"As we strive as an industry to deliver value more quickly, we need to adapt our testing practices to keep up. As Quality Advocates, we can’t sit back and wait for work to show up in our queue. We can provide the most value if we bring our testing skills and mindset to all of the activities our team performs. I’ll discuss the attributes of a Quality Advocate and how we can influence culture, planning, and test automation strategy to help our teams deliver value and delight customers."

1. QUALITY ADVOCACY
A Next Progression for Agile Testers
D o n P e t e r s , Q A P r a c t i c e M e n t o r

2. INTRODUCTION
• Don Peters
• QA Practice Mentor at World Wide
Technology - Asynchrony Labs
• Interests: Agile, Lean, Coaching, Neuro-
science

3. WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

4. TAKEAWAYS
• What traits do Quality Advocates possess
• Ideas of what Quality Advocacy is
• Ideas about practices to help you and your team
• Resources for where to learn more

5. WHAT QUALITY ADVOCACY IS NOT

6. BECAUSE...WE END UP HERE

7. AND USERS AND STAKEHOLDERS END UP HERE

8. QUALITY ADVOCACY IS USER FOCUSED

9. AND PROCESS ORIENTED

10. AND OUTCOME DRIVEN

11. QUALITY ADVOCACY
QUALITY
ADVOCACY
MINDSET
PLANNING AND
STRATEGY
TESTING
FEEDBACK AND
IMPROVEMENT

12. MINDSET
“Excellence is not a skill, it’s a mindset.”
- Ralph Marston

13. CURIOSITY

14. EMPATHY

15. HUMILITY

16. 5 MINUTE REFLECTION
What are some other Qualities that a
Quality Advocate should possess?
Are these different from other roles on a team?

17. PLANNING
AND
STRATEGY
”Planning is everything; the plan is nothing.”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

18. DELIVERY TEAM

19. KICKOFF MEETING

20. KICKOFF - EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WE ARE SOLVING?
WHO ARE THE PRIMARY USERS?
IS THERE SENSITIVE DATA TO BE PROTECTED?
HOW WILL THE SYSTEM SCALE?
Likely many more...

21. KICKOFF – QUALITY CONSIDERATIONS
• UNIT TESTS
• SERVICE LAYER TESTS
• UI TESTS
• EXPLORATORY TESTS
• SYSTEM QUALITIES/
NON-FUNCTIONAL TESTS
• TEST-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
• BEHAVIOR-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
• TEST DATA MANAGEMENT
• BUG REPORTING
• ENVIRONMENTS
• METRICS
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22. KICKOFF – QUALITY WORKING AGREEMENTS

23. STORY PLANNING (3 AMIGOS)
BUSINESS VALUE
TESTABILITY
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
EXAMPLES

24. 5 MINUTE REFLECTION
What is your team’s test strategy?
Do you still have unanswered questions on your project?
If so, what are they?

25. TESTING
SKILLS
“Improve quality,
you automatically improve productivity.”
-W. Edwards Deming

26. STORY TEST REVIEW
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2253544&seqNum=4
Tests are automated at the right level
Exploratory tests are updated to to compliment
automated tests
Behavior of story is covered
Are we following sound testing practices to
minimize the number of tests needed? E.G.
• Boundary Value Analysis
• Equivalence Partitioning
• All Pairs Testing
Non-functional tests are updated if necessary

27. STORY REVIEW – DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
Integrated Development Environment
Source Control
Delivery Pipelines

28. STORY REVIEW - APPLICATION
Databases
Service Layer
User Interface

29. STORY REVIEW – YOU MAY ALSO
Pair with
• UX on usability
• Developers on improving automated
tests
• PO on possible issues

30. 5 MINUTE REFLECTION
What does it mean to be a technical QA?
Do you need to write code?

31. EXPLORATION

32. EXPLORATORY TESTING
Automated Tests
• Provide a safety net
• Generally check simple test cases
• Run with every check-in
• Are required to maintain sustainable
pace
Exploratory Tests
• Allow for creativity and discovery
• Focus on risk and vulnerabilities
• Use charters to guide without
directing
• Uncover odd/difficult to find issues
Exploratory Testing is: Simultaneously learning about
the system while designing and executing tests, using
feedback from the last test to inform the next.
-Elisabeth Hendrickson

33. Explore text fields
Using SQL and JavaScript
injection
To Discover potential
vulnerabilities in the
application
Explore API endpoint
Using valid and invalid inputs
To Discover if expected
response codes and messages
are as expected

34. 5 MINUTE REFLECTION
34
Write an exploratory testing charter for your application.
Explore target
Using resources
To Discover information
Explore ordering products
Using accessibility options
To Discover possible ADA
compliance issues

35. FEEDBACK
AND
IMPROVEMENT
“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
- Mark Twain

36. DO IT ALL WITH KINDNESS
RETROSPECT REVIEW METRICS
ALWAYS BE LEARNING
VISUALIZE WORK VISUALIZE BUILDS
QUESTION THE STATUS QUO ASK WHY?
ALWAYS BE TEACHING

37. 5 MINUTE REFLECTION
What processes in your organization / team would you
improve?
How could you approach making those changes?

38. 38

39. BONUS - PRACTICES
• Project Kickoffs with Stakeholders – Use to get aligned from the beginning
• 3 Amigos Meeting – Make sure stories are valuable and testable
• Story Test Review – Take 5 minutes to consult with devs before working a story
• Desk Checks – When you are finding defects, ask the devs to do a mini demo before
passing it along
• Mob Acceptance Testing – QA, DEV, PO, and UX get together and test stories or a
feature together. It’s fun and allows for many devices to be tested at once.
• Pairing with Developers, Designers, Delivery Engineers, other QA – I’ve learned
something every time I do this.
• Quality Kickoff Exercise – Great way to get the whole team on-board for a testing
strategy.
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40. BONUS - TOOLS AND GUIDES
• Test Heuristics – http://testobsessed.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/04/testheuristicscheatsheetv1.pdf
• Bug Magnet - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bug-
magnet/efhedldbjahpgjcneebmbolkalbhckfi?hl=en
• Agile Testing Quadrants - https://lisacrispin.com/2011/11/08/using-the-agile-
testing-quadrants/
• Agile Testing Pyramid - https://abstracta.us/blog/test-automation/best-testing-
practices-for-agile-teams-the-automation-pyramid/
• OWASP Top 10 Threats - https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Top_10-2017_Top_10
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41. CONNECT
Social Media:
• Twitter: @DonTheTester
• Email: dpeters6773@gmail.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersdon/