Habitability Matters (FiSTB Testing Assembly 2015)

Habitability as a concept is commonly related to places we live in. It’s what makes them livable. A home.

Richard Gabriel approached this concept in his book “Patterns of Software” and did it from the perspective of programmers. This led me to think the factors that make our daily working context habitable for a tester. How easily can we find the pieces of information that help us question the product? How does something like providing shelter translate into testing context? Are we in control when we are testing and how does that relate to habitability?

There has been an on-going effort on my current client to improve habitability through numerous experiments. Radical changes rarely happen in short time span. That’s why it has required continuous effort and ability to view our work critically on daily basis. I’d like to share this journey to you with all the successes and failures. Perhaps from those bits and pieces you will pick up ideas on how to improve the habitability in your own work.

Transcript

1. Habitability Matters Aleksis Tulonen @al3ksis
3. Organic Order: … the kind of order that is achieved when there is a perfect balance between the needs of the parts and the needs of the whole. (Christopher Alexander 1975)
4. Habitability: “… developers feel at home, can place their hands on any item without having to think deeply about where it is.” (Gabriel) “… easy for programmers to come up to speed with the code, to be able to navigate through it effectively, to be able to understand what changes to make, and to be able to make them safely and correctly.” (Gabriel)
6. What makes a house habitable (for me)?  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
10. What makes a house habitable (for me)?  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
13. What makes a house habitable (for me)?  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
15. What makes a house habitable (for me)?  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
19. What makes a house habitable (for me)?  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
22. 5 minutes with person next to you What is making your context NOT habitable?
23.  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
24. 5 minutes with person next to you What is making your context habitable?
25.  Must provide shelter, with working locks  One needs to know the habitants & feel comfortable with them  Must not be infested with vermin, such as mice, roaches, termites, etc.  Knowing the location of things & to be able to find them quickly  Adapting to the changing needs of the environment
26. Aleksis Tulonen Email: aleksis@protonmail.com Twitter: @al3ksis Homepage: aleksistulonen.com Work for: Comiq