “We help our clients make better software and hardware by breaking it for them.”James Bach: “We light the way….The testing process focuses light where it’s needed to help developers and management know where they are, where they ought to go, and when they have arrived.”



What Distinguishes “Good” Testers?The right attitudes

Professional pessimismBalanced curiosityFocus

Appropriate skillsDomain, technology, and testingFitting the product, project, and process context

Continuous skills growthConsistent with the tester’s career pathMatching organizational needs

Rex Black: “Good Tester”?



Professional PessimismExplore depressing possibilities of failure

Anticipate the worst possibilities in order to achieve best obtainable product qualityNot adversarial, but a different outlook than development

Remember: to assume nothing will fail during testing denies the entire history of computing

êCaveat: not a license to offend= Don’t target developers with reports

or take glee in failure

Challenge: to be positive, pleasant, and the bearer of bad news, all at once

Pierre has the pessimism, but perhaps not professionalism?



Balanced CuriosityBalance need for thoroughness in any one area with need to cover many areas in a short timeEffective test engineers have a knack for spending time where the bugs areEffective test engineers can do thorough bug isolation quicklyIneffective test engineers

Write tests for unlikely failure modesSpend hours researching trivial bugs

The best test engineers have this ability



FocusTwo types of focus problems

Pursuing issues narrow-mindedly, losing sight of more important prioritiesGetting distracted from key tasks

Balance and re-evaluate priorities every so oftenStay focused on the goals of the test projectThe test manager must assist through clear communication

A seasoned test engineer can find her way towards project goals with clear

signals from her manager



Problem AttitudesTesting is seldom a glamorous, high-caste role

⇒ Don’t pick people who want “sexy” jobs

Hard work is always required during crunch mode

⇒ Make sure your testers will put in the extra hours

Testers must advocate quality and represent the customer

⇒ Don’t pick people who can’t, politely but firmly, stand up for what they believe in

êThese disqualifications don’t make these people bad people, just bad choices for the test team

Slackers reduce overall productivity and damage

test team credibility



Balancing the Skills

The appropriate depth and length of each arrow in the

figure depends on the project, process, and

product

Good test teams have the right mix of skills based on the test effortDomain expert

Understands intended behavior

Skilled testerKnows quality risks and test techniques

Technical guruAware of technical issues and limitations

What is the right mix for……Internet appliance testing?…nuclear medicine testing?…your project?



Test Team Critical Skills Spreadsheet

33434Bug Reporting32252XYZ Automation

Testing33344Java Programming32342Unix Servers

Technology32325Word Processing11120Doc Management

DomainAvgMinJHBLTWEMSkill



Sample Critical Skills ListBasic testing Software life-cycleBasic technical aptitude and awarenessBasic/Advanced InternetManual black box testing MS Windows user skillsCommunication written/oralTest planningTest documentationDefect reportingBasic programming conceptsBasic software engineeringBasic system architectureBasic database Basic comm protocol Quality control/quality assurance Process improvement/methodology Software testing phases

Software testing conceptsAutomated test scriptingEvaluation of automated test resultsRecord/playbackEditing automated scripts Analytical skillsUNIX user skillsSQL user skillsWeb testing skills Cross-functional effectivenessTest environment set-upVersion control/change mgmt.Industry knowledgeTQM/CMM/ISO9---/6 Sigma/IEEEQuality economicsStatistics and probabilityProfessional affiliation/certificationEfficiency implementation

Metrics and measurement Risk analysisRoot cause analysisIncremental test strategiesQuality advocacyMacintosh user skillsEnergeticSense of humorPersuasiveGood judgmentProblem solverDetail-oriented/meticulousEnthusiasticAssertiveArticulateInquisitiveOrganizedThoroughTeam PlayerHonesty

List courtesy of and copyright © 2001 by Bernie Berger



Case Study: LogiGear’s Skills Matrix

LogiGear's Skills Matrix

Thanks to Hung Nguyen and LogiGear Corporation (www.LogiGear.com) for sharing their work. Copyright © 1995-2001 by LogiGear Corporarion. All Rights Reserved.

Open Skills Spreadsheet



Continuous Skills GrowthInstitute a quarterly skills assessment and growth plan using the critical skills spreadsheet

E.g., have each tester set and achieve skills growth in three critical areasUse cross-training (mentoring), formal-training (conferences, seminars, etc.), and self-study (books, computer-based-training, etc.)

Adjust the critical skills list as product, process, and project needs change



Case Study: Skills Growth

Adapted from my forthcoming book, Critical Testing Processes, to be published by Addison-Wesley in 2002. Copyright © 2001 by Rex Black. All Rights Reserved.

Open Skills Spreadsheet

SC Test Team Skills Spreadsheet



Emma’s Quarterly Skills PlanOrganizational needs: Stronger domain expertise and technical skillsEmma’s goals in terms of career growth: Move into product marketingPlan for her skills growth

Through self-study, learn about and create a test suite for embedded graphics, figures, tables, and equationsAttend, then present (internally) a training class on the design and implementation of networked/internetworked application



Tester Pride

License plate provided and proudly displayed by Jonathan Bach, Lab Manager, Satisfice, Inc.



Calling All Good TestersPromote healthy tester attitudesUnderstand the skills needed to be a good testerGrow the skills to the benefit of the test team and each individual tester

%Cultivating the right skills and attitudes leads to continuous improvement of test team abilities…and results!

being a good tester - rbcs software testing training ... · being a “good” tester attitudes,...

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