Testy Testy

Reducing Test Case Bloat version 2.1, and Speaker Training for Lanette

Testy Redhead — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:21:00 GMT

Last night I presented for QASIG. It was a wonderful group, a good sized crowd, and I got the best introduction I've ever had.

Next month I'll be heading to StarEast where I'll be a moderator. It was awesome to get an introduction from Jon Bach because I now have an example of what sort of introduction I'd like to give the speakers. One that lets people know who the speaker is, what they are about, and one that gives them a confidence boost to start out the talk. I feel like people were more engaged and had more questions because of how he introduced me. It set the tone for what we were going to talk about as a group, not just a "sit back and hear the blabber" type of thing.

Doing this topic again gave the the chance to totally revise my slides. I took out most of the text and put in pictures that made me smile and reminded me of what I wanted to say about bloat without words. This was good for the talk. I think that the talk I did last night was some better than the one I did for PNSQC, mostly because the slides were better, and I'm learning and improving as I get experience speaking. If I could go back and remove some "Umms" I would. Also, I'd have slowed down my pace in the middle some. I was going a bit fast on some of the most important points. What else? Well, there may be video to share!! It is going to take a few weeks to get here, if I can post it at all, but I'll put it here on the blog if it arrives.

Slides - I added clip art to slide 2 for extra irony since my font dropped out in the PDF.These slides are far different from the First Version and I think sort of shows how I am evolving as a presenter. I'm becoming more me. Less serious. I'm having more fun! It's quite awesome! I'm so thankful for all of the people who've been helping and giving me feedback and opportunities to practice.

One other thing. After presenting I had a wonderful time! I do wish that I'd had a seat sooner though. I have nerve damage in my leg, so I can't stand up for 3 hours and expect to be ok. I was in a crazy amount of pain last night and this morning, so if you see me out presenting please come chat me up, but let's have a chat sitting down! I get so excited about talking about testing I forget about important things, like that I need to sit down so I won't be in too much pain the next day. I'll put that on my "to improve" list for next time to work on too.

Those of you who were there, please feel free to leave me feedback. I really appreciate it and will try your suggestions.

Presenting and the Zipline

Testy Redhead — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:40:00 GMT

"I can't do this. I'm too afraid and I'm going to have to go back downt he ladder," I whined to Skinnyman. I was standing on a wooden platform with my harness latched to a zip line in the Yucatan jungle in Mexico.A 300 foot ladder decent seemed a better option than sitting back and trusting the harness and hand grips to hold. "Look at my eyes. I know I'm not handsome, but I want to look at your eyes." I stared for no more than 10 seconds at his confident and amused expression. "There.Better?" he asked. I lifted my legs, Skinnyman gave a gentle shove, and I was flying. It was so fast, so fun, and nothing about it was scary as the canopy blurred beneath my Tevas. The jungle rushed by and I laughed hysterically the rest of the ride. When I came back the next time I didn't need any help, and Skinnyman wasn't surprised.

I'm freaking out! I'm so nervous I'm hyperventilating!" It was the morning of PNSQC and the first time I'd presented outside of my company. I'd rehearsed and revised over and over. incorporating feedback each time. The technical paper had drafts 1-28 already tossed out and this was draft FinalFinal. "You are going to be fabulous! I just know it," Gretchen replied, "Not to mention, I'll be there. No matter what." Scenarios from not even one person coming to see the presentation to a full blabbering meltdown or a freeze up ran through my mind. What if there was a heckler? There were some pretty blunt criticisms of the paper. What if they could tell it was my first time presenting? I told myself, "Whatever happens, be you. Everyone else is taken." The introduction was made, and off I went.

On presentation day I wake up nervous even knowing I'm as prepared as I can be. When I get ready I will have tried on my outfit and gone through the revision to my slides I just updated. Usually the change is one photo or one quote that I've put in and taken out over and over. I look at my makeup sideways hoping I don't have a mask line or any streaking and clip my hair so it won't fall into my eyes. I give myself a critical look and even say, "Whatever happens, it will be ok. You know this stuff. You've lived this stuff. Just tell the story."

When the Q & A starts I always feel relieved and satisfied, but I'm afraid that no one will ask a question. I hate it when no one has a question. Really? I spent hours at night trying to share something that mattered to me and no one cared? It is the most personal thing even though we are told it isn't personal, it's just business. No way. It couldn't possibly be more personal. These are MY stories. My test ideas. I wouldn't share them and go through the nerves if it wasn't personal. If it's just business, there wouldn't be petty bickering between big personalities. There wouldn't be egos at stake over what really is a small niche.

There are times when agonizing over a presentation I wonder why I bother. Most people aren't getting rich doing conferences. There are likely less than twenty people in the entire software testing industry worldwide who are getting regular keynote invitations where the travel and hotel is paid for, and usually they are teaching all day classes as well which is a significant time investment. You don't present for the money. You present for other reasons. For me it is the chance to share an idea, meet someone, and the joy of seeing my name along with some of the quasi-famous people I've admired for years. I do the work because I want to earn a seat at the table, to be a part of something I'm passionate about. In fact, the next presentation I'm doing I'll be paying for travel and hotel, so likely spending a good portion of money to share my ideas. A few of the most enthusiastic people who come may check out my blog and want to interact!

Now I sometimes have the chance to introduce a new speaker. I'll think of Skinnyman when I do. Look at my eyes. You know this stuff. You've prepared all that you can. Just let go. Just tell the story, and above all, enjoy the flight. It can be useful content, but if you didn't have any fun you missed the point and likely so did the audience.

Something happens on occasion that makes me so glad I decided to keep going despite the fear. A tester I don't know will say something like,"I came to see you speak and I'm facing a similar problem. What would you do in my situation?" I shared the story and it helped someone else.That is a feeling so rewarding that I want to buy a plane ticket and present again and again until I can feel confident each time that it will be fun, it will be good, and no matter what I will learn from it.

Repelling into a Cenote. The second time you have to let go is easier than the first. Made possible by Skinnyman.

Toddlers and Cats

Testy Redhead — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:55:00 GMT

Our cat Midnight who passed away last March was a delight to live with. He had a love of licking walls and sometimes electric outlets! His tail even looked like a question mark and he defined curiosity. We hypothesized that his head was full of fur and that's why he acted so insane.

This weekend our friends came to visit including their toddler who is soon to be 3 years old. He is adorable and has completed his teething. He has boundless energy, curiosity and enthusiasm! He is new to owning teeth and randomly bites stuff. His father's head. His own tongue to the point it was bleeding badly. His Mom even when sitting on her lap. He is unable to resist touching and licking anything dangerous at all and in bizarre and creative ways seems to seek his own demise. He is relentless in his pursuit of strange plots that no one could predict. At one point he chewed up some carrots and dropped them into the cat water. Not on purpose, just playing around. He's relentlessly exploring the limits of what he can do, what he can learn, and the world around him. He's also inexplicably drawn towards the dangerous and forbidden. His Mom told me that she needs to start him skydiving early because he's either going to be an extreme sportsman or a sociopath. He might make a great security tester as well! I got wondering if we could somehow capture the spirit of exploration and relentless curiosity and sheer unpredictability of a toddler during the exploration part of testing sometimes what we might learn.

What if we could tap into this power of exuberant peril and enthusiastic discovery to improve software? We build up this idea of rules and safety, but really, despite behavior that seems crazy to us on the surface, toddlers are learning so much! I'm not suggesting we have a meltdown of tears or lose our strategic thinking, but there is something about that curiosity that I think could be usefully applied to software testing.

Learning Python

Testy Redhead — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:52:20 GMT

Are you turning into a developer?
A colleague I respect asked me if I was learning to code because of fear/money/jobs. That is a very valid question. I'm working on a project that I'm more effective at testing with more scripts. I am a tester. This means I do my best to use all of the skills and tools that apply to do the best testing I possibly can. I also continue to grow as a tester. I am not a naturally talented coder, and as a creative person at times I've wanted to give up. Luckily, I've had some patient mentors willing to talk me down from the ledge at those moments. I'm proud of the work I'm doing because it is right for this project and also because I feel like what I am learning is making me a better tester. It is not making me a developer.

Since I've been working more with Python I can now understand Java better! I can read other people's code and follow it more often. I'm pleased that I can get test ideas from what I think is missing in the code, not just what I see that is there. I see why peer reviews work because when I code my focus is on making it work. Being good at testing does not mean you automatically test your own code. It is hard to learn good practices even when writing small test scripts. The good news is a CAN test my code, I just need to set aside a different time to do it and focus all of my energy on that. The trick to wearing multiple hats is to not try to wear them all at once. It makes your head overheat and looks silly.

In the past month I've gone from putting together scripts other people wrote and making a few edits to making some of my own scripts and pairing with other people so that I can collaborate on scripts. I'm at the point where I can make a function, then write a small test that uses that function. Later I can hook them all together without getting lost as easily as I was before. I am not making custom classes yet, but I can follow scripts that do without much trouble. Lists and arrays are making more sense to me. I am understanding appending lists and I can handle some strings now. I also am doing a bit of using numbers as strings and I can keep track of them now without a headache. I am at the point where I giggle at jokes from Pycon about lingerie because I remember typing Pythong at the command line on accident. I'm still early on in my script writing, but it has been an intense and productive month for me.

Numbers
Math in Python is easy to read, easy to do, and generally has been a joy!
Example:
def passFailResults(builds):
    if len(completed) > 0:
        myNum = len(completed)/len(sentBuild)
        perCom=myNum*100
        print "%.2f" % perCom, "%"
    else:
        print "No builds have a job status of completed."

Rounding
Rounding sucks so much. It confuses me and I never ever want to do it again. In fact, I hope to avoid it for my next project if I can at all. Deciding when you need to round and when you can just use the real number and only SHOW the rounded part is confusing to me still. It took me way too much time to figure out I wanted %.2f and not to really round.

Documentation
I wish that there was a line in the documentation or a warning that said: "This is possible. We include it because Python can do this. However, if you read it it will confuse you right now and it isn't likely you need this in MOST situations. It could be a photo of a girl in glasses with crossed eyes and her tongue hanging out in exhaustion. The "stay away" sign. Some of my worst mistakes have been making things too complicated and trying things I didn't need to do myself. Python isn't a big problem, but I certainly am. I can take something easy and over think it without much encouragement.

What Now?
Well, I'm working on some testing. I did coding for about 4 weeks straight with very little testing and I gained some new skills. I am glad I did so and I hope to work on some more evenly paced projects. I'd like to leave feeling like it was fun instead of beaten down and glad to survive. Sort of like singing and dancing though, you have to have some skills and know the basics before it starts to be fun. I realize this and if you don't practice you'll never be good enough to join the group in song, let alone contribute a memorable solo. I'm getting better at naming and keeping track of variables and scope. The key to me learning is having a real project that adds value to my testing. I'm learning only because I don't give up when it gets difficult.

Toxic Tests, Interns, Contractors

Testy Redhead — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:37:00 GMT

In my talk on March 10th at QASIG I'm going to go into this new area I'm exploring. Are some tests toxic? Why do we cling to them when they are harmful? When they become to harmful and toxic to us, why do we try to push them off onto other people?

There are some tests that we put into a category of "boring" or "less important" or "not worth human time", yet in many cases companies are taking these tests, packing them up, and paying a contractor, a counterpart in another country, or even a new tester or an INTERN to do these tests. Why?

One reason why is punishment. Some testers are so pissed about the changes in software testing that they want to demoralize and punish those who are "taking over their jobs" as they see it. They think if they set them up with unimportant tests they will fail.

Another reason is fear. We've become used to having these tests run and it is much easier to come up with an alternative so we can still run them than do the hard work and work through the fear and risk of NOT running them.

I have a news flash for you. Do not ever suggest to me that I get an intern when I'm frustrated at reading my log files. If I get an intern it is MY duty to make them a great tester. Not to waste their time and talent on a menial task. I may ask them how they would solve the problem and see what they come up with for me, but do not assume the people you train are not as intelligent and driven as you are. It is unfair and it is untrue. You aren't given an intern, a trainee, or a contractor to haze or initiate. You are given their time to build a great base of knowledge and get them off to a great start. When you abuse that trust by passing off toxic tests onto them you are doing a disservice to testing and a disservice to yourself.

More on this topic in the future.

Toyota Line Stop-Oye vey.

Testy Redhead — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:23:00 GMT

I read a post about the line stop at Toyota that was so complimentary. I just don't get it! They have cut so far they aren't even number 1 in quality anymore yet it seems everyone in testing is a panting fanboy for Toyota. Look at the product? Just not exciting and now not even slipping in overall quality for multiple years yet most people in quality want to be them?

Why? How about the fact that software isn't a car. It has a far shorter shelf life in most cases and it isn't a tangible item. Also, how about the fact that the actual quality is SLIPPING not improving over time?

Also, I'm sick to death of the process fanatics. I don't mean those who want to improve things, but I'm talking about this HUGE reality gap between what they say and what actually happens. Let's talk about Lean, Agile, Flavor of the Sell Me Process of the month. Some of it works really well. I like some of it. However, just the people who have these unrealistic ideals and are too far from the work to know that there is a major reality gap that exists. Sometimes I do read about the perfect land of unicorns and fairies and how that now that we're agile all of our problems are better. It's like a death march. All of our problems aren't over. We just make the same mistakes faster now and sometimes it helps and sometimes it just sucks. I don't know if it saves money or not. Why are we blindly following a car company with quality and reputation that is on the decline instead of trying new innovative ideas that actually APPLY to the kind of products we make?

On my team we just really hose stuff up faster, and sometimes that's good! Sometimes I get so flustered I wonder if this pace is sustainable. Why do our sprints feel like a death march? Isn't this supposed to help? We're still doing the trail of tears, just with a few more checkpoints on the way. Bleh. Anyhow, yes, lots of room between what the sales brochure of process improvement says and what really happens and although I think it is unfair to just pick on Agile, Lean, or XP as the problem as there are many good goals, I do think talking about problems in QUALITY needs to happen more. This "minimum viable product" idea is demoralizing. I'm against it. Really? How much less aspirational can you get than doing the bare minimum with a stripped down beaten down crew.

Also, why is testing and bug investigation and fix verification"Free" with no time dedicated to it. I feel like our "agile" just mean slots of reality denial and assumption of total success for everything we build with NO buffer. Reality gap number 947.

It should not be taboo to speak the truth about problems encountered on agile teams. It pisses me off to no end that no one ever considers integration testing as a valid backlog item and that our "agile" adoption has made my worklife balance suck and no one will talk about it. These are real problems!

On the other hand, the pairing ROCKS. It is going so well and producing so much better quality and I have actual confidence I really helped the team improve stability on our project in the last sprint. I like some things about process improvement, but fanatics do get a bit annoying.

In summary, I like many things about some of our process improvement, but I fear that some fanatics have lost all touch with reality and need to please come do my job for a week or at least admit that most places are struggling. What are they doing to address and help teams through the tough problems that arise? Are they coaching or just selling? I see some awesome coaches and that gives me hope that it can work. Company culture needs to be considered when proposing process change. Rather than selling the change, why aren't more people coaching humans through out so that the change can be successful?

15 Minute Preview on Reducing Test Case Bloat

Testy Redhead — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:53:00 GMT

Jon Bach asks me a few questions about my upcoming presentation. Check out http://www.qasig.org/ and come out to see the presentation on March 10th! Not only is the space great, but there was tasty food last time as well.

7 Habits of a Highly Ineffective Conversationalist

Testy Redhead — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:43:00 GMT

1. Be a terrible listener. To you active listening means mumbling "uh huh," on a good day.

2. Have it always be all about you. If ever it isn't, change the topic back to you stat. If they try to talk about something that isn't about you, check your phone, look at your watch, or otherwise show your displeasure.

3.Start selfish conversations where the other person can't respond, be it a story about someone they don't know, a relationship they aren't involved in, a dream you had, or a movie or tv show they haven't seen.The key here is that there is nothing they can contribute and it will be a monologue they have to listen to and let nothing stop you from telling the long version.

4. Take offense whenever possible and argue just to hear your own voice.

5. If numbers 1-4 fails to get the conversation back under your control, remember that you left your stove on, that you must be home in time for a critical illness your Grandma is about to have, or that you have an urgent reason for sympathy you need which trumps whatever the other person is saying. By all means,interrupt!

6. Be a bottomless pit for sympathy by constantly having a problem that is urgent and trumps anything they may want, be it help, relaxation, or just to have a fun time or pleasant conversation.

7. If items 1-6 fail, blame the other person in a dramatic display. Make it your mission to contribute more drama to the world than Broadway, London, and the Internets combined. I mean Reality Show level drama. Also, this includes blaming the other person, calling them selfish, and telling them they aren't a good listener or are selfish for not complying and fulfilling all of your needs regardless of the fact they most likely never agreed to.

I'm guilty of all 7 at times, but not so often that I can't laugh about it.

Certification I Believe In!

Testy Redhead — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:37:00 GMT

All that matters is who really can vouch for you.

For those of you not well versed in Scottish-American relations, we don't speak the same English. You see, I come from "Seadduhl" according to me and "See-ah-ttle" according to Gordon. Therefore for many years honest enforcement for the pronunciation of the letter "T" and many other amazing feats, including eating some recipes that would gag a maggot seen in print, I issued my one certification ever. One other tip, when working with the UK in addition to extra letters "u" try to not ask people about their "Pants" or brag that you've purchased lots of new pants. This is the same as bragging about your underwear and not always appropriate. Lessons learned. Therefore I now specify my overpants a.k.a. trousers if appropriate.

This is the type of certification that matters. It's trust. I would recommend Gordon as a developer for Java and iPhone apps on pain of immediate dismissal of my job if there was a problem. That's how much I believe in him. Do any other certifications come close? What do you want when you are asking for a tester? Someone you KNOW WILL do the job and have long term value or someone who can do the job and you have no idea if they will? Think about it.

A real test day with a surreal lunch with Jon Bach

Testy Redhead — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:59:00 GMT

This morning when I left for work I was pretty excited about Jon Bach coming to speak at Adobe! I'd seen him speak before and I like both his message and presentation style. I'd also had to miss this talk at PNSQC because of a conflict when I was moderating. Also on my mind was the performance tests I'd run overnight. My scripts have been back and forth and they just aren't ideal for exactly what I want to do, so I'm in a sort of half automated stupor with way too much human interaction on the part of collecting results. The problem is, to improve it I need time to improve the script which interrupts me doing the test and getting results so I continue to do this lame half-automated jig of woe.

I got to work despite an accident pretty reasonably early and was able to start compiling all that had happened to my tests overnight. This time I'd overshot the 8 hour target by a mere 2.75 hours, so not as bad as being 50% short on the estimated amount to send the night before. I mind numbingly entered data into an email categorizing crap for about 40 minutes. In fact, I was so intent in my focus that I missed Jon's call and didn't know he was there yet until the work phone rang louder and he was in the lobby. I save my accounting woe and get all jazzed to do what I really love to do! I really like to do things that I think will help other testers think about their testing in a different way. Jon's talk had about 70 people total, which considering the time zone difference from many of the testers was great! That reminds me, I'll send out the recording.

Lunch was great fun for me to get to talk to Jon about his experience with wanting to end well. I've gotten so much flack from people for staying in a job when I have an end date and I don't really understand why. This has been a huge part of my life for 10 years and I still care. Also, I haven't figured out my next right step. I'm actually working on my next right step all of the time. Jon is the first person who really "gets" why I want to end well. You don't work 10 years at a place you love and poison the well on your way out. It just isn't in me. The company has simply been too good to me for too many years.

So what is it about Jon that makes him great? He doesn't lead with just being smart. He's a good person first. He understands these concepts and forces that drive people like loyalty, teams, human interactions. Ok, this is going to get me so flamed, but here it goes. Lots of straight guys in testing have this emotional void that makes them kind of blind to everything that isn't logical. It isn't that they don't have feelings about their work, it's that it doesn't occur to them that other people do and it isn't mental. Hearing Jon talk about ending well in a situation where he KNEW his job was ending and being proud of ending well made me feel far more ok about whatever is next for me.

So, here I am talking about checkpoint 5 on my search, and 4 and 6 already happened. This week was huge, and I'll share this. The script I fought with this entire sprint? Well it was my first code reviewed python script and all the feedback I got was constructive. I'll admit, I read half of the suggestion excitedly nodding and the other half with a bewildered expression. You put what WHERE and how does THAT work? It's simply beyond my current knowledge. So I did what any good context driven tester would do and I asked if I can stop by and ask about how that is done in person. I'll do some research this weekend so I'm informed, and the pairing could make my script run much faster. Instead of 78 external calls to delete metadata to my build database I'll only need 3 per build. Imagine the time savings with nights I run 160+ builds through my test? So, on the topic of a normal test day and ending well, with very hard work our sprint ended today. We went from my test passing only 60% to 100% in the course of a week and I'm more confident in the stability under pressure of this release than the last sprint as a result.

This test sprint involved me flaking on lunch, eating 4 day old pad thai cold at my desk for dinner one night, making Craig so mad that I'm going to take him to dinner to avoid being dumped, not seeing friends for a week, and limited sleep sometimes. I tweeted today that agile is making the same mistakes faster so you can have the same end of milestone crap more often, but that was just this sprint. The best thing it offers is the chance to try again. I am not sure how other people handle the overhead of running tests, finding bugs, and verifying bugs in a product backlog but these were just not estimated out in a reasonable way.

I have more to say about Jon Bach but not mixed in with the ramblings of what I really do at work.

Meeting with my Technical Idol-Harry Robinson

Testy Redhead — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:37:00 GMT

When I mentioned to a friend that I emailed Harry Robinson and asked if I could come see some of his test automation, they were teasing me because I'm so blunt I just ask to stop by. He was cool enough to say yes. I headed to see him last week in his awesome non-sunlight facing office and guess what? You get to join me for the summary, much like the mouse in my pocket who talks to me about coding.

So, enough about mice and on to Harry. Why is he my technical hero? He is the smartest developer I've ever met who is a tester first. Developers in test are a dime a dozen. Testers who can code well are rare. Harry is not about automation that sucks or trying to automate a bunch of silly blackbox test cases step by step so they become a headache to maintain over time. He's about figuring out the rules that apply and making automation that can separate interesting to look into from unlikely to be interesting to look at. His approach to test automation is why I went to see him.

What he is making is really remarkable to me in that it isn't much code total. It is asking the question "Does the result match this rule?" His talent is in making the rule simple and not making a big mess. If more test automation worked this way more of it would have good ROI. He showed me some cool stuff the Bing quality team is working on. Solutions to specific well defined testing problems is what Harry offers that no one else is even considering in most cases.

So I stayed and stayed and stayed even longer. I kept chatting with him and he asked me some super hard questions to see if I could guess. Well, sometimes I guessed right, sometimes I didn't, but I played along anyways. I learned some interesting things.

Did I learn just about test automation? No. The reason I stayed so long is our talk was getting much better. Here's what I cared about. I cared that he talked to me like a person. He told me true real stories. He showed me something about how to be resilient and I've never needed it more than I do right now, wandering around talking to people for the first time slightly lost. I've NEVER heard NO from a job I really wanted. I'm not brave enough to ask. His advice is to just try stuff. Do the next thing and go from there. Learn something new, try something unexpected and get some perspective.

The reason he is a tester first? He talked about a complicated engineering project the testers are doing that he's not sure relates to testing. It's solving a development problem. He wants to solve test problems. We don't agree on this issue because I feel if you hire people who even say they are a developer FIRST in test (second) you can't expect them to want to stay in test forever and they deserve the autonomy to grow by blurring the lines between developer and tester just as I'm going to constantly try to collaborate, bring ideas in, get people talking, pairing, and get testing started. I'm willing to pay the price to do it, even though it doesn't neatly fit into the testing bucket. Is that testing?

I haven't been blogging and I'm woefully absent from most places you might expect me lately. I'm giving all of my energy to a project that is ultimately ending before long. On these silly days when I do my best to do what is needful for this project I'm on having the chance to talk with someone I admire was great for me.

Craig stopped by and was ready to go. I knew he was, but you see, there is something I see in Harry that is just like me. He's driven. He's there to prove a point and he's going to do whatever he can or drop over trying to make quality the difference. You don't pay to get that. You either have that fight when you are bouncing back or you don't. What of those who ask me, "What if it isn't a fight? What if it is a dance?" All I have to say to that is "NOT a tester, huh?" I'm just glad to have had a bit of his time and the next time he's speaking I hope that I don't end up with unexpected surgery! I plan to go see him talk.

After a great chat, I left, way more than an hour after Craig was ready to go, being very impatient with my antics and saying that as nice as it was for Harry to see me, he feels he's the only one who should be that contrary with me. Well, let's just hope he never sits in on a conversation with James Bach or he'll be really worried about me in this "testing" stuff.

Craig is not driven in the same way that I am, although he is creative and focused. He doesn't work to live. He doesn't make it personal. To him, it's business. He does a great job he's proud of and he goes home to our kitties, to me, and he's happy with a balanced life. Why I need 3 hours when 1 hr would be fine to him is confusing. Why I speak 7 times and go to 5 conferences instead of 1, I'm not sure he'll get. Why I work to the point of exhaustion and beyond? I don't know. Because I'm like Harry sometimes. I have something to prove and sometimes I'm a contrarian even though that isn't a word. I hope that next year I'll slow down, but until then I'm seeking something. I hope to tell you that I find it. Checkpoint 1, 2, and 3 are reached. I'll let you know about checkpoints 4 and 5 later this week. This may be the strangest time in my life so far. I really, truly, have no idea what I want to happen.

I want to be one day as much an innovator in testing as Harry, but I can't be him. My talents are elsewhere. Part of what makes him great is his ability to understand and explain what he does, and be proud of that even in the face of significant obstacles. In my opinion, in some cases even to remain productive in the face of betrayal and malice. That to me is strength and I hope he is proud of it if he ever reads this and doesn't think it is rude of me to speak of why I admire him. He's got something in focus that I think helps testers. He is true to testing however cool his automation is.

First Magazine Article by Lanette Creamer is published!

Testy Redhead — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:12:00 GMT

My first magazine article is posted in the January issue of STP Magazine at http://www.stpcollaborative.com/knowledge/544-9-tips-to-encourage-collaborative-testing. The article is 9 Tips to Encourage Collaborative Testing!

The issue is amazing and the theme is Women of Influence in Software Testing with so many great articles. I'm one of the contributing authors. Thank you to all of you who've encouraged me and helped me to work on my writing and testing ideas. It feels great to have a published article in a magazine!

The Condensed Story of my Life

Testy Redhead — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:45:00 GMT

It occurred to me that while it is personal, it might help to know my back story to put some of my quirks into context. This has some to do with testing eventually, but for more to do with me.

I was born in Washington State to a married couple who had a 16 month old daughter. Before I was even born the first thing said about me was, "The baby has red hair! We don't know if it's a girl or boy yet." After that the jokes began as I stood out next to my entirely brunette family. When my brother was born a few years later, his hair was red too, although it's faded out to more auburn over time. There is no doubt about who my father is, since I have his nose and feet. My parents remained married until I was 18 years old. Most of my childhood my father worked for Boeing and my mom stayed at home with the 3 children until we were all in school. We were part of a religion who called themselves "the Truth". You might have seen them in your town. The woman are visually noticeable as they wear no makeup, hair up in buns (you can't cut your hair), and dresses, much like little house on the prairie. TV and Movies weren't allowed. Church was in the morning and evening every Sunday, bible study one week night per week, and intense conventions in the summer with up to 6 hours of "meetings" per day, with one long weekend on "special meetings" in the winter. Christmas and Easter weren't celebrated openly if at all, but because my Grandma was Catholic, we celebrated both, just not with a tree nor did we flaunt it to the other members of "The Truth".

Because of this environment I read for entertainment growing up. In fact, I read most of the books for children and young adults in the Sumner library by the time I was twelve years old. I read much faster than most people can because words are the format I'm used to digesting. My father, along with many of the other men in this faith, had some major problems sticking the to rules. He drank, had drinking binges and yelling binges and a few other habits in conflict with the religion and family life in general. My sister reacted by becoming more confrontational with my Dad. I reacted by smoothing things over and creating peace, often a pretty unsustainable peace, but it would work until the next time human nature and the rules of religion came to a head. I can usually find some level of comfort and positivity even in a pretty hostile environment because I have practice. This is part of why things that might devastate another person aren't so bad for me. However, if I feel tricked or set up for failure, I don't do well. I also don't accept people yelling at me. I will leave if it happens and come back later. I've spent enough hours in my life in that situation, so I'm pretty firm about what I accept and what I don't accept in terms of how other people treat me.

My Mom is the best woman in the world. Not just to me, but she's loving and nurturing to many. If you ever met her it is impossible to deny her goodness. She's a middle school teacher and she can see the best qualities in everyone. When you talk to her you leave feeling heard, understood, encouraged, and comforted. She is generous, smart, hilarious, tolerant, patient, creative, resourceful, and radiates positivity. She is talented at everything she tries, from baking cakes and sewing, to graduating with a 4.0 and her master's degree while raising 3 kids. My Dad on the other hand was a bit of a trouble maker. Charming with strangers, his erratic behavior, temper, and drinking binges made it tense to live with him. He tended to comment about females based on appearance only. To this day it troubles me when someone has the attitude that anyone has value only as a visual object. On the plus side, my Dad never missed a day of work. His work ethic was one thing he shared with all of his kids. He also loved us and supported us in all that we wanted to do, be it my brother's sports or being at every play and choir concert I ever performed in. While not perfect, the love and involvement of a father is not a given, and I know I'm lucky to have that. I have never doubted that my father loves me, and that is a great gift. After working for 30 years at Boeing my Dad left on disability. After moving to New Mexico with my Step Mom he got far worse with his dementia and now is unable to travel. He still knows who his kids are, but has such serious problems with dementia that he gets quite confused easily. I have not told him about my job transition at all. The last time I tried to tell him bad news was last year. I told him that unfortunately our cat had passed away and he replied, "That's awesome." He didn't mean that badly, he we simply confused by it. So, to summarize, my Dad was an interesting character, but the person he is now is not the person I knew before.

Things were going along in my life about as expected during my childhood. I was an excellent student and an active Church member. As part of Church Convention each person does some chores to help the larger group. When I was about 12 years old at Church convention I wanted to be a dish washer. The main reason was I was interested in the machinery. I have a strange fascination and some talent with machines. I was refused and told that as a girl I'd serve water at meals and if good enough would then poor coffee and tea. That's just what the girls did. The machines were dangerous and I wouldn't like the work anyhow as it was too hot. I knew that this was wrong. I knew that this was life limiting for me, and I quit the church. I brought up the contradictions, the petty gossip, the many reasons why I didn't believe in this religion, and one by one my family left. The final straw for my Mom was someone saw her after gardening at the store in jeans and came to ask her about her wavering faith. This was the day after my Dad had been out all night at the bar, and her raising 3 kids on her own. They came not to ask her how she was coping, if she needed help, but why she wasn't keeping up appearances.

I spent some years being angry and insisting that because that religion was harmful to me and my family that God didn't exist for me, or if he did I didn't want to know about it. I no longer feel that way. I believe in God, and in a joyous and comforting way that I experience, not in a way that has any fear or threat to it. I do not find God in a building or companionship with others or even in the bible. I find God in nature, and when I silence my mind. I believe without proof for no reason that I'm loved and that all the beauty on earth was created for us. I do not need anyone else to agree or disagree. I simply have my own beliefs and respect the beliefs (or lack of them) that others have. I don't like to argue about religion. I have my own faith that I enjoy and accept whatever others believe.

When I was 13, almost overnight I was fully grown. I mean huge and towering over all other kids in my Jr. High. I was as tall as I am now and heavier. Not to mention with my long bright red hair I already stood out. I hated this and dyed my hair brown with blonde streaks for awhile and tried to fit in. I was a good student, so I tried to rely on that. Still was tormented from many classmates. At that point I decided I couldn't fit in, so I was at least going to be interesting. I shaved half of my head and bleached my hair entirely with a striped rat tail down the back. I then used as much Aquanet as possible to have giant flock of seagulls hair. I smoked. I went to drinking parties with high school kids. My grades were slipping because I didn't go to school much. I thought about dropping out. The more my parents made me go to the Sunday meetings, the more leather and makeup I wore to dissuade them from asking me to go.

In High School I was just about to give up, get a GED, and head to college, but I found drama. I tried out for a play, and from that point on my school career had purpose. I graduated with honors and the national school choral directors award, and was voted "most unique" in my senior yearbook because i found choir and drama.

I decided that to honor breaking free of being a barefoot House on the Prairie looking religious member that I was going to become an auto mechanic instead. I started attending a course at my Community college. The first semester I learned brakes and Arch Welding. I was good at welding and enjoyed it. I lacked the tools and know how for the car repair, but still passed. It would take about $20k in tools to get started as an auto mechanic, and I wasn't loving the other people I worked with as much as I'd hoped. For that reason I changed and picked up the AA degree. I fell in love with "Computer Multimedia" and became an art student. I studied graphic design and worked to try to support myself at the same time. I ended up leaving the design program. The primary reason was I didn't enjoy creating art on a budget with requirements from someone else. What I really loved was using the design software. Oddly enough, that is more what Graphic Design is now, but at the time I was in school we were still using light tables and T-Squares for many of the projects.

How does this relate to now? Well, I still love reading books and using design software. I'm sensitive about gender bias issues and want to be valued for my capabilities and my mind. I don't like being controlled. Socially, financially, my writing, my thoughts, verbally, I value freedom. Sometimes you will find I'm willing to sacrifice security for freedom. I believe that security is an illusion but loss of freedom isn't. That said, I don't want to abuse my freedom unfairly. Finding peace coming from my background is strange. I have joy in the smallest of freedoms that I was born to be denied, be it my lip gloss collection or one glass of red wine or putting up Christmas lights. I was born into puritanical expectations where I'd quietly learn to smile while stabbing a fork into the back of my hand without a bit of makeup humbly reading my worn bible. On the other side I long for the pure goodness and trustworthiness that the religion aspired for without any of the human downsides.

We all have our history and it is up to us to define who we are going to be. We do that with how we react and grow over the years.

Respectful Discourse Followup

Testy Redhead — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:59:00 GMT

Why does this matter?
This matters to me because when I envision the future of software testing I see intelligent people who are able to discuss the pros and cons of ideas they are passionate about in a way that doesn't alienate and exhaust those who are trying to follow it and learn from it. It also matters to me because in the last three years I've seen females leave the software industry. At the same time, I've seen some people stop sharing testing ideas entirely because they are tired of the negativity and constant bickering. Software testing is a young profession still and while some of the culture is already defined, some of it is being created and changing at this very moment. To see it become more cut throat, less tolerant, and more "male" in character is something I oppose. It matters to me because the users of software are becoming more and more diverse while the group who have employment in testing software is becoming less diverse. I fear a world where all software is designed, created, and tested by men from a few countries with a tiny minority of token women thrown in. I'd like to see the group of possible professional testers be a subset of those with the talent and interest as wide as the group of possible users we target.

It isn't just the lack of diversity of origin that I fear, but the lack of diversity in ideas. When new and unfinished ideas are nipped in the bud rather than explored collaboration isn't possible and often innovation is snuffed out before it can begin. I wrote an entire blog about my strange upbringing which may shed some light on why I am so touchy about gender bias and diversity. I feel that the ability to have respectful discourse when it is agreed upon by both parties can help software testing grow as a profession and can also create a safe sandbox to test out new ideas for some testers who are just getting started. I'd like to create a safe place for people to explore their own ideas and learn without fear of personal attack so that you can try ideas on without making it your "final answer".

And where does this suggested protocol come from?
This suggested protocol comes from my observations of the past several years and it is my opinion. It is more than just my opinion though. It is also what I see working to keep debate on topic and respectful. There are other types of discourse, but I think that respectful discourse is especially useful. Disrespectful online drama will gather a large crowd, but the difference between an audience and a mob is intent and purpose. If site visitors are the goal, by all means, tear someone to shreds and gawkers will come out of the woodwork to watch the carnage. The problem is, who is going to step up for discourse the next time? What kind of person are they? How good are their ideas?

I want as large a pool of testers to exchange ideas with as possible for collaboration. That is where these suggestions come from. The list is intended to be a start for other people to add to, but I hope it can help more "point/counterpoint" discussions to happen.

What exactly is name dropping?
Name dropping is not just using a name in conversation. If you quote someone else and it applies to the point you are making, that is not name dropping. Name dropping is trying to bolster your own importance or credibility by hiding behind a name, or mentioning a name to impress someone.

One common example that drives me crazy is when a tester says, "The proper way to prioritize test cases is from priority zero to five with these exact meanings because that is how we do it at Microsoft." Hiding behind the name or a certification, or an organization is weak content in most discourse and I'd like to see that sort of content regularly omitted. It is harmful to quality discourse in my opinion, which is why I bring it up as content to avoid. It is disrespectful because it is weak, not because it is offensive.

Name dropping: "Next week when I'm having dinner with Bill Gates your petty testing idea will be the last thing on my mind."
With a name, but NOT name dropping: "I consider myself a skeptic in the mold of Pyrrho." This is descriptive. You aren't hiding behind that name or bolstering your credibility with it. You are trying to describe an aspect of your personality.

Oneupmanship
What exactly is wrong with using words like "regardless?" I don't see that as one-upmanship. I see that as using words of the English language to communicate.

Nothing is wrong with these words by themselves. My suggestion should be more specific. What I mean to say here is that these words can be used in a dismissive way and they can make your tone seem egotistical and arrogant when overused. It's the subtext of "You are stupid and I'm not listening", "I am better and smarter than you are and you are an idiot", or "What you say and think doesn't matter" that is the problem. I think an example would help explain.

Normal Use of both regardless, whatever, and actually:
Tester A Says: "Performance is undervalued and should have a higher priority than it currently does."
Tester B Says: "Regardless of the performance of the application, whatever the testing results actually are have to be communicated well so that the user impact is understood.

Oneupmanship using the same words (with a few other ego problems thrown in):
Tester A Says: "Performance is undervalued and should have a higher priority than it currently does."
Tester B Says: "Whatever. Actually, at Sprockets, Inc we need to hit our milestone. Here in the real world we've got deadlines."
Tester A Says: "That could harm the reputation of your software. Don't you have ethical concerns?"
Tester B Says: "Regardless, we're the number one Sprocket company out there, so we don't need to do more."

Capital Letters
Why advise us not to use capital letters? Why not instead advise people not to lose their s*** when THEY see capitals?
Because people who are uncomfortable around yelling and find it unsafe will not be able to do that. Fear is not rational. It is much easier to avoid triggering the feeling of being attacked than it is to suppress that feeling once it is invoked. If you want to see how people react to being pushed or when they feel attacked, your intention is for a different kind of discourse, one that I wouldn't consider in the category of respectful unless they consent to it. Sparring is only fun if you feel safe in it and have established some trust first. Otherwise it isn't sparring on both sides.

Also, consider that some of us simply hate lots of noise. One example is at Christmas one of the adults got a new RC Helicopter and he was having a blast flying it indoors. The dogs went wild and were running into things and barking and everyone was talking and I wanted to flee. I didn't care that it was good natured, I wanted it to stop and pretty much I wanted them all to die I was so frustrated. It wasn't fun to me. Do I begrudge dogs playing? Do I hate RC Helicopters? Am I a Grinch? Not at all. I just think loud barking out of control dogs and flying items in the middle of a holiday discussion is annoying and inappropriate in the house. I want to opt out of that. Also, I think it is rude of him to get the dogs all riled up inside the house, so I think him putting his comfort and desire in front of the well being of the larger group was inconsiderate. So, if capital letters are part of the agreed on culture, there is no problem with that, but it will change the audience from a comfortable conversation to lookie lous staring at the side of a car accident. It depends on what kind of audience you are going for.

Here's my effort to people like me who get annoyed by yelling: If you find yourself regularly feeling victimized you may want to do some work to figure out why. Conflict avoidance causes far more important missed opportunities than just the ability to discuss your ideas with a wider range of people. There are way more important reasons to delve into this than I can list in my blog, but consider staying and debating even with the fear and uncomfortable feelings if you can. I can tolerate much more than I used to. I just find it draining. It takes energy that I could use to do something else, so I will when it is worthwhile, but there has to be a good reason. Also, I know my limits. I can tolerate it, but I don't enjoy it.

So, to summarize the reason why I advise you not to use capital letters is because of human nature. People remember how you made them feel more than anything else. They don't remember what you said, what you did, or what you wore. They remember how they felt. This isn't true for everyone, but it is true for most of us. Women in particular may not remember what they had for breakfast, but they remember 10 years ago the smallest detail about an event with emotional resonance. This is why great speeches have little to do with logic and lots to do with human psychology and motivation. When I want to get to know someone I often ask them about the best and worst day of their life so far, because people nearly always can remember in detail.

Also, this focus on feelings has two sides to it. I don't care much what other people think of me, but I care very much how I make them feel. For example, James Bach, who asked me these questions is pretty much my hero in software testing. One reason is because his enthusiasm gives me courage to try new things, like this blog for example. I've stretched my abilities and continue to try teach myself because of his seminar on self-education. It would be acceptable if he disagreed with me or felt I was going backwards in professional maturity sometimes. I make mistakes and I'm also not as smart as he is. However, If I made him feel disrespected and unappreciated? That would really bother me.

That goes for the people who read my blog too. If you disagree I invite you to comment and to email me. If you think my ideas are silly and won't work, that is also not a problem. If I make you feel disrespected and discourage you from voicing your own ideas though? I would hate that. Your feelings matter to me more than your opinion.

Respectful Discourse

Testy Redhead — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:03:00 GMT

Is it possible to have a passionate disagreement respectfully in any medium? This is not a post like the last one where I just say no. Some forms of communication are more difficult than others. Face to face it is easier to have a respectful debate than it is online, and debating online in public is even more difficult. Not only do you have the lack of body language and vocal tone, but a subtle gang mentality can come into play as can "losing face", "public humiliation", and the peanut gallery of sycophants can make a normally rational person behave in ways they usually would avoid.

Here are some loose suggestions to try when you are attempting to have an online discussion with the main goal of exploring a point of mutual interest. There are some cases where the topic isn't the point, such as a display of ego or an attempt to discredit or silence another. In those cases respectful discourse is unlikely and these suggestions won't help much.

Content
In respectful disagreement personal attacks are not acceptable in most circles. Avoiding cursing, name calling, and threats is usually better for the conversation. It can have legal implications to do otherwise in extreme cases! All repercussions aside, anger trumps logic. If you or those you wish to communicate with are too filled with anger even the best debate will be wasted.

A few more subtle types of content that may undermine your message are using CAPS which is yelling online to most people, or using terms of oneupmanship, like "actually", "whatever", "regardless". Sarcasm is risky and if a topic is heated, it may cost you a joke, but it is worth the price if you are seen as a bully.

Namedropping is also a weak form of content to most of us. "Well it was good enough for Harvard!", or "It's not Rocket Science." "Cem Kaner once thought my idea was brilliant, so who are you?"

So, in addition to this "let's be nice" stuff, how about not being a total wuss. If you are asked an on topic question, quit whining about your feelings and answer it. If you get feedback that you don't like, consider it and respond how best works. How you respond to critics is part of what defines you. Those who decline all character defining moments become weaker over time. More than that, they become dull and complacent. Being boring is a far worse crime than being a jerk. Think about that for a moment before sending me scathing comments (which I will consider respectfully and respond to when calm).

Most importantly, be on topic and insist on bringing the conversation back to the topic if respectful discourse is your intent. Your conversation be more likely to be productive, but as an added bonus others can follow it and find it again. They can even contribute their own thoughts.

One last thought on content, be aware of what is shared in confidence and do not share in public what was meant just for you. When in doubt, ask first before going public with what someone said or did. It is always possible to share something more broadly later, but going to other direction isn't possible, as many regretful starlets have found out in recent years. It is indeed an awful feeling to have overshared in your enthusiasm only to find out you breeched the trust of someone who's respect mattered to you. I speak from recent experience on this. I don't mean a wardrobe malfunction or anything, but I shared something in email earlier than I should have about a conference. I was able to make amends, but still, check first when in doubt if trust is on the line.

Pace
When having a face to face conversation, unless you are on the Jerry Springer show, generally there is turn based discussion. Listening is a rare and underrated skill in all formats, but in any online format, all bets are off! You can't even count on turns. In fact, unless you block another person there is literally no way to forbid them from responding, and even then they can publically say whatever they like. It may seem rude at first when you are trying to answer a question that someone asked to get 3 followup questions before you can respond, but as the reader it can help to simply assume good intent, read all of the questions as one lump question, and answer them all at one time.

As the writer, try to wait for an answer if you ask a question, and also when possible, if a person tells you that they aren't finished, for example by typing 1/2, or - at the end of a tweet or IM, wait for the second part before responding. This shows that you are listening and reading what they are saying rather than talking "at" them.

Even if you disagree with most of what they are saying, if you can find some common ground and rather than simply restating your point, respond to some of the points they make, the conversation will be more productive for both sides.

It should be perfectly acceptable to take a break, or even to think further on something so long as you let the other person know. The key here is to tell the person. Obviously debate isn't the only thing in our life, so if you need to go to dinner, get some rest, or even just think more on what you've learned, so long as you let the other person know when you plan to answer their question, it should be fine to take a break. In fact, if you are getting too emotional to have a productive conversation, I'd recommend taking a 10 minute walk and just let the other person know so they aren't left hanging.

Purpose
Lastly, if your debate has gone off track, it is acceptable to ask what the purpose of the conversation is. If you don't remember, maybe it's time to end the discussion. While being wrong on the internet is a little bit annoying, being boring is far less forgivable. Please at least meet the bottom line of having a point, or opt for silence. I know it may be too much to ask, but I'll try my best to ask nicely. Please kindly have a purpose and a point you care about. If you don't care enough to hear the answer, don't ask the question.

Other People
It is hardly a fair fight when many people gang up on one, but let's face it, that is the more common dynamic online than a one on one spar or debate. It's a full out battle royale between many people and once again our best intentions to keep the debate productive can easily devolve into name calling and childish lunchroom behavior, like shunning, defriending, threats, and name calling. I urge you to consider this aspect and wait 24 hours before defriending, escalating, flouncing (this is where you leave a forum with a petty note about why), or blocking anyone. If you rationally decide to take those actions, fine, perfectly normal. If you are doing so in the heat of debate, think about what you are saying. You are saying that you can't keep it productive and it has become personal.

Will this even matter?
Even if you are the only person following any rules of engagement, you can walk away proud of your decisions and having done no harm to the respectful discourse on the topic, in fact, you've done all that you can to ensure lively discussion can flourish even in public online forums.

Can you test an application completely?

Testy Redhead — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:25:00 GMT

No.

The Holiday Season Approaches

Testy Redhead — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:21:00 GMT

This post is really personal, but I hope you understand why I share it. It is about my attitude and it is about learning how to work through it when there are some obstacles. If you hate long personal stories, please read just the summary.

Summary: Experience is a personal choice. There is no reason that testing obstacles have to bring you down. Approach them with optimism and rely on others and you'll make it through.

I've had a crappy attitude about the holidays this year. I even told my Mom I wanted to check it off the task list and just put it behind me. I felt justified for the following reasons, but I realized those reasons were just me being afraid. I'm going to enjoy this season to the fullest!

My Fears

I'm being laid off so money isn't so certain.
I've canceled my trip to Peru to see Machu Picchu, on my life's to do list.
My Mom had a heart attack this year and yet I'm not spending xmas with her.
My Dad's dementia is so bad that he asked me not to send him a gift because it confuses him. He just wants a card.
My Sister's MS is worse than ever and she's had to get a handicapped parking permit and a cane.
Craig's Mom has Leukemia and is worn out.
I am behind in all tasks and hurting because I got the flu and after that shingles which is agonizing!
Because I'm normally in nerve pain I didn't realize how bad the nerve pain was, so I waited too long to get help and really suffered more than was needed with it.
Another year is ending and I don't feel like celebrating that I have no children of my own and so I fill up stockings for my cats and sing them carols.

The Truth

I have warning, a financial cushion and time to find a wonderful new job.
I will travel to at least three different places this year starting with Portland next week to see family.
My Mom is healthy and cooking dinner for us on Sunday. I get to see her often as she lives near.
My Dad still knows who I am and I get to remind him of the time he took me down the Pacific Coast on his motorcycle.
My sister is going to 3 plays with me. If we hate our seating we're getting priority spaces! She's been struggling and now she will get some help so she can enjoy fun things with family and friends.
Craig's Mom is going to celebrate with us! We can take her out to see lights and cheer her. We got her a present she'll love.
I'm healthier now and appreciate not being in pain. Next time I'll get help sooner if needed.
I love my home, my cats, and I have a partner who adores me in a stable relationship with trust and true affection.
I have dear friends who care about me and even knowing my faults still want to be my friend. I may not have what is traditionally considered my own family, but families you choose still matter.

Yesterday I was a bit sad as I went to our team potluck. When I started at Adobe there were huge fancy holiday parties where everyone got dressed up and they were very swanky. I believe 2001 was the last year of that.Then they would give out an annual holiday gift and we had a "site party" which would be still located on site. This year we decorated a bit with some lights that belonged to a coworker who is no longer with the company and the meal was fantastic, mostly a potluck. I enjoyed it, but as I went it was hard knowing that after a decade this was my last year. I tried not to think about saying goodbye, but this was the last time. I'm sentimental and this isn't just saying goodbye to 2009, it is wrapping up a large part of my life. It is trying to do so with dignity and style that I may approach the New Year feeling ready and excited.

What are the holiday gifts about? Winter Solstice has brought about human celebration rituals for all of known human history. In the shortest darkest months all rituals have in common gathering together,feasting, and light. The symbolic meaning of all of these rituals is to say several common things.

We will make it through this dark winter and survive together.
I am here to comfort, protect, and keep you warm.
We will consume, celebrate, burn and light, reflect, and renew together.
We will sing, dance, and remember this time, for in the darkest night we are surviving to begin anew

This time of year is really about saying goodbye to 2009. I think if I can say goodbye with some grace I can welcome 2010 with hopeful enthusiasm. Let's wrap this year up like a gift. It can be tolerated or it can be celebrated. The choice is ours.

Honorable Mention

Testy Redhead — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:57:00 GMT

James Bach in an interview said many interesting things, and he mentions ME as someone to watch. Read it at http://blog.utest.com/testing-the-limits-with-james-bach-part-1/2009/12/.

Those of you who have looked far enough back will know that this blog was started as a result of the best training I've ever taken to date. It was