Back to the Fundamentals of Software Testing

22 September

Testing, Software Testing, QA, Quality Engineering, Quality Control – whatever we call it these days it seems that it is one of the biggest impediments to the efficient delivery of value regardless of whether we work in an ‘agile’ or more traditional setting.

Like with anything a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and as far as I can see testing is getting a bad name out there. It is a bit of a general claim admittedly, but it seems to be what I hear all too often these days.

A strong element of agility means bridging the gap between the ‘business’ and ‘IT’ and making the customer a number one priority, however what I often see is there is a disconnect between the two parties. In my experience as a testing consultant, I always believed that testing was supposed to be the glue that held the two perspectives in check – being a translator, being a voice of reason,  creating safety to allow cognitive diversity to flourish, being a representative of true customer value as well as a representative of actual delivery needs. That is not what I am hearing from my customers. I hear more about the problems with testing and how the skills of testers have declined over time. “Testers aren’t what they used to be,” “testing is slowing us down,” “we don’t know what the  testers are doing” – I am hearing this more and more and it is unsettling.

I coach, facilitate and teach predominately agile teams – not in software testing per se but in helping teams become more agile; however I have a long history in the software testing domain and it seems that software testing standards have slipped along the way. I am not sure if it is that some testers have stopped communicating, or educating their colleagues or those around them in the art of software testing or if they are stuck in a time warp between the old and new ways of working.

What I do know is that for a lot of teams that require testing skills we need to get back to basics – these are basic principles that should apply to any domain, lifecycle model and context and they should be a core part of the tester’s toolkit and thinking.

The ISTQB Foundation in Software Testing is a really great place to start to build your fundamental knowledge about the subject of Software Testing. It is accredited by the International Software Testing Qualification’s Board and is relevant across software delivery practices.

I have been facilitating and teaching quite a number of classes and workshops LiveOnline– the engagement and interactivity can be even better than you might experience in a class-room environment.

We use Miro as our collaboration tool – I have spent time using a wealth of teaching and learning principles that aim to make the content stick and the educational experience interesting and fun. I have configured Miro to get the very best out of the class participants; to make it as engaging and interactive as possible. The ability to revisit the learning content via our collaborative platform after the class is completed is also compelling and is especially useful for those who will be studying for the ISTQB exam, which can also be taken online.

Imagine being able to regularly go back to our collaborative platform and accessing the content that you have co-created throughout the class. You can do this with people you have sat through the class with by creating a study group or on your own. It beats going through endless pages of documentation and it is going to stick in a much more lasting way. 

For more information visit: ISTQB Foundation in Software Testing

 

Thank you!

Your details have been submitted and we will be in touch.

CHAT
CALL