HOW TO THINK LIKE AN EXPLORATORY TESTER

ALEKSIS TULONEN

COMIQ OY

FISTB TESTING ASSEMBLY 2014

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www.comiq.fi

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www.commonsensetesting.org

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TESTING

Experimenting with something in order to evaluate it.

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Testing is about mental engagement.

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EXPLORATORY TESTING

An approach to testing that emphasizes testers ability to explore an unknown object or space through concurrent test design and test execution.

Explore = travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it (Oxford Dictionaries)

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FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY

“A style of software testing that emphasizes the personal freedom and responsibility of the individual tester to optimize the quality of his or her work by treating test design, test execution, test interpretation, and test-related learning as mutually supportive activities that continue in parallel throughout the project.” – Cem Kaner

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CREATING BY REACTING

“An essential aspect of a painter's canvas and a musical instrument is the immediacy with which the artist gets something there to react to.

A canvas or sketchbook serves as an "external imagination", where an artist can grow an idea from birth to maturity by continuously reacting to what's in front of him.” – Bret Victor (Learnable Programming)

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THINGS THAT HAVE HELP ME EVOLVE AS A TESTER

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1. QUALITY IS A RELATIONSHIP

“Quality is value to some person.” – Jerry Weinberg

“…who matter.” – James Bach & Michael Bolton

By “value,” I mean, “What are people willing to pay (do) to have their requirements met.” – Jerry Weinberg

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BUG FOR ONE, FEATURE FOR ANOTHER

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2. COMMUNICATION SKILL

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“Agile Is Dead.”

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“What observation led you to that conclusion?”

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“What is your intention?”

“What are you trying to achieve with what you just said?”

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ALSO USEFUL WITH SPECIFICATIONS

Integration to System A is real-time and usually triggered by a modification from System B.

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3. LEPRECHAUN HUNTER MINDSET

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“Show Me the Data.”

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SUMMARY• Exploratory Testing:

• Mental Engagement, Responsibility & Emphasizing Exploration

• Quality:

• Quality is value to some person(s). Who is the person(s) that matter?

• Communication Skill

• Check Intake, Check Meaning• “What observation led you to that conclusion?”• “What is your intention?” & “What are you trying to achieve

with what you said?”• Leprechaun Hunter Mindset

• “Show Me the Data.”

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION• Evolving Understanding of Exploratory Testing (by

Michael Bolton) - http://www.developsense.com/resources.html#exploratory

• Exploratory Testing (by Cem Kaner) - http://www.testingeducation.org/BBST/exploratory/

• Telling Your Exploratory Story (by Jon Bach) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUdWm7ddgfU

• Exploratory Testing (by Jon Bach) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y4WCdJRfV4

• A Case Against Test Cases (by Jon Bach) - http://www.quardev.com/blog/a_case_against_test_cases

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION• The Leprechauns of Software Engineering (by Laurent

Bossavit) - https://leanpub.com/leprechauns

• Perfect Software: And Other Illusions about Testing (by Jerry Weinberg) – You can find it from Amazon

• Explore It!: Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory Testing (by Elisabeth Hendrickson) – You can find it from Amazon

• Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas (by Seymour Papert) – You can find it from Amazon

• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (by Carol Dweck) – You can find it from Amazon

• “The Idea Accelerator” (by Ken Hudson) – You can find it from Amazon

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION• “What is Exploratory Testing?”

http://swtester.blogspot.ca/2012/05/what-is-exploratory-testing.html (by Paul Carvalho)

• “The Little Black Book on Test Design” http://thetesteye.com/blog/2011/09/the-little-black-book-on-test-design/ (by Rikard Edgren)

• “To The New Tester” http://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/958 (by James Bach)

• “Fractal Exploratory Testing” http://www.a-sisyphean-task.com/2013/01/fractal-exploratory-testing.html#.UpxHGWRgY3Y (by Adam Knight)

• “Learnable Programming” http://worrydream.com/LearnableProgramming/ (by Bret Victor)

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION• “Two Forgotten Agile Values: Discipline and Skill”

http://www.exampler.com/discipline-and-skill.html (by Brian Marick)

• “Practical Tools For Playing Well With Others” http://oredev.org/2013/wed-fri-conference/practical-tools-for-playing-well-with-others (by J.B. Rainsberger)

• “Patterns for The People” http://vimeo.com/19124478 (by Kevlin Henney)

• “The Satir Interaction Model” http://sstc-online.org/2006/pdfs/JB1365Notes.pdf (by Virginia Satir)

• “Test Heuristics Cheat Sheet” http://testobsessed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/testheuristicscheatsheetv1.pdf (by Elisabeth Hendrickson)

Twitter: @al3ksisBlog: flowoftesting.wordpress.comLinkedIn: Aleksis TulonenEmail: aleksis.tulonen@gmail.com