New Features
I just got my first look at a must anticipated upcoming feature and I'm blown away in a good way and now I am so excited!
I wish that 3 other features I looked at and was disappointed in would be magically removed and every resource used given to this one feature that outshines the rest of them. Why waste engineering resources by spreading them out so much? When a test team is working really hard and their area of focus is just lame, there is nothing they can do that will make people want to use it. However, over here there is a feature with all the potential in the world if the quality is high enough not getting test resources. Software project planning is pretty complex, and I know there are lots of negotiations that take place.
I'd love to have a release where someone is tough and says, "We are cutting half of the planned features and taking twice as long for this project." Not financially viable initially, but what if the half of the features you are doing are groundbreaking and have world class quality?
We have this one feature that has disappointed me every time I've tested in for over 5 years now. In my entire testing career, I had one opportunity to ask a question of our CEO in a small setting. I asked him simply, "Have you ever used feature ______?" We don't have that same CEO anymore. His answer was clear, honest, and diplomatic. He had used it, recognized problems with it, and expressed hope for the future with it. Have you ever spoken with executives? They say more in a few sentences than I can convey with 2 pages of text. That kind of consolodation doesn't happen overnight. They are true artists at communication efficiency.
I'm not sure who in the company is so smart and charismatic that they are able to keep resourced with something so terrible to use that I was willing to use my one question to the CEO to find out if he'd ever used it, but whomever they are, I promise I want to stay off of their bad side, so I'll never specify which feature it was or bring it up to a CEO again. It's caused major resource drain and stability problems, while remaining unpopular with the vast majority of our users. As a serious advocate of usability, this particular feature is a villian in my world.
Anyhow, this new feature I can't talk about. Simple, elegant, fast, easy, AMAZING! What you can do with this is going to make my top 10 list.
I freaked out about chatting in 1993 and people thought I was crazy using the modem and talking to people with my computer. In 2000 I thought Livejournal was very cool and I started blogging. Digital photography was the coolest thing I'd ever seen in the early 1990's and people thought I was misdirected for taking so many photos and never printing them. When PDF format came out I just loved it! How could people not understand how awesome that is? This new feature is that awesome. It's gmail good! I'm giving it extra testing because it earns free testing from me for being useful and for the "cool factor". We should have a tester survey about new features and just ask what is cool. Cool points matter. Who's voting on cool points before we ship new stuff? I want to. I'm pretty good at it! Really! My fellow testers who know the products (not those making automation, but ya know, blackbox testers?) also are good at that. It's an untapped source of information based not JUST on gut feeling, but also on using the stuff. If one features blows another away on cool points, they should get to steal a tester from the loser. I think this may be a harsh awakening for features that need to improve in usability and coolness if they lose resources for bad behavior, or dull behavior.
New product features should be a bit more like dating. Sure, they all look ok on the first date, but as you get to know them, some are liars. Some stop showering. Some start being jerks and cause crashes too often. Some are just too high drama and require resources from everywhere. Then you get some that are so darn cool you drop everything and buy them fancy jewelry and take them to the Bahamas. I think this new feature I love should get a trip to Beaches all inclusive. I think the feature that has been lame for 5 years needs to be dumped already. It would be better for both of us.
If you are a tester, and you're working on something that sucks, don't spend extra time on it. Cover just what you said you were going to cover, do your best to find enough bugs that the feature gets dropped and you can focus elsewhere. Express your concerns about the user experience in the bug database in sensible, well researched, calm terms. If you lose, at least you sleep well at night. As a test lead, I've flat out told testers on my team, "What I'm looking for on this task is fast mediocrity. I know you are talented and good, but please just be fast on this task. Your best needs to be spent elsewhere." We can't all do our best work every hour of every day. Use the bursts of genius where they make a difference. Spend the extra time on those features that contribute more to the overall user experience. Don't stay in your area. Wildly color outside the lines. I'd never test any other way. Then again, I believe there is no picture but the big picture.
