Learning to tell testing stories workshop v2 handout (3) euro star nov 2016

Learning to tell our testing stories
Thursday 0930 to 1130
Workshop
Isabel Evans
ie@isabelevans.uk

Be happy - do good - leave the world a better place than you found it
Isabel
Evans
Learning to tell our testing stories
EuroSTAR 2016
Thursday 09:30 – 11:30
Isabel Evans fbcs citp
ie@isabelevans.uk
www.isabelevans.uk

Isabel
Evans
When we interact with other people we tell stories – with words,
pictures, numbers but also with
our faces and bodies…
As Terry Pratchett noted, we would better to call ourselves Pan
narrans ‘the story telling ape’ rather than
Homo sapiens ‘the wise man’.

Isabel
Evans
The grammarian who fell down a well

Isabel
Evans
“Begin at the beginning and go on till
you come to the end: then stop.”
• About stories
• Who tells stories and who listens?
• Beginnings and headlines
• Brevity (haiku and diagrams)
• Serials and endings

Isabel
Evans
Story telling without words
(Michotte)
Matt Mansell: “Heuristics, bias and
critical thinking in testing”.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful
-animal/animating-anthropomorphism-giving-
minds-to-geometric-shapes-video/

Isabel
Evans
George Orwell “Why I write” (essay)
Sheer egoism
Aesthetic
enthusiasm
Political
purpose
Historical
impulse
Four
reasons to
write
To make
something
happen; to
influence
other people
To reflect on
what has
happened;
explain things
as they are
Desire to
seem clever
and be talked
about…
Pleasure in
good prose &
layout; also
pleasure in
sharing…

Isabel
Evans
Your turn: Tell me a story… about your project
Sheer egoism Aesthetic enthusiasm
Political purpose Historical impulse
Tell me about
your project

Isabel
Evans
The
1000
nights
and
1 night

Isabel
Evans
Long project planning and reporting
Reporting to the big bosses? Telling people about bugs?
Writing a test plan or report? Implementing change?
What do they want from you?
What do you do if they don’t want your story?
Can you still keep them interested?
How long will you last?
Who can help you?
Use Repetition with variation

Isabel
Evans
1001 nights – a happy ending?

Isabel
Evans
Stories need a great start - a hook
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver
http://www.ted.com/talks/gill_hicks_i_survived_a_terrorist_attack_here_s_what_i_learned
https://www.ted.com/talks/ric_elias?language=en
“Sadly, in the
18 minutes that …”
“I could never have imagined that…”
“Imagine…”

Isabel
Evans
Starting your story…
It is related…
Once upon a time…
Attend!
Marley was dead: to begin with.
The girl screamed once, only the once.
How do you start your testing story? Headlines?

Isabel
Evans

Isabel
Evans
Your turn: What is the headline
for your test plan or charter or report?
• Choose a test document/story
• Make a headline for it
– Like the SUN newspaper
– Like the TV news headlines
– Like a gossip mag
– Like a cinema poster

Isabel
Evans
Stories can be short…
20 minutes
10 minutes
5 minutes

Isabel
Evans
Brevity is good…
How much I desire!
Inside my little satchel,
the moon, and flowers!
Bashohttp://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/basho

Isabel
Evans
Computer Haiku
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
http://www.haiku-
poems.50webs.com/computer-haiku-
poems.htm

Isabel
Evans
Testing Haiku…?
Simple tests are passing
But important tests failed!
Fix, test, then release.
Environment down?
Another day wasted when
We could have tested.
Explore and test the system.
Calm mind, systematic work,
Tell good and bad news.
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Configuration error?

Isabel
Evans
Sonnet
• A dialectical construct which allows the poet to examine the nature and
ramifications of two usually contrastive ideas, emotions,
states of mind, beliefs, actions, events, images, etc., by juxtaposing the
two against each other, and possibly resolving or revealing
the tensionscreated and operative between the two.
• The English sonnet has the simplest and most flexible pattern of all
sonnets, consisting of 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet:
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g ghttp://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm

Isabel
Evans
Sonnets XLIX (Shakespeare)
Against that time, if ever that time come,
When I shall see thee frown on my defects,
When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum,
Call’d to that audit by advis’d respects;
Against that time when thou shall strangely pass,
And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye,
When love, converted from the thing it was,
Shall reasons find of settled gravity;
Against that time do I ensconce me here
Within the knowledge of mine own desert,
And this my hand against myself uprear,
To guard the lawful reasons on thy part:
To leave poor me thou hast the strength of laws
Since why to love I can allege no cause
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G

Isabel
Evans
Your turn: Make a poem about your
project, to tell a testing story
• Haiku of 17 syllables (5,7,5)…. Or
• Sonnet of 3 quatrains and a couplet
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g

Isabel
Evans
Eagles, Sparrowhawks,
Chickens and Crows

Isabel
Evans
Discuss: What does that story tell you?
• Have you ever been Nasruddin? Or the old
lady? Or a chicken? Or a crow?
• Are you sometimes the Eagle or the
Sparrowhawk?

Isabel
Evans
All
you
need
is fear

Isabel
Evans
Discuss: What does that story tell you?
• Have you ever behaved like the mighty king?
• Have you ever replied like Nasruddin?

Isabel
Evans
The
story
of the
severed
head
Isabel Evans Nov2015

Isabel
Evans
Discuss: Keeping it relevant and timely
What do you do if your team is gone?
Can you still keep giving advice?
How long will management listen for?
Do your stories help or hinder project progress?
Will they benefit the business?
Know when to stop…

Isabel
Evans
“Egyszer volt, hol nem volt..."
"...és boldogan éltek, amíg meg nem haltak."
Isabel Evans Nov2015

Isabel
Evans
Listening and reacting to people
Listen to the people not invited to the retrospectives
– act on their advice
Listen to the users and customer - and help them
Befriend the devs, PMs and BAs, help them
– then they will help you
Listen to people not understanding your stories and find a new way to tell the stories
You don’t need to be heroic:
listen, help others, be patient,
tell stories

Isabel
Evans
Whole body
listening?
Is this
right?
We need
Feedback!
Hands
are
taking
notes
Head/mouth
are showing
we are
listening

Isabel
Evans http://bit.ly/29bs10l
Perceiving
Paying attention
Remembering
Repeating the
message
Thinking and
reasoning
Reflecting
Paraphrasing
Active listening

Isabel
Evans
Active telling
Words, graphs and
tables
Killer facts,
imagination
Strong start
Power of three
Repeating
the message
Call to action, vision Finish

Isabel
Evans
Your turn: One of you tell a story about your project
The rest of you listen to a story… and give feedback
Sheer egoism
Aesthetic
enthusiasm
Political
purpose
Historical
impulse
Four
reasons to
read/listen
To gain
understanding;
to make a
decision; to act
To reflect on
what has
happened; to
understand
things as they
are
Desire to
seem clever
and be talked
about…?
Pleasure in
good prose &
layout; also
pleasure in
sharing…

Isabel
Evans
The
grammarian
on the boat

Isabel
Evans
Stories need a great finish
A call to action or a lesson
Makes a WISH: “empower
people to fight obesity”
Gives a VISION: “rise above mere tolerance …”
CHALLENGES the audience:
“what 3 things should you do?”

Isabel
Evans
Endings

Isabel
Evans
Begin at the beginning
and go on till you come
to the end: then stop.
Comments? Questions?

Learning to tell testing stories workshop v2 handout (3) euro star nov 2016

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