Saga of Unsung Heroes

rajkamal@microsoft.com
Raj.kamal13@gmail.com
http://www.geektester.blogspot.com
I’m Raj.
 I’m Nakul.
nakulm@microsoft.com
http://www.stickyminds.com/s.asp?F=S15975_ART_2
We test software at BI
Engineering, MSIT.
Before starting we want to show
you some pictures…
 This presentations is for the Tester,
by the Testers.
 Testers,
who save millions of dollars
 Testers,
who save millions of dollars by
finding bugs
 Testers,
who save millions of dollars still
stay unheard
 Testers,
who save millions of dollars still
stay unsung
Our job is to find faults in the
software
If we say the software is fine and it
isn’t, it looks like we didn’t do our
jobs
If we say the software isn’t fine and
it is, it looks like we don’t know
what we’re talking about
If we say the software isn’t fine and
we’re correct, we’ve done our jobs
right, but now other people have to
do more work to fix it.
If we say the software IS fine and
we’re correct, then champagne and
pats on the back of all the
Developers 
How often does that happen?
 Scary Story #1
Can we sign off?
First let’s hear this out..
 Developers & PMs have spent
countless nights developing the
software
They are proud parent; Its their
baby
Nobody wants to tell someone that
they have an ugly baby
Nobody wants to tell someone that
they have an ugly baby,
unfortunately, it’s our job.
It is called “Ugly Baby
Syndrome”
Here comes the question again
Can we sign off ?
The Inevitable & Recurring
Ghost
All eyes on test; spotlights on
Expectation from Test?
Say “YES” to Go-Live
Despite of the fact
 Despite of the fact
product crashes sometime
 Despite of the fact
few scenarios are not working
 Despite of the fact
performance doesn’t always meet the
SLA.
 Because
Saying “NO” is seldom an option
 Because
Testers can sign off based on their
confidence & gut feel
 Because
After all Quality is tester’ baby
 But can we propose
a formula for test sign-off
 But can we propose
80/20 Sign-Off Formula
 80/20 Sign-Off Formula
80 % of the decision to be based
ONLY on test metrics
 80/20 Sign-Off Formula
only 20% decision to be based on
Tester’s Emotional Quotient
 80/20 Sign-Off Formula
Smiley
and Frown to be added to
to the app to take tester’s feedback
 80/20 Sign-Off Formula
Interpretations can be derived from
data
Tester's Feedback - EQ
8
6 Feature Count
4
2
0
Frown Smiley
Can we also propose
a joint sign-off by
Can we also propose
a joint sign-off by
Dev, PM & Test
After all Quality is everyone’s
responsibility
Sign-off decision will improve because
Sign-off decision will improve because
developer know the best about code
he has written
Sign-off decision will improve because
PM knows best about the
requirements & scope
Sign-off decision will improve because
& Test knows the best about what's
working & what's not
Sign-off decision will improve because
joint sign-off is going to make
everyone equally accountable
Can we also dare to propose
 Can we also dare to propose
stop putting unbearable pressure on
test
 Because
asking this question everyday will not
really solve the problem
 Because
this will make your testers nervous &
sometime even scared
 Because
humans commit most of the errors
when they are nervous & under
pressure
 Because
to meet the high expectations they
might just break and say “GO”
 Because
and its no news that even Indian
cricket team doesn’t do so well in
pressure games 
 Scary Story #2
Sandwich Problem
Clock is ticking; Waiting for the
time bomb to go off
Drop doesn’t arrive as scheduled
Because
 Because
A new Change Request creeps in too
late in the cycle
 Because
an unexpected environmental issue
appears in Dev
 Because
one of the key developer is on an
emergency leave.
Expectation from Test?
Test is expected to
Test is expected to
Absorb the delay
 Test is expected to
Accommodate unplanned drops
 Test is expected to
to still discover all the bugs despite
of the time crunch.
 Test is expected to
Catch up on the lost time.
Can we propose
 Can we propose
Diversify your test strength!!
 Its all
about different Personas…
 Choose a tester for Persona #1
Process, Positive Testing
Logical Text Book approach, confides
on Facts…
 Choose a tester for Persona #2
Scenario Based, User Based,
Innovative, Optimistic & Critical
approach
Choose a tester for Persona #2
Critical, Judgmental,
Hunch, Intuition &
Negative Tests approach
Can we also propose
 Can we also propose
Duet Integration Testing!!
Test participate in Dev Unit &
Integration Testing
 Can we also propose
Internal Dog Fooding.
 Provide a test env to
Ex-Team member, community users,
Technology enthusiast
In House UAT / Frequent Bug Bash
 Scary Story #3
Don’t shoot the messenger
 Software Testers don't break
software; it's broken when we get it.
Testers are often perceived as
Testers are often perceived as
show spoilers
Testers are often perceived as
pessimist
Testers are often perceived as
obstacles
Testers are often perceived as
bearer of bad news
 Test teams start feeling
de-motivated & loses that fire to break
the application
People often tend to forget that
tester’s job is to
People often tend to forget that
tester’s job is to
expect the failure
People often tend to forget that
tester’s job is to
make it fail
People often tend to forget that
tester’s job is to
not to expect that it works
 People often tend to forget that
tester’s job is to
not to make false promises by saying

“All is Well”
Can we propose
 Can we propose
Celebrate the bugs
If want to make better software
 If want to make better software
start celebrating every bug which is
discovered
 We are NOT suggesting
that bugs should not be prevented from
occurring
 But when they occur
one shouldn’t panic & make testers
feel guilty for committing a sin
 Can we also propose
Don’t punish the Testers
Don’t punish the Testers for
finding bugs late
Because
Finding bugs late is better than
not finding them at all
 Finding bugs late is better than
the embarrassment caused when
customer finds them
 We are NOT suggesting
finding bugs late should be the
expectations
But better late than never should be the
key message
 Post-mortem analysis
is the right forum & time to take
preventive actions
Can we also propose
 Can we also propose
Don’t abuse the metrics
 Bug free code
should be a goal
 Bug free code
not a commitment
Such commitments make devs more
defensive
Such commitments make devs more
defensive
about accepting bugs
 As they feel
test is proving that they didn’t do a
good job
 As they feel
it will make their metrics look ugly
 As they feel it
will go against them in annual review
With this we wish to wind up the
conversation today
It was a small tribute to all the
testers in the world
It was a small tribute to all the
testers in the world
doing a thankless job
 It was a small tribute to all the
testers in the world
who have spent long hours & many
years
 It was a small tribute to all the
testers in the world
who sincerely believe that every bug
they find makes the product better
We hope this talk will reinstate the
same belief in new generation of
testers
 We hope this talk will
help the experienced testers to deal
with the known challenges.
Thank You