Redefining the Purpose of Testing

Throughout the history of software testing, the profession has evolved from expectations of just meeting requirements to ensuring fitness of use and overall quality. In this presentation Joseph will discuss the challenges our stakeholders have in understanding our craft, as well as some of the negative perceptions of value. You will see how this situation is driven by our typical methodology agnostic way of testing and how our history has driven what most believe is our purpose. Joseph will lead you through a redefinition of that purpose with advice on how to implement a new mindset. You will discuss embracing a newly defined purpose of software testing, where the emphasis is placed on providing information, not just raw data, to stakeholders. This new intent will transform testing into a service minded group whose value is transparent and ultimately empowered by their stakeholders, instead of just tolerated by them.

Transcript

1. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Joseph Ours Redefining the Purpose of Software Testing
2. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Introducing Joseph Ours About Joseph • Owns development and delivery of Cohesion's Quality Assurance and Testing Services • More than 15 years of IT experience spanning several industries and roles • Successfully managed multi-million dollar initiatives while introducing innovative solutions for Fortune 1000 companies, resulting in improved quality, increased client satisfaction, cost avoidance, on-time delivery, and establishing a true team culture Contacting Me @justjoehere jours@cohesion.com 614.423.5253 www.linkedin.com/in/josephours
3. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 REDEFINING THE PURPOSE OF SOFTWARE TESTING
4. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Our experience today © Chrisharvey | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos
5. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 What causes that? Unappreciated Overworked Undervalued Unhappy!
6. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Methodologies • Waterfall • Agile • Iterative Methods • Manual • Automated Objectives • Functional • Performance • Security • Regression • Usability Categories • Unit • System • Integration • End to End We have a proliferation of approaches, tools, techniques that we must manage Work is generated in your world by Examples
7. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 You know the security guards by name You are exhausted all the time The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind- numbingly dull or overwhelming. You feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated Every day is a bad day Are You Overworked?
8. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Viewed as too slow People don’t understand what you do (or why) Belief that anyone can do your job Desire to automate us out of existence Conversations are more argumentative than not Are You Unappreciated?
9. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Your work estimates being questioned Having your concerns just be ignored Always pressured to do more with less time Never receiving the product for testing on time Not being a part of the process Being blamed for defects found in production Are You Undervalued?
10. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 How we feel How we want to feel © Mrslevite |© Danabeth555 Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos
11. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 How do we change the way things are?
12. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
13. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • ap·pre·ci·ate • To be thankful or show gratitude for: I really appreciate your help. • To admire greatly; value • sat·is·fac·tion • The fulfillment or gratification of a desire, need, or appetite • val·ue • Worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor; utility or merit: Appreciation and Satisfaction
14. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Here is a secret VALUE and SATISFACTION transcend to the source, not just the product
15. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 To Be VALUED - we must SATISFY We must fulfill our customer needs With a product they deem important So that we and our actions are seen as valuable
16. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
17. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Building a Deck
18. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
19. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 OK, SO WHERE TO START?
20. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Where should I spend my budget? Can I get full ROI as is? Should I fix this now? Can I compete with this? Will this tarnish our name? What Needs Are We Fulfilling
21. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 LET’S EXAMINE OUR WORLD
22. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create Tests Run Tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach
23. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach Usually from the business or product owner via Business Analysts
24. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach A tester’s cave
25. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach Our primary means to communicate with the developers
26. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach Our primary means to communicate with everyone else
27. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 We perform our work – hidden away 1 We haven’t asked our stakeholders what they want to know 2 We primarily communicate with “everyone” through test status reports 3 We tend to inflate our authority (e.g. Quality Gates, Go/No-Go decisions) 4 What is creating a lack of appreciation and satisfaction?
28. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 We tend to focus on what we do – not what we produce Meeting Requirements Detecting Defects Evaluating Product Preventing Defects We wear many hats and are responsible for many things
29. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
30. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Redefining ourselves Provide information About a product To stakeholders So that informed decisions can be made
31. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Is to communicate information to our stakeholders to allow them to make informed business decisions So, our purpose…
32. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • in·for·ma·tion/ˌinfərˈmāSHən/ • Facts provided or learned about something or someone • bro·ker/ˈbrōkər/ • A person who buys and sells goods or assets for others • We gather and communicate information Information Broker
33. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 We must understand our customers (and their needs) © Pemotret | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos
34. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Business • Business workers • Business Managers • Executives • Users Project • Project process owners • Business Analysts • System Analysts • Developers • Other Testers Others • Integrated Applications • Support/Operations Who are our customers?
35. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
36. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 What are the top 3 things to do and stop doing?
37. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Be service minded Focus on activities that drive to the end result Provide useful information
38. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Presenting data as information Providing information that isn’t wanted Overstepping our roles
39. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Again Provide information About a product To stakeholders So that informed decisions can be made
40. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Observe O Understand U Review R Serve S OURS is a possessive pronoun. Embrace it, own it, live it. A tool – The OURS method
41. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • Inquire • Be concise • Be aware it indirectly communicates your intentions • Focus on uncovering possibilities • Spawns brainstorming Observe
42. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • Seek understanding • We all know what assume means • Will help reveal motivations • Evaluate, interpret, and understand what is said • Probe deeper • Confirm interpretations • Collaborate for understanding • Set common goal • Work together to achieve it • This is a great opportunity to associate cost with information gathering • Achieve the hidden benefits Understand
43. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • All customer’s needs are different • Gain buy-in • Promote transparency • Be the Information Broker • Learn from each other Review
44. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • When your product is viewed as valuable, so are you • Ensure the right information goes to the right customer • Your interaction sets the tone of the relationship • Be committed to customer achieve satisfaction • Don’t overpromise and under deliver • Be accessible to your customers Serve
45. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • Be information brokers • “Sell”/provide information • Consumers must want it or they won’t pay for it (or value it) • The right information for the right audience, information of value, information they want Information Broker Provide information About a product To stakeholders So that informed decisions can be made
46. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Circling back O • See them in action U • Know the why R • Review your approach S • Give them what they need and want
47. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach What we do, why we do it, is now much more transparent – and valued
48. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Consider our typical approach Helps ensure the right people get the right information. Remember There are technical and non-technical impacts of defects Not all defects have the same costs
49. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Get requirements (stories) Create tests Run tests Log our defects Produce our test report Circling back O • Relevant information to make informed business decisions U • Nothing unexpected R • Feedback, were expectations met S • Serve them, not ourselves
50. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 WORKING WITH INFORMATION
51. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
52. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001
53. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 A sample conversation – about Functionality What would you like to know about this application? I want to make sure it works Tester Business Works in what way? No defects
54. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 A sample conversation If you had to go to production with an issue, would you? Depends Tester Business What would make you say yes and what would make you say no? Hopefully, <Insert detailed criteria that’s important to the business>
55. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 A sample conversation – Not usually considered items Does the site need to be ADA Accessible? No Tester Business Does the application need to be up certain hours of the day/week? Yes, normal-expanded M-F business hours on the east coast.
56. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 A sample conversation – Not usually considered items I know we have requirements for redundancy, but during that time, we can’t lose any business. Tester Business Testing failover and recovery is expensive <insert cost/time>? Would you like us to validate it? Uhhh, that’s a bit much, but I think we need to squeeze it in.
57. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Security Are you concerned about external unauthorized access? Not really, I’m more concerned about employees mis-using the system. We already have audit requirements Tester Business We’ll test audits as functional requirements, but if you like we’ll add role permission compliance. It’ll add some effort <insert amount> Yes, please do that.
58. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Performance conversation Are you concerned about performance of the application? Not really, I just don’t want the site to take forever Tester Business What portions of the site and what is forever? Full blown performance testing could be quite expensive. This is really for internal employees. If it takes a while, they’ll deal with it. We don’t have enough budget to validate performance
59. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 A sample conversation Wow! This is great information! Thanks. I know that was a lot of work. Tester Business
60. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 One action recap • Ask what information your customer wants • Provide information your customers can use • Take ownership in being collaborative
61. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 • Be information brokers • You “sell”/provide information • Consumer must want it or they won’t pay for it • The right information for the right audience, information of value, information they want Information Broker Provide information About a product To stakeholders So that informed decisions can be made
62. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Thank You
63. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Joseph Ours, MBA, PMP jours@cohesion.com 614.423.5253 www.cohesion.com @justjoehere www.linkedin.com/in/josephours
64. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 ABOUT COHESION
65. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Assessments Deployment Training Strategy Cohesion Services Regardless of industry or company size, business leadership struggles to answer the question, "Am I getting true ROI and value from Testing?" Improving Your Investment Cohesion specializes in full management consulting services ranging from Strategic consulting through resource deployment across a broad range of specialties including Enterprise Agile, Project Management, Analysis, Application Development, and Quality Assurance Our specialization in driving ROI and value in the Testing space enables us to affect ROI over the entire lifecycle. Enterprise Agile Quality Assurance Management and Analysis Web and Application Development
66. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 We provide unparalleled project delivery and implement solutions supporting both traditional and Agile approaches. We have extensive experience delivering high-profile projects for Fortune 500 clients. We proudly bring more than a decade of experience and exceptional client satisfaction to the equation. Our genuine commitment to client success and our flexible approach help us stand apart. Strategic Role Based Consulting Custom Solution Implementation Project and Program Delivery Value-Add Capability Value Cost Typical Staffing Firms Tier 1 Firms Specialty Firms Cohesion is a leading technology consulting firm that partners with clients to optimize their technology investments.
67. www.cohesion.com | 877.774.3001 Differentiators Relevant Skills Success requires deep knowledge on how business can best leverage IT to manage a wide variety of business challenges. Accelerators Our accelerators are designed to make your transition to agile effective and efficient. We bring real world experience, leadership, and practicality to Enterprise Agile. Talented and High Impact Resources Our consultants come well prepared to provide significant value on all client engagements. As part of our business model, Cohesion attracts consultants who have a passion for delivery and thought leadership. • Cincinnati • Columbus • Charlotte