the lean startup method and its value for testers

T1 Test Management 5/5/16 9:45

The Lean Startup Method and Its Value for Testers

Presented by:

Lee Copeland

TechWell Corp.

Brought to you by:

350 Corporate Way, Suite 400, Orange Park, FL 32073 888-‐-‐-‐268-‐-‐-‐8770 ·∙·∙ 904-‐-‐-‐278-‐-‐-‐0524 -‐ [email protected] -‐ http://www.stareast.techwell.com/

Lee Copeland TechWell Corp.

With more than forty years of experience as an information systems professional at commercial and nonprofit organizations, Lee Copeland has held technical and managerial positions in applications development, software testing, and software process improvement. At TechWell, Lee has developed and taught numerous training courses on software development and testing issues, and is a sought-‐after speaker at software conferences in the United States and abroad. He is the author of the popular reference book, A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design.

1

Lee Copeland TechWell (formerly SQE)

[email protected] @grandpacopeland

Testing Lessons

from Lean Startups

2 2

Lean Startup Is Everywhere

Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

3 3

Topics

• The Dismal Record of Startups

• Eric Ries

• Foundations of Lean Startup

• What Value for Testers?

4 4

The Dismal Record of Startups

• A startup is an organization

created to deliver a new

product or service under

conditions of extreme

uncertainty

• Does this sound familiar?

5 5


• Shikhar Ghosh of the Harvard Business School

reported these statistics:

– 95% of startups will fall short

of their financial projections

– 80% will fail to meet their

projected return on investment

– 40% will cease operations with

investors losing everything

6 6


• The #1 cause of failure = No Market for their

product

• It’s a great product or service that no one

wants to buy

7 7

Eric Ries

• An entrepreneur with an

impressive track record

– Product to connect students

with … employers

– Product to let people play in

a 3D virtual world

8 8

Eric Ries

• Ries learned that under

conditions of extreme

uncertainty, classical

management methods do

not bring success

• He formulated the Lean

Startup methodology

based on his and others’

experiences

9 9

Foundations of Lean Startup

1. Build-Measure-Learn (BML) Loop

2. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

3. Validated Learning

4. Customer Development

5. One Metric That Matters (OMTM)

10 10

1. Build-Measure-Learn Loop

In rapid iterations

Persevere or Pivot?

• The MVP is that version of the product that

enables a full turn of the Build-Measure-Learn

loop with a minimum amount of effort and the

least amount of development time

• The minimum viable product lacks many

features that may prove essential later on

11 11

2. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

(Final product) (Minimum

viable product)

12 12


• Validated learning is “the process of

demonstrating empirically that the team has

discovered valuable truths about the present

and future business prospects”

13 13


• Learning and discovering who a company’s

initial customers will be, and what markets they

are in, requires a separate and distinct process

from Product Development

― Steve Blank

14 14

5. One Metric That Matters (OMTM)

• Most metrics gathered by organizations are

“vanity metrics.” They make us feel good (or

look good), but don’t really show progress

toward our goal

• The One Metric That Matters measures the one

most important thing at the present state of the

startup

15 15

The Lean Startup Methodology

What Value for Testers?

16 16

What Value for Testers?

• As software testers, we are rarely part of an

entrepreneurial startup team

• Are there lessons for us from the Lean Startup

methodology?

17 17

1. Build-Measure-Learn Loop

• BML loop is equivalent to the Exploratory

Testing loop

18 18

2. Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

• The idea of an MVP

suggests we should

start with a Minimal

Viable Set of Tests

• Don’t strive for

“completeness” from

the beginning

• Add additional tests

as the need becomes

apparent and

warranted

19 19


“It isn't what we don't

know that gives us

trouble, it's what we

know that ain't so”

Will Rogers

American Humorist

20 20


• The Lean Startup

methodology suggests

running frequent

experiments to determine

customer response

• As testers, we can run

frequent tests to determine

both customer and system

response

21 21


• Asks:

– What are the

problems our

product solves?

– Do potential

customers perceive

these problems as

important?

22 22


• Customer Development suggests that we

should identify different “customers” of our

testing services:

– Developers

– Users

– Management

And SERVE them, not our testing process

23 23


• Or this could be our future …

24 24

5. One Metric That Matters

25 25


• Is your metrics program an example of

“success theatre”?

26 26


• Replace the dozens of vanity metrics …

– Test cases planned

– Test cases implemented

– Test cases executed

– Test cases passed

– Test cases failed

– …

27 27


• … with one that is truly indicative of something

vital

• Bob Galen suggests we should consider

measures in the areas of:

– Predictability

– Value Delivered

– Quality

– Team Health

28 28

Conclusion

• The Lean Startup methodology has many

insights to offer to software testers

• Become familiar with its precepts. Adopt its

ideas for your testing

29 29

Thanks

[email protected]