1. Visual Testing For The Artist
Within Everyone
Andy Glover
Romania Testing Conference 2014

2. Is everyone creative?
Visual Testing For The Artist Within Everyone

3. “Testing is an extremely creative and
intellectually challenging task”
Glenford Myers (####),
the Art of Software Testing

4. “Testing is an extremely creative and
intellectually challenging task”
Glenford Myers (1979),
the Art of Software Testing

5. Good effective software testing
requires methodical work in
combination with a creative effort.
Rikard Edgren

6. Why Creativity
Users are naturally creative
Avoid repetitive testing
Develop single solution vs …
Solve software testing problems

7. Creativity in testing
“Creative thinking is the generation of new ideas.”
John Stevenson

8. So be creative!!
Creativity is just connecting things. When you
ask creative people how they did something,
they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really
do it, they just saw something. It seemed
obvious to them after a while. That’s because
they were able to connect experiences they’ve
had and synthesize new things. - Steve Jobs

9. Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist once we
grow up.
Pablo Picasso

10. Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist once we
grow up… and become testers.
Pablo Picasso

11. But…
Some say: “Creativity is child’s play”
Yet we are knowledge workers
Knowledge work… its primary task of "non-
routine" problem solving that requires a
combination of convergent, divergent, and
creative thinking. - Wikipedia

12. How not to be creative
1. Stress
2. Money
3. Time
4. Fear
5. Competition
6. Process
(Amabile: “the 6 Myths of Creativity”)

13. How to be creative
• Brainstorm
• Reversing
• Why, why, why, why, why?
• Mary had a little lamp exercise
• Disproving
• Replacement

14. Visual Testing For The Artist Within
Everyone

18. Draw something

19. Examples

20. Look and See

21. Look + See + Imagine + Do (something)

22. • Who and What
• How many and how
much
• Where
6 ways of seeing (problems)
• When
• How
• Why

23. 1. Who/What Portrait
2. How much Chart
3. Where Map
4. When Timeline
5. How Flowchart
6. Why Why graph
Visual Thinking Framework

24. Who / What: Portraits

25. Where: Map

26. When: Timeline

27. How Many: Charts

28. How: Flowchart

29. Why: Why Graphs

30. James Bach’s Testing Dashboard

31. Example

32. Example

33. 1. Who/What Portrait
2. How much Chart
3. Where Map
4. When Timeline
5. How Flowchart
6. Why Why graph
Visual Thinking Framework

34. • Creativity is a required skill in
testing
• Practice creativity
• Try visual testing
Summary
@cartoontester

35. Questions?

36. Thank You 
Andy Glover
glover.software.testing@gmail.com
@cartoontester