Defining Test Competence

Defining Test Competence

• 1.
  DEFINING TEST COMPETENCE Whatis test competence, and what competence does a tester need?
• 2.
  Introduction – Thispresentation • What is test competence? • What competence does a tester need? • What competence is it that makes a tester uniquely suitable to tackle complex testing problems? • In this presentation I will try to give my view on these questions – this is my personal definition in my context
• 3.
  Tester Competence • Asoftware tester needs a wide array of skills and competences to different degrees Communication Skills Collaboration Skills Agile Mindset Understanding Business Value Quick Learner Critical Thinker System Modeling Coaching Skills Understand and Writing Code Writing Reports Usability Review Skills Active Listener Feedback Champion Risk Analysis …
• 4.
  Tester Competence But nothingof that is unique to a tester – these are skills that are valuable to a number of different roles This is competence a tester needs, but it is not test competence
• 5.
  Test Competence –What it is not • So let us dig deeper and try to find out what is at the core of Test Competence • Modeling a system, or doing risk analysis on a system and connecting this to business value is very important and valuable – but this is something a system architect could probably do better than a tester • Writing test cases from detailed requirements is an important skill, interpreting text into test cases, but is more administration than anything else
• 6.
  Test Competence –What it is not • Writing test reports, and knowing what information is important to different stakeholders is definitely critical to a tester, but does not actually require any test competence • Running scripted tests exactly according to specifications only requires reading comprehension and fine motor skills, not much else • Calibrating tools required for running specific tests is more tool competence than test competence
• 7.
  Test Competence –What it is not • Communicating with developers and other stakeholders is a key competence, but a technical salesman would probably do it better • Writing a test plan based on test competence, business value, and other skills – writing the plan in itself is an administrative task, but the knowledge behind the plan is partly test competence
• 8.
  What types ofTest Problems require Test Competence? Anyone Someone with System Competence Someone with Test Competence Someone?
• 9.
  So what isTest Competence? Exploring a Complex System through Tests Modeling Unpredictability in a Complex System Provoking a System to reach an Unpredictable Outcome What does this actually mean? Having a Toolbox of Unpredictable Behaviors
• 10.
  Exploring a ComplexSystem through Tests • Starting out with a system model created by the system developers, for any complex systems you will always find unpredicted behaviors • Identifying these unpredicted behaviors and using them as a starting point to find more unpredicted behaviors is a critical part of the testing skill set • Probe – Sense – Respond
• 11.
  Modeling Unpredictability ina Complex System • But how does a tester find the unpredictability in the first place? • By looking at the system model, thinking about how the system works, and applying an unpredictable behavior • What if I do not get the expected parameter for this action? • What if this action takes longer than intended? • What if there are intermittent problems with this action that only shows up once every thousand times? • What if the user does not understand which button to press?
• 12.
  Provoking a Systemto reach an Unpredictable Outcome • But thoughts alone are not enough … • A good tester will also come up with and execute a way to provoke the system to reaching a possible unpredicted outcome • Sometimes the system will then act in an unpredicted way, and many times it will work according to the original system model • Example: If you have a thought about intermittent problems, maybe you provoke that unpredictable outcome by running some long term duration tests
• 13.
  Having a Toolboxof Unpredictable Behaviors • To be able to apply unpredictable behaviors to a system a tester needs to come up with these unpredictable behaviors • One way is to have experiences from previous testing problems • One way is to use heuristics to help you come up with unpredictable behaviors • SFDPO[1] is one example of a heuristic
• 14.
  Conclusion • A testerneeds many different skills, to different degrees, to be effective, not just test competence • Test Competence is related to complexity • Exploring a Complex System through Tests • Modeling Unpredictability in a Complex System • Provoking a System to reach an Unpredictable Outcome • Having a Toolbox of Unpredictable Behaviors • By knowing this we can better utilize the tester’s unique competence in our development teams
• 15.
  References [1] How doyou spell testing? http://www.satisfice.com/articles/sfdpo.shtml [2] Cynefin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin