DaKiRY_BAQ2016_QADay_Дмитро Стеценко "One Man Band"

1. ONE MAN BAND
SINGLE TESTER IN THE TEAM

2. DMITRY STETSENKO
ABOUT ME
• In software testing since 2006
• Building great test teams since 2010
• Mostly outsourcing and outstaffing experience, corporate sector
• Worked in healthcare, retail, R&D

3. AND TARGET AUDIENCE
PURPOSE
• Software testers working alone on the projects
• Freelance testers
• Those who plan to move on to either of above
• Lead testers
• Those who want to take a nap

4. GIVE ME SOME IDEAS
SOFTWARE TESTING IS...
• Software testing is a process of executing a program or application
with the intent of finding the software bugs
Pay attention that it's a process
Realize that you'll have to do a lot more than that
• Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide
stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or
service under test

5. ARE USUALLY DONE TO...
SOFTWARE PROJECTS/PRODUCTS
• Earn some money
• Gain reputation
• Make world a better place
• Have some fun

6. MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS
STAKEHOLDERS
• Users
• Management
• Team
• a person or organization that has a legitimate interest in a project or
entity
• How can you help them?

7. MANAGERS
EXPECTATIONS
• Quickly learn project domain to cover all the functionality with tests
• Planning testing activities to do as much as possible, involve others
when needed, report when overloaded
• When passing rates fall, initiate feature development stop
• Finding pitfalls in application/system logic

8. MANAGERS
EXPECTATIONS
• Regular status updates in a form of "traffic light"
• Proactive reporting about the problems, preferrably with possible
solutions
• Reporting as much problems as possible before users/customers
report them
• Active participation in process improvements
• The more autonomous, the better

9. MANAGERS
EXPECTATIONS
• Put some order, better understanding of what's going on
• Find out what they want
• Educate them on some basics (if they are willing)
• Use their language

10. DEVELOPERS
EXPECTATIONS
• Below are some interesting quotes

11. WORKING TOGETHER WITH
DEVELOPER ON FINDING
AND RESOLVING ISSUES
”
“

12. BEING A STAKEHOLDER
FOR DEVELOPER,
MANAGING AND
PRIORITIZING ISSUES
”
“

13. BIGGER PICTURE, BETTER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE
WHOLE SYSTEM
”
“

14. GOOD PROBLEMS
DESCRIPTION THAT WILL
SAVE ME SOME TIME
”
“

15. ACT AS A REAL USER
”
“

16. TEST WITHOUT
UNDERSTANDING HOW IT
WORKS UNDER THE HOOD
”
“

17. PUTTING A SOLID BASIS UNDER YOUR TESTING
THE ORACLE PROBLEM
• Study the business domain
• Take a look at competing products
• Work closely with the product owner and BAs
• Figure out key persons in different areas
• Eat your own dog food
• RTFM

18. — bumper sticker
TESTERS DON'T GO TO
WORK TO MAKE FRIENDS
”
“

19. COMMUNICATIONS
• Be polite and respect others
• Find out who is responsible for what
• Pay attention to the ways of communications people prefer
• Avoid conflicts and refer to common goals
• Follow up
• Don't be afraid to seem foolish
• Try figuring out yourself first, but don't waste too much time on that

20. COMMUNICATIONS
• Use their language
• Be proactive
• Propose solutions
• Take responsibility
• Never blame others
• Communicate on a regular basis
WITH MANAGEMENT

21. COMMUNICATIONS
• .. is pretty much the same
• Don't blame them for their mistakes
• Refer to third parties before you appear in a dead end
• If you have too many questions, stack them or reach different
people if possible
WITH DEVELOPERS

22. PLAN - PREPARE - PERFORM - PERFECT
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
• Up to 35 percent of people report using ADD on their projects
• Get the big picture
• Find out the roots for particular stupid things
• Don't blame anyone
• Talk to all the stakeholders to find out what worries them
• Find allies

23. PLAN
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
• Do not hurry
• Prepare the list of improvements, prioritize them
• Sort out easy-to-do improvements, consider implementing them
first, to gain some credibility

24. PREPARE
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
• Do some sketches, discuss them with stakeholders
• Don't neglect pilots, betas and feasibility studies
• Break up complex changes into separate phases, but have each
phase deliver something

25. PERFORM
IMPROVEMENTS
• Prepare some guides
• Communicate changes to those affected
• Work closely with team members, until they get used to new way of
doing things
• Don't shoot and run, keep an eye on your new processes

26. PERFECT
IMPROVEMENTS
• Something will go wrong. Turn it into lessons.
• Gather feedback from stakeholders.
• Don't make changes too often.
• Expose any positive observations.
• Use retrospective meetings.
• Make improvements a continuous process.

27. ANY QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU :)