Using metrics to report on quality

Why do you need metrics? The role of data in software is to provide objective information for us to base decisions on. It can be used proactively to inform our strategies and reactively to understand whether investment we're making is having the impact we expect. The crucial thing is that it breaks through our biases, … Continue reading Using metrics to report on quality →

Defining what quality means for you

Quality is the level of excellence something achieves. To apply that concept to a software product in a way that can be understood by everyone involved in the product's development is difficult. In this blog post, I'll discuss how I created a definition of quality for my product that helped us to align on what … Continue reading Defining what quality means for you →

Managing and Achieving Goals

This is my contribution to the Ministry of Testing January 2021 Blogger's Challenge. It's generally agreed that for someone to have the best chance of achieving something, they must recognise it as a goal. But that's just step one; once you've decided on a goal, how do you go about managing it? Deciding this can … Continue reading Managing and Achieving Goals →

Risk is…

Risk adds complexity to all software engineering projects. It's difficult to define; some define it subjectively as an uncertainty, others define it mathematically as a function of impact and likelihood. However you define it, there's no one-fits-all answer in terms of how to approach it, yet we find it shapes our whole test approach: what we test, when we test and how much we test.

Testing is like… writing a blog post

After a surprisingly busy month of lockdown meant I left myself only one evening to complete the Ministry of Testing June/July bloggers club challenge, I've thrown together a quick, tongue-in-cheek post about how I'd rather this month had gone... Testing is like writing a blog post for a bloggers club. You start off with a … Continue reading Testing is like… writing a blog post →

Stop #3: How testing style affects pairing

I’ve been on three stops of my testing tour so far; a busy time both personally and professionally over the last few months has meant I’ve not been able to give my tour the focus I’d hoped when I decided to embark on it. However, the three stops I have been on so far have … Continue reading Stop #3: How testing style affects pairing →

Stop #1: A lesson in pairing

Last week, I embarked upon the first paired testing session of my testing tour. As I've only done a couple of paired sessions in the past, I felt I needed to focus on the mechanics of this in my first session, so that I can decide how to best to structure future sessions in the tour. … Continue reading Stop #1: A lesson in pairing →

Going on tour

I am going on a testing tour. This was inspired by Elizabeth Hock, who talked about her own testing tour at TestBash Brighton. Her purpose was to “become a better skilled tester” and she believed that pairing was good a way to do this. I have decided to go on my own testing tour because … Continue reading Going on tour →