TestToTester

In my last assignment a mix of exploratory, session based and scripted testing helped won an award, appreciation by managers & stake holders at our organization. The quotes from our award certificate “ QA team has come up with some intelligent testing techniques to validate the product. The customer test team was not able to find even a single critical bug after delivery ” Though the award was a small one in terms of the award categories our organization have, it meant a lot to me and the team, because this was the first time the team used exploratory approach. The assignment was not pure exploratory or session based, in fact it was supposed to be scripted, but a mix of all three exploratory, session based and scripted testing helped us learn, enjoy, and meet our mission. The assignment started off with developing test cases. We wrote test cases based on the initial requirement document provided. We did come up with a large number of test cases, of which most were re-written, some ...

In a recent assignment I was asked to test an application which downloads and displays pictures off the web with minimal features support like slide show, rotate, minimize, maximize etc. (I cannot provide any more information on the product because of NDA) We knew that our internet connectivity thru LAN is slow, but had to observe and document the result on the same network. After stating the assumptions about connectivity, speed, throughput available I started testing, in 2-3 min I decided not to use our bug tracker but instead write a story in a word document. What did my story contain – every step (test) performed on the application sequentially. An extract from it would look like 1) Reboot the 2) Click on for the first time. It takes approximately 13 seconds to display all the images in the 3) Click on and login to . The takes approximately 6-7 minutes to load 15 images. 4) When initially started it displayed loading x/37 images but after loading 15 images the message disappears...

Hi All Last week at Software Testing Club , I came across a discussion started by Michele Smith on “How do you keep Fresh Ideas Flowing?” for testing. I felt it is one of the most important questions but sadly very rarely discussed in our community. This was my take on the question, what’s yours? I have had team members complaining that it's boring to test the same program with no new features. I have also observed a pattern, testers who complain this way, usually are very enthusiastic when they begin testing but loose their interest may be after 1-2 weeks or so irrespective of the module they test. One of the reason I feel they get bored is because they run out of ideas to test. As a test lead one of my challenges have always been to keep myself and my team on the look out for information always. Like in a recent assignment I found the number of bugs reported by my team dropping, when we sat together, I felt the ideas running out in the team – we initially focused on exploring t...

Yesterday night I reached home from office at around 9PM, I turned on the TV news channels with hope, but could only see Taj burning. Even after approximately 48 hrs our India was burning. I felt angry, I felt annoyed, I felt terrible, I fumed on our leaders and then I felt like slapping myself. Why? I don’t know my neighbors, I don’t know whose car/bike is parked near my house, I don’t know my area members, I don’t know anything about the community I live in. Why? Maybe I do not have time? (A typical answer by our community) Maybe I don’t see the value in knowing them? Maybe it’s not my job? I work hard from day to night? Or maybe it’s my ego, laziness and carelessness? I think it’s all of these, that today I see my India burning; I feel I am also responsible for this terrible incident. I assumed I am a good citizen because I vote, but I feel our responsibility as a citizen does not end at voting. I today have taken the initiative to bring my area people together and to build a better...

Hi All, Felt like sharing the good news with you all I have been chosen for the award “Best Contributor to Testing Community - Test Republic” which shall be presented at the 8th Annual International Software Testing Conference on 24th November at the Leela Palace, Old Airport Road, Bangalore. Test Republic has truly lived up to it’s name and it’s quote “Meet. Share. Network. @ Global online social networking platform exclusively for Software Testing Professionals.” It has more than 2500 members and close to 200 discussions. I have learnt a lot from the discussions at Test Republic, and I hope to see you all as members and learn from you all. I thank Edista and Test Republic Team for running such a fantastic testing community and to choose me for the Award. Disclaimer : All the blogs shared by me are my ideas, my thought, my understanding of the subject and does not represent any of my employer’s ideas, thought, plans or strategies.

- Do you use a tool to measure testers? - Do you measure them based on the number of bugs they find? - Do you measure them by the number of valid (acknowledged by development/product/ team) bugs they find? - Do you measure them based on the x% variance with schedule for a testing effort? - Do you measure them based on the x% adherence to configuration management practices? - Do you measure them based on the Ratio of defects found during testing (vs) defects found post release? - Do you measure them based on the x% system test coverage of the assigned functionality as measured through Reviews and Requirement Traceability Matrix? - Do you measure them based on the Test Environment Utilization Rate? - Do you measure testers based on how testers improve development teams?( http://blogs.msdn.com/james_whittaker/archive/2008/07/22/measuring-testers.aspx ) - etc For all those who strive by metrics and incentive plans based on metrics read this fantastic article “ Employees will always game i...

Couple of month’s back I was invited for an interview at one of the big, reputed Indian service based company in Bangalore. This interview turned out to be an eye-opener for me at the state of testing in India. Let me start with the conversation I had with HR of the company. Me : When is the interview scheduled? HR : 12:30 PM Me : Could you please re-schedule it? Since it is a lunch time and I do not want the interviewers to be hungry. HR : HaHaHa… no Sharath our interviewers work in shifts, so there will be no such issues. Me : Ok then, I shall meet you at the location. Thanks. Date of Interview 12:20 PM I submitted all the required documents to HR, at the interview location 12:50 PM HR informed me that the interview panel will be back after lunch by 2:00 PM. A lesson taught by the mighty organization – “don’t show up on time for the interview” or “we do not value other’s time” At around 2:10 PM I am escorted to the interview room by HR. What followed was an enlightening conversation...