Articles

2020 letters and confetti 7 Agile Testing Trends to Watch for in 2020

With 2020 upon us, software development firms seeking to increase their agility are focusing more and more on aligning their testing approach with agile principles. Let’s look at seven of the key agile testing trends that will impact organizations most this year.

Nick Karlsson's picture Nick Karlsson
Spiral of an Organization Avoiding the Organizational Death Spiral

The death spiral supersedes the death march in that the death march is a singular event, whereas the death spiral is systemic. It is the result of organizational dysfunction where teams march toward deadline after deadline without reflecting on or questioning if there is a better way to deliver software. There is! Take these positive steps.

Thomas Wessel's picture Thomas Wessel
Speaking to Your Business Using Measurements Speaking to Your Business Using Measurements

Justin Rohrman writes that measurement is one of the biggest problems he's experienced in test management. How do we measure quality, how do we know those measurements are good, and how do we use them to tell a story to executives? In this article, Justin explains how to speak to your business using measurements.

Justin Rohrman's picture Justin Rohrman
Planning During a Health Care Crisis Save Your Sanity: Planning During a Health Care Crisis

A health care crisis can hit without warning, leaving you both nursing the patient and mired in seemingly endless bureaucracy. In this article, Kathy Iberle shares with us her experience dealing with an elderly uncle who suffered a stroke and how agile methods, like using a visual planning board, can help one prepare and be ready when disaster strikes.

Kathy Iberle's picture Kathy Iberle

Better Software Magazine Articles

Balance and Flow Continuous Process Improvement Using Balance and Flow

Finding a balance between too much and too little process can be quite a challenge. Tom Wessel shows how to apply lean change management and kaizen principles to achieve continuous process  improvement. Also, Tom suggests the use of simple metrics to verify that improvements are actually taking place.

Thomas Wessel's picture Thomas Wessel
The Lean Test Canvas

Taking lessons from the lean business model, Matt Heusser explains how a tester can present different values and properly set expectations with the team using the lean test canvas. His approach starts with defining who  the customer is and ends with key qualitative measures that will be used to ensure success.

Matthew Heusser's picture Matthew Heusser
How Can I Develop the Ability to Collaborate?

In this installment of FAQ, SQE Trainer Bob Payne and consultant Ryan Olivett answer one of the questions students ask them most often.

Bob Payne's picture Bob Payne Ryan Olivett
Strengthen Your Discovery Muscle

An organization shouldn’t spend all its time building its delivery muscle without simultaneously building its discovery muscle. In fact, successful software teams deliver great products because they invest in discovery. Learn how to expand your innovation and strengthen your discovery muscle.

Interviews

Michael Nauman Shifting Left and Going beyond Agile: An Interview with Michael Nauman

In this interview, Michael Nauman, a testing lead for AutoCAD Web, explains how we can go beyond basic agile principles. He digs into the current state of shift-left testing, the importance of aligning your DevOps with your automation, and using agile as a starting point on your quality journey.

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin
Jeff Payne The Fundamentals of Agile: An Interview with Jeff Payne
Podcast

In this interview, Coveros CEO and agile instructor Jeff Payne discusses why you should make the move to agile, its many benefits, and how to transition. He also explains his SQE Training course, Fundamentals of Agile Certification.

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin
Matt Heusser discusses Lean Software Testing STAREAST 2015 Interview with Matt Heusser on Lean Software Testing
Video

In this interview, Matt Heusser covers how most organizations test now, presents ways you can improve your company's approach to lean, and demonstrates lean tools that can help you understand software development and test flow in a different way.

Jennifer Bonine's picture Jennifer Bonine
Jeff Patton discusses lean UX design Lean UX: Turn User Experience Design Inside Out: An Interview with Jeff Patton
Podcast

In this interview, keynote speaker Jeff Patton breaks down how to turn user experience design inside out through Lean UX. He discusses presenting half-baked ideas within Lean UX, as well as whether communication between developers and users alters how the user interface is designed.

Josiah Renaudin's picture Josiah Renaudin

Conference Presentations

Agile DevOps East Pushing Pennies: Playing with the Principles of Product Development Flow
Slideshow

Lean and agile concepts can sometimes be counterintuitive, but the right game or exercise can effectively demonstrate those concepts, providing a practical basis for conversation and learning. Being able to talk beyond anecdote and theory and actually demonstrate why something works is a powerful statement. In this workshop, Bill DeVoe will execute some games you can take back to your organizations to help them understand some basic lean and agile concepts regarding optimization of flow and throughput. Through these activities, we’ll demonstrate the value of a prioritized backlog, optimized batch sizes, limiting work in progress (WIP), and more.

Bill DeVoe
Better Software West 2018, Agile Dev West 2018, DevOps West 2018 Lean-Agile Learning through Games
Slideshow

Most agile practitioners first learn agile by reading a book, attending a class, or attending local meetings. But learning lean and agile concepts works best when we're able to put some concrete examples and practice behind the concepts. By adding a set of games and exercises that teach and reinforce lean and agile concepts to our toolboxes, change agents can provide some practical basis for conversations both inside and outside their organizations. In this talk join experienced agile coach Bill DeVoe, as he shares two of his “go to” games. First, up will be The Name Game, a game that reinforces the downsides of multitasking and benefits of completing work. And second will be a modified version of the Scrum Penny Game – a multi-round exercise that demonstrates many lean-agile concepts, like flow, prioritizing value, and delivering small batch sizes over large ones.

Bill DeVoe
BSE Testing A Lean Tour of Lean Software Development
Slideshow

Lean software development has been described as “better, faster, cheaper” and focused on “eliminating waste,” but those are misnomers. Going after speed improvement and waste elimination can actually reduce the benefits you might otherwise get from lean. Ken Pugh describes what lean...

Ken Pugh
STARWEST Testing The Lean Startup Method: Its Value for Testers
Slideshow

A startup is an organization created to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Approximately 40 percent of all startups will cease operation with investors losing everything; 95 percent will fall short of their financial projections. And the number...

Lee Copeland

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