Being a “Good” Tester
Attitudes, Skills, and Growth
Rex Black
RBCS, Inc.
31520 Beck Road
Bulverde, TX 78163 USA
Phone: +1 (830) 438-4830
Fax: +1 (830) 438-4831
www.rexblackconsulting.com
[email protected]
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
One development manager once called testers
“depraved minds..usefully employed”
So, are we devils or angels?
Alternative viewpoints on testers
We find bugs and tactfully point them out.
We provide essential insight to manage quality risks
We advocate the customer’s experience of quality
Rex Black Consulting Services motto: “We help our clients
make better software and hardware by breaking it for
them.”
James Bach: “We light the way….The testing process focuses
light where it’s needed to help developers and management
know where they are, where they ought to go, and when
they have arrived.”
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 2
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
What Distinguishes “Good” Testers?
The right attitudes
Professional pessimism
Balanced curiosity
Focus
Appropriate skills
Domain, technology, and testing Rex Black: “Good Tester”?
Fitting the product, project, and process context
Continuous skills growth
Consistent with the tester’s career path
Matching organizational needs
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 3
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Professional Pessimism
Explore depressing possibilities of failure
Anticipate the worst possibilities in order to
achieve best obtainable product quality
Not adversarial, but a different outlook
than development
Remember: to assume nothing will fail during
testing denies the entire history of computing
ê Caveat: not a license to offend
= Don’t target developers with reports
Pierre has the pessimism, but
or take glee in failure
perhaps not professionalism?
Challenge: to be positive, pleasant, and the bearer of
bad news, all at once
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 4
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Balanced Curiosity
Balance need for thoroughness in any one area with
need to cover many areas in a short time
Effective test engineers have a knack for spending
time where the bugs are
Effective test engineers can do thorough bug
isolation quickly
Ineffective test engineers
Write tests for unlikely failure modes
Spend hours researching trivial bugs
The best test engineers have this ability
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 5
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Focus
Two types of focus problems
Pursuing issues narrow-mindedly,
losing sight of more important
priorities
Getting distracted from key tasks
Balance and re-evaluate priorities
every so often
Stay focused on the goals of the
test project
The test manager must assist
through clear communication
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
A seasoned test engineer
can find her way towards
project goals with clear
signals from her manager
Page 6
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Problem Attitudes
Testing is seldom a glamorous,
high-caste role
⇒
Don’t pick people who want “sexy” jobs
Hard work is always required
during crunch mode
⇒
Make sure your testers will put in the
extra hours
Testers must advocate quality and
represent the customer
⇒
Don’t pick people who can’t, politely but
firmly, stand up for what they believe in
Slackers reduce overall
productivity and damage
test team credibility
ê These disqualifications don’t make these people bad
people, just bad choices for the test team
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 7
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Balancing the Skills
Good test teams have the right mix of
skills based on the test effort
Domain expert
Understands intended behavior
Skilled tester
Knows quality risks and test techniques
Technical guru
Aware of technical issues and limitations
What is the right mix for…
…Internet appliance testing?
…nuclear medicine testing?
…your project?
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
The appropriate depth and
length of each arrow in the
figure depends on the
project, process, and
product
Page 8
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Test Team Critical Skills Spreadsheet
Skill
Domain
Doc Management
Word Processing
Technology
Unix Servers
Java Programming
Testing
XYZ Automation
Bug Reporting
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
EM LTW JHB Min Avg
0
5
2
2
1
3
1
2
1
3
2
4
4
4
3
3
2
3
3
3
2
4
5
3
2
4
2
3
3
3
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 9
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Sample Critical Skills List
Basic testing
Software life-cycle
Basic technical aptitude and
awareness
Basic/Advanced Internet
Manual black box testing
MS Windows user skills
Communication written/oral
Test planning
Test documentation
Defect reporting
Basic programming concepts
Basic software engineering
Basic system architecture
Basic database
Basic comm protocol
Quality control/quality
assurance
Process
improvement/methodology
Software testing phases
Software testing concepts
Automated test scripting
Evaluation of automated test
results
Record/playback
Editing automated scripts
Analytical skills
UNIX user skills
SQL user skills
Web testing skills
Cross-functional effectiveness
Test environment set-up
Version control/change mgmt.
Industry knowledge
TQM/CMM/ISO9---/6
Sigma/IEEE
Quality economics
Statistics and probability
Professional
affiliation/certification
Efficiency implementation
Metrics and measurement
Risk analysis
Root cause analysis
Incremental test strategies
Quality advocacy
Macintosh user skills
Energetic
Sense of humor
Persuasive
Good judgment
Problem solver
Detail-oriented/meticulous
Enthusiastic
Assertive
Articulate
Inquisitive
Organized
Thorough
Team Player
Honesty
List courtesy of and copyright © 2001 by Bernie Berger
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 10
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Case Study: LogiGear’s Skills Matrix
LogiGear's Skills
Matrix
Open Skills Spreadsheet
Thanks to Hung Nguyen and LogiGear Corporation (www.LogiGear.com) for sharing their work.
Copyright © 1995-2001 by LogiGear Corporarion. All Rights Reserved.
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 11
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Continuous Skills Growth
Institute a quarterly skills assessment and
growth plan using the critical skills
spreadsheet
E.g., have each tester set and achieve skills growth
in three critical areas
Use cross-training (mentoring), formal-training
(conferences, seminars, etc.), and self-study
(books, computer-based-training, etc.)
Adjust the critical skills list as product,
process, and project needs change
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 12
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Case Study: Skills Growth
SC Test Team Skills
Spreadsheet
Open Skills Spreadsheet
Adapted from my forthcoming book, Critical Testing Processes, to be published by AddisonWesley in 2002. Copyright © 2001 by Rex Black. All Rights Reserved.
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 13
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Emma’s Quarterly Skills Plan
Organizational needs: Stronger domain
expertise and technical skills
Emma’s goals in terms of career growth:
Move into product marketing
Plan for her skills growth
Through self-study, learn about and create a test
suite for embedded graphics, figures, tables, and
equations
Attend, then present (internally) a training class
on the design and implementation of
networked/internetworked application
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 14
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Tester Pride
License plate provided and proudly displayed by Jonathan Bach, Lab Manager, Satisfice, Inc.
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 15
Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical and Project Management Expertise for Quality
Calling All Good Testers
Promote healthy tester attitudes
Understand the skills needed to be a
good tester
Grow the skills to the benefit of the test
team and each individual tester
%Cultivating the right skills and attitudes
leads to continuous improvement of test
team abilities…and results!
The "Good" Tester (1H-R1.0)
Copyright (c) 1999-2001 Rex Black
Page 16