graham freeburn - make your testing smarter - know your context!

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1Make your testing smarter – know your context! - EuroSTAR 2008

Make your testing smarter – know your context!Graham Freeburn

Principal Consultant [email protected]

Sopra Group Ltd. Tel: +44(0)1698 574 239

2Make your testing smarter – know your context! - EuroSTAR 2008, 12/11/2008

Fully paid up testing evangelist and Principal Testing Consultant

27 years in IT - Regular speaker at Conferences

(EuroSTAR, SQAM and BCS SIGIST)

EuroSTAR

Veteran – I have missed only two! Member of 2002 Programme Committee Country co-ordinator for Scotland Track Chair

Chairman and co-founder of the Scottish Testing Group (STG)

Author of the advanced automation case study on Advanced Approach in Software Test Automation by Mark Fewster and Dorothy Graham (ISBN: 0-201-33140-3 )

Graham Freeburn


Agenda

This presentation and will be presented using

Mindmapping software – all mindmaps will be

made available to attendees.


Seven Basic Principles

1. The value of any practice depends on its context.

2. There are good practices in context, but there are no best practices.

3. People, working together, are the most important part of any

project's context.

4. Projects unfold over time in ways that are often not predictable.

5. The product is a solution. If the problem isn't solved, the product

doesn't work.

6. Good software testing is a challenging intellectual process.

7. Only through judgment and skill, exercised cooperatively

throughout the entire project, are we able to do the right things at

the right times to effectively test our products

From http://www.context-driven-testing.com/


Satisfice Context Model

Source: James Bach, www.satisfice.com, © Satisfice Inc. 2003

Test Team

ExpertiseLoadingCohesionMotivationLeadershipProject Integration

Test Lab

Test PlatformsTest ToolsTest LibraryProblem Tracking SystemOffice Facilities

Product MissionStakeholdersQuality CriteriaReference Material

Requirements

ProductProject LifecycleProject ManagementConfiguration ManagementDefect PreventionDevelopment Team

Development

Test

Process

StrategyLogisticsWork-products

Mission

Find Important ProblemsAssess QualityCertify to StandardFulfill Process MandatesSatisfy StakeholdersAssure Accountability

Advise about QAAdvise about TestingAdvise about QualityMaximize EfficiencyMinimize CostMinimize Time

- Where are you and what are your doing there?

http://www.satisfice.com/


GIVENS GIVENS

GIVENSGIVENS

Mission

CHOICES

Test Project Dynamics

- Givens and Choices


CHOI

VENS

Motivation: What testing does the situation require?

Capability: Can we perform that testing in this situation?

Test Project Dynamics

- Motivation and Capability


Mission

What else? – Brainstorming exercise


Context Analysis


A View from..

The Fish Eye Lens

The ability to see the context, what surrounds

me and others and influences us as we work

together

The Mirror

The ability to see myself and to seek and use

feedback

The Telescope

The ability to see others and to bring them

closer to my understanding than my naked

eye and brain can manage

Source: (2)


Tailoring the Test Process

Are GIVENS good enough?

Do CHOICES about process exploit the GIVENS and address the

MISSION well enough?

Is MISSION achieved well enough?

Has the mission CHANGED?

How do you know?


Getting it right

- Choosing good practices for a context


Getting it wrong- What happens when you ignore context


How to keep your context radar active


Why Collaboration is difficult


Communication gets tangled..

Tangling…

Response

Acceptance

Significance

Intake

Meaning

Biases

Poor

Listening

Failure to check assumptions

Embarrassment

Only standing in your own shoes

Terminology

Effects on current goals, concerns, values

Inappropriate commenting rules

Emotional speed traps

Source - Untangling Communication, Dale H. Emery


Ever felt the person you‟re speaking to wasn‟t really

listening….

Most of us don‟t listen very well

Some tips for better listening

Don‟t jump to conclusions

Don‟t interrupt

Don‟t judge

Seek to know more

Make listening a conscious activity

Be ACTIVE not passive

Your have two ears, two eyes and one mouth – use them in

proportion

If all else fails

Pretend you‟re a famous anthropologist

Are you Listening ?

Source: Becoming a better listener, Naomi Karten


Why don’t we listen

Speed of thought

„Already listening‟.. ‟I‟ve made up my mind‟.. So why should I listen to

you?‟

Outside distractions

Switching off when you hear unfamiliar jargon

Wanting to speak therefore inclined to interrupt

Hearing what you expect to hear rather than the intended message

Failure to put ourselves in other people‟s shoes

Thinking we know what people are talking about

Listening to the words but missing the music (emotions) behind them

Any of these sound familiar?


Summary

The value of any practice depends on its context.

There are good practices in context, but there are no best practices.

People, working together, are the most important part of any

project's context.

Projects unfold over time in ways that are often not predictable.

The product is a solution. If the problem isn't solved, the product

doesn't work.

Good software testing is a challenging intellectual process.

Only through judgment and skill, exercised cooperatively

throughout the entire project, are we able to do the right things at

the right times to effectively test our products

Unissons nos Talents

T O G E T H E RT A L E N T E D

20Make your testing smarter – know your context! - EuroSTAR 2008

Questions

?


Acknowledgements /Resources

Acknowledgements

James Bach – Rapid Testing Materials and various articles

Alan Richardson – What does it mean to have no past practices?

http://www.compendiumdev.co.uk/context

Naomi Karten

Perceptions & Realities newsletter Vol 5, No2

Becoming a Better Listener

Dale H Emery – Untangling Communication, Sticky Minds

Resources

1. Cem Kaner, James Bach and Bret Pettichord, “Lessons Learned in Software Testing – A Context-Driven Approach”

ISBN 0-471-08112-4, 2002

2. Gerald M Weinberg, “More Secrets of Consulting” & Exploring Requirements (with Donald Gause)

ISBN 0-932633-52-8, 2002 , ISBN 0-932633-13-7, 1989

3. Joseph O‟Connor & Ian McDermott, “The Art of Systems Thinking”

ISBN 0-7225-3442-6, 1997

http://www.compendiumdev.co.uk/context


Who is Sopra Group Ltd. ?

We are the UK business of Sopra Group, a major European IT Services Company

1000+ staff in UK & Ireland, 300+ in India, Total of 11,000 across nine countries. 26 years consistent and profitable growth, group 2007 Revenue of 1 Billion €

Offices throughout the UK and Europe and a fully integrated offshore

Development and Testing Centre in Noida, Delhi

Services

Application Outsourcing

Systems Integration

Testing

Specialist - Consulting, Information Security, Business Intelligence

Long term clients in both public and private sectors

Key markets

Finance, government, retail / manufacturing, energy & utilities, health

graham freeburn - make your testing smarter - know your context!

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