People & Teams
Articles
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Shifting Testing Left Is a Team Effort There is a lot of talk in the testing world about shifting left. Basically, “shift left” refers to moving the test process to an earlier point in the development process, independent of the development approach. This article explores a case in which shift-left has been applied, and the lesson is that shifting left cannot be achieved by testers alone—it must result from a team effort. |
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How Much of Debugging Software Is a Tester’s Responsibility? Everyone knows a tester's job is to help improve the quality of the software under test. But it gets a little murky when you try to define the boundary between testing and debugging. There's no clear delineation: Some testers would state how to reproduce the bug, write the report, and hand it off, while others learn the code, find the root cause, and even create builds to fix the bugs. How much is useful, and how much is too much? |
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Testing to the Usability Standards Our Customers Expect Allowing minor defects to be included in releases impacts our customers’ perspective on software professionalism. We’ll never catch every weird, obscure bug, but there are some design elements where they tend to lurk. By focusing our testing efforts on these areas—or at least not neglecting them—we can catch more issues before our customers do. |
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Lessons Learned in Testing CRM Software CRM systems manage a company’s business relationships, including customers’ data, information, and interactions, so there’s a lot that can—and should—be tested. Viktar Sachuk talks about his experience in testing CRMs to provide some tips for dealing with the trickiest parts of CRM testing, specifically focusing on some preparatory measures, functional testing, integration testing, and test automation. |
Interviews
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Why Manual Testers Shouldn't Fear Automation: An Interview with Chris Loder
Video
In this interview, Chris Loder, automation architect at InGenius Software, addresses the misconception that the goal of automation is to replace manual testers. |
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Yes before No and Building a Culture of Innovation: An Interview with Hilary Weaver-Robb
Video
In this interview, Hilary Weaver-Robb, a software quality architect at Quicken Loans, explains how you can create a company culture that encourages trying new things—even if they fail. She discusses the importance of learning, changing roles as you grow, and testing RESTful web services. |
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Why Testers, Developers, and Managers Need Better Communication: An Interview with Marcia Buzzella
Video
In this interview, Marcia Buzzella, a leadership consultant and strengths coach, explains how each member of a software development team can better communicate with one another, and why testers need to understand how what they’re saying is being perceived. |
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How Machines Will Impact the Way You Test Software: An Interview with Geoff Meyer In this interview, Geoff Meyer, a test architect in the Dell EMC infrastructure solutions group, discusses whether or not testers should be nervous about artificial intelligence, what testers can do right now to keep up with the times, and when AI is most useful for software teams. |
Better Software Magazine Articles
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The Unspoken Truth about IoT Test Automation The internet of things (IoT) continues to proliferate as connected smart devices become critical for individuals and businesses. Even with test automation, performing comprehensive testing can be quite a challenge. |
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Scrum: Back to Basics So you think you know Scrum? Using the whimsical notion of farm animals and light-hearted visuals, take a refreshing review of the entire Scrum lifecycle as an intuitive set of roles, responsibilities, and handoffs. Particular attention is placed on what the ScrumMaster and product owner are expected to do at each handoff. |
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Test-Driven Service Virtualization Because enterprise applications are highly interconnected, development in stages puts a strain on the implementation and execution of automated testing. Service virtualization can be introduced to validate work in progress while reducing the dependencies on components and third-party technologies still under development. |
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Adopt an Innovative Quality Approach to Testing How much testing is really enough? Given resources, budget, and time, the goal of comprehensive testing seems impossible to achieve. It’s time to rethink your test strategy and start innovating. |
Conference Presentations
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Why Won’t They Pair?
Slideshow
Do your developers and testers pair—and do it in the best ways? If you can answer yes, then you are among the fortunate ones who have a trusting environment where people have confidence in their work. Unfortunately, a large number of development shops don’t practice pairing in any form. |
Linda Cook
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The Fourth Constraint in Project Delivery—Leadership
Slideshow
All too often, the triple constraints—time, cost, and quality—are bandied about as if they are the be-all, end-all. While they are important, leadership—the fourth and larger underpinning constraint—influences the first three. Statistics on project success and failure abound, and these... |
Rob Burkett
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The Five Common Unconscious Biases Affecting Your Team
Slideshow
Are you having a difficult time finding female engineers to join your teams? Are you currently working on a project which seems to be going nowhere? Have you ever engaged in what you thought was customer-driven work only to later discover it was stakeholder-driven? When it comes to... |
Catherine Louis
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Use Mind Maps to Increase Team Velocity and Communication
Slideshow
Ever sit in a strategy review session and get little or no participation from others? Or feel like you left a planning session with a different understanding of what was agreed to? If you feel there must be a more effective way to communicate important information around your strategy and... |
Jennifer Bonine
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