You Can't Always Get What You Want by Anna Heiermann
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The document discusses challenges faced by a QA tester on new projects and provides advice on gaining traction. It recommends understanding project bottlenecks, finding what can be reused from previous testing, and getting involved early. For "wild" projects with no process, it suggests assessing pain points and proposing team-beneficial solutions. The document advises against stereotypes that portray QA negatively and emphasizes building relationships and team success. The overall message is that gaining an understanding of challenges and finding small ways to help the team can improve QA involvement.
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You Can't Always Get What You Want by Anna Heiermann
- 1. You Can’t Always Get What You Want But if You Try Sometimes….
- 2. Things I Love (Besides Testing) • Family • Dogs • Country Life • Powerlifting • Music, Performing
- 3. I’m Asked to Test but I Don’t Have… • Detailed Requirements • Test Environments • Existing Test Process & Strategy • Defect Documentation • Test Management Application • Leadership Support
- 4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want… • I Can’t Get No QA Traction • Does anyone care about QA? • Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag QA Away • This project is like the Wild West! Anything goes! • QA Won’t Be Your Beast of Burden • Why is everyone stressed out when I escalate issues?
- 5. I CAN’T GET NO SATISFACTION I CAN’T GET NO QA TRACTION
- 6. You Don’t Have to Test Crappy When All You Were Given Was CRAP
- 7. QA Traction – Understand the Project Mess PMI: The Iron Triangle • Quality is connected and impacted by all PM challenges: • Time • Cost • Scope • Figure out the bottleneck category • Come up with a plan with your lead dev
- 8. QA Traction Story: Uncovering Project Bottleneck Provided Earlier QA • QA was to start testing in the middle of the project schedule • Needed “QA Traction” by getting engaged sooner as I knew that was too late • Raised escalation that late QA = Budget and Timeline Risk • After escalation was raised Lead Dev expressed his concern of a late QA start • Worked with Dev team to understand what could be deployed to test sooner without impact to other functionalities planned later on • Devised deliverable deployment plan and approval to start QA sooner
- 9. QA Traction – What Can You Re-Use/Re- Tweak? • Start to investigate what may have been done already! • Ask: • Has this been tested before? • Are their other teams that test similar things? • How do other teams test, manual or automation or both? • Find what you can re-use as a start to gain traction • There could be a useful tool/tip lurking under your nose. Look to find it!
- 10. QA Traction – Get Busy! • Run comparison tests between Prod and “Test” • Log critical areas/functions as you go, test these first • Use a Risk Based approach • Raise Defects • Organize Defect Meeting with Team Leads/stakeholders • Get the team to help define the Defect Process
- 11. WILD HORSES COULDN’T DRAG ME AWAY WILD HORSES COULDN’T DRAG QA AWAY
- 12. “Wild Horse” Examples • Little/No Project Management • No Business Involvement • No Deployment Process • Little/No Testing • Limited Testing for Break Fixes • No Defect Process/Escalation • Brittle Environments
- 13. Wild Horses– Start a QA Assessment • Observe and define the “Wild” areas • Define pain points/consequences of “the Wild” and Team Impacts • Propose solutions that benefit the team, not just QA • Communicate the changes/benefits • Work together to find a solution
- 14. Wild Horses– How Assessment Led to More Dev and QA Progress • “Wild” = aggressive schedule, one volatile, always changing environment • Assessment uncovered large backlog of bugs never worked, new functionality never tested • Proposed and received additional QA Resource/Time • QA gained more time to regression test and a “code freeze” Dev could not deploy without QA approval • Dev focused on bug backlog and as these were pushed to be retested, the product’s code and quality started to shine • Assessment allowed PM to escalate future risk concerns for upcoming project phases
- 15. Wild Horses – “Green Light” Changes • When you get the green light to improve your process it will impact the project team • Make one change at a time to help transition • Be compassionate and patient where there’s pushback • Accept ALL feedback • Improve based on feedback
- 16. I’ll Never Be Your Beast of Burden QA Won’t Be Your Beast of Burden
- 17. Beast of Burden – Change the Stereotype • QA Stereotypes: • QA goal is to find the highest number of bugs • I celebrate all failed tests • If my test fails it’s your code’s fault • Stereotypes are based off of negative experiences • Get to know your team, communicate your QA goals • Layer of protection • Output of tests/defect resolution allows their best to shine • Escalating/resolving defects reduces unnecessary surprises later
- 18. Team Bonding Benefits • Get to know your team • Quality Time • Unification • Mutual Respect • Desire for Team Success • Awareness/willingness to help
- 19. You Can’t Always Get What You Want… • I Can’t Get No QA Traction • Does anyone care about QA? • Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag QA Away • This project is like the Wild West! Anything goes! • QA Won’t Be Your Beast of Burden • Why is everyone stressed out when I escalate issues?
- 20. But If you Try Sometimes…You Get What You Need! • Gain QA Traction • Find out why QA is in a bad place • Research project background • Change Your Wild Horse • Start with changes that benefit everyone • Start small • Don’t be a Beast of Burden • Everyone wants success • Be kind, be helpful, build relationships!
- 21. Thank You for Attending! Anna Heiermann LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaheiermann