Happy Moments in Testing
My ten year anniversary is coming up with my company. That doesn't even count time time I was a contractor. It's been nearly 10 years since I stepped into the doors of Adobe on my first day with all of my hilarious assumptions and misconceptions about what working for a software company was all about. I still love my company and feel like I have room to grow as a tester. The happy moments are essential to avoiding burnout I think, and when times get a bit rough it helps to reflect on some of the things that have resonated with me about testing over time.
Moments I like to think back upon and celebrate the most are the shipping of InDesign 2.0. This was the release where we finally took over the desktop publishing market from Quark. The team worked so hard on the quality of this product that I am very proud that we managed to pull off this release. What was special about it is that it truly was hard work, the best work we could possibly do, and ultimately innovation and quality of the product pushed us ahead. It was the integration of native Photoshop files along with better text composition that won that race, and I was a part of it. I really felt that team was strong, and back then success was far from assured. Adobe reached one billion dollars sales shortly after and it was announced and the company celebrated.
As part of that release I had the chance to go to New York city for the first time in my life and help out with the Uncork New York courses. Helping users learn the product and troubleshooting issues. New York pizza really IS that good. I went up to the Empire State Building and saw Ground Zero and this was still 2001, so it was pretty fresh still.
More recently, I've never been more excited or proud than when we shipped Adobe CS3. CS1 and 2 were very hard work, but to go from 4 to 16 products and integrate with Macromedia technology so quickly? That was an insane time, and once again the reason it was a great testing time for me is that I loved the result. The suites are THAT good. And I'm proud to say we reported the top customer issues (all of them) before we shipped. I say that not to gloat, but I'm proud of the job that we did testing that collection of products and the decisions that were made. Now that I think about it, as a test lead, this is the single best moment in my career to date. I felt like the people I'd mentored really flourished and each bit of trust given to them was returned in full. The skills of each team member grew naturally and the leadership of everyone on the team went up a notch. As a lead there is no better feeling than seeing the entire team flourishing.
So, what about now? Now I am getting great job satisfaction when I can solve a new problem, from speaking, from writing, and from finding new ideas to bring back to the testers I work with. When I take a risk, regardless of how it turns out, I'm almost always glad that I did.
There are many great things about testing, even if killing a server, corrupting a document, and coming out of your office holding up the letter V or doing something that looks like a bowling celebration isn't appreciated, take a second and be happy. If your testing job isn't satisfying, I may suggest that there are many things that are optional. Don't make those the most satisfying parts.
Moments I like to think back upon and celebrate the most are the shipping of InDesign 2.0. This was the release where we finally took over the desktop publishing market from Quark. The team worked so hard on the quality of this product that I am very proud that we managed to pull off this release. What was special about it is that it truly was hard work, the best work we could possibly do, and ultimately innovation and quality of the product pushed us ahead. It was the integration of native Photoshop files along with better text composition that won that race, and I was a part of it. I really felt that team was strong, and back then success was far from assured. Adobe reached one billion dollars sales shortly after and it was announced and the company celebrated.
As part of that release I had the chance to go to New York city for the first time in my life and help out with the Uncork New York courses. Helping users learn the product and troubleshooting issues. New York pizza really IS that good. I went up to the Empire State Building and saw Ground Zero and this was still 2001, so it was pretty fresh still.
More recently, I've never been more excited or proud than when we shipped Adobe CS3. CS1 and 2 were very hard work, but to go from 4 to 16 products and integrate with Macromedia technology so quickly? That was an insane time, and once again the reason it was a great testing time for me is that I loved the result. The suites are THAT good. And I'm proud to say we reported the top customer issues (all of them) before we shipped. I say that not to gloat, but I'm proud of the job that we did testing that collection of products and the decisions that were made. Now that I think about it, as a test lead, this is the single best moment in my career to date. I felt like the people I'd mentored really flourished and each bit of trust given to them was returned in full. The skills of each team member grew naturally and the leadership of everyone on the team went up a notch. As a lead there is no better feeling than seeing the entire team flourishing.
So, what about now? Now I am getting great job satisfaction when I can solve a new problem, from speaking, from writing, and from finding new ideas to bring back to the testers I work with. When I take a risk, regardless of how it turns out, I'm almost always glad that I did.
There are many great things about testing, even if killing a server, corrupting a document, and coming out of your office holding up the letter V or doing something that looks like a bowling celebration isn't appreciated, take a second and be happy. If your testing job isn't satisfying, I may suggest that there are many things that are optional. Don't make those the most satisfying parts.
I've had that experience a few times in my career. That sense of calm responsibility and success is addictive. When I don't have it, I make changes and seek it out.
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After hearing Alan Page's talk on testing career paths at PNSQC I've been thinking about what makes testers passionate. I think that finding the right job, the right company, and the right boss are part of it, but part of it is finding the right product and project to grow your skills. It's noticing when you start to stagnate and making a change. This is what makes Alan different than other people who burn out on testing before making a contribution, or one of the things I've noticed so far.
Testing software is the most satisfying job I've ever had. Granted there have been days I've wanted to do shovel dirt rather than do my job, but they are few and far between.
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