I wish that 3 other features I looked at and was disappointed in would be magically removed and every resource used given to this one feature that outshines the rest of them. Why waste engineering resources by spreading them out so much? When a test team is working really hard and their area of focus is just lame, there is nothing they can do that will make people want to use it. However, over here there is a feature with all the potential in the world if the quality is high enough not getting test resources. Software project planning is pretty complex, and I know there are lots of negotiations that take place.
I'd love to have a release where someone is tough and says, "We are cutting half of the planned features and taking twice as long for this project." Not financially viable initially, but what if the half of the features you are doing are groundbreaking and have world class quality?
We have this one feature that has disappointed me every time I've tested in for over 5 years now. In my entire testing career, I had one opportunity to ask a question of our CEO in a small setting. I asked him simply, "Have you ever used feature ______?" We don't have that same CEO anymore. His answer was clear, honest, and diplomatic. He had used it, recognized problems with it, and expressed hope for the future with it. Have you ever spoken with executives? They say more in a few sentences than I can convey with 2 pages of text. That kind of consolodation doesn't happen overnight. They are true artists at communication efficiency.
I'm not sure who in the company is so smart and charismatic that they are able to keep resourced with something so terrible to use that I was willing to use my one question to the CEO to find out if he'd ever used it, but whomever they are, I promise I want to stay off of their bad side, so I'll never specify which feature it was or bring it up to a CEO again. It's caused major resource drain and stability problems, while remaining unpopular with the vast majority of our users. As a serious advocate of usability, this particular feature is a villian in my world.
Anyhow, this new feature I can't talk about. Simple, elegant, fast, easy, AMAZING! What you can do with this is going to make my top 10 list.
I freaked out about chatting in 1993 and people thought I was crazy using the modem and talking to people with my computer. In 2000 I thought Livejournal was very cool and I started blogging. Digital photography was the coolest thing I'd ever seen in the early 1990's and people thought I was misdirected for taking so many photos and never printing them. When PDF format came out I just loved it! How could people not understand how awesome that is? This new feature is that awesome. It's gmail good! I'm giving it extra testing because it earns free testing from me for being useful and for the "cool factor". We should have a tester survey about new features and just ask what is cool. Cool points matter. Who's voting on cool points before we ship new stuff? I want to. I'm pretty good at it! Really! My fellow testers who know the products (not those making automation, but ya know, blackbox testers?) also are good at that. It's an untapped source of information based not JUST on gut feeling, but also on using the stuff. If one features blows another away on cool points, they should get to steal a tester from the loser. I think this may be a harsh awakening for features that need to improve in usability and coolness if they lose resources for bad behavior, or dull behavior.
New product features should be a bit more like dating. Sure, they all look ok on the first date, but as you get to know them, some are liars. Some stop showering. Some start being jerks and cause crashes too often. Some are just too high drama and require resources from everywhere. Then you get some that are so darn cool you drop everything and buy them fancy jewelry and take them to the Bahamas. I think this new feature I love should get a trip to Beaches all inclusive. I think the feature that has been lame for 5 years needs to be dumped already. It would be better for both of us.
If you are a tester, and you're working on something that sucks, don't spend extra time on it. Cover just what you said you were going to cover, do your best to find enough bugs that the feature gets dropped and you can focus elsewhere. Express your concerns about the user experience in the bug database in sensible, well researched, calm terms. If you lose, at least you sleep well at night. As a test lead, I've flat out told testers on my team, "What I'm looking for on this task is fast mediocrity. I know you are talented and good, but please just be fast on this task. Your best needs to be spent elsewhere." We can't all do our best work every hour of every day. Use the bursts of genius where they make a difference. Spend the extra time on those features that contribute more to the overall user experience. Don't stay in your area. Wildly color outside the lines. I'd never test any other way. Then again, I believe there is no picture but the big picture.
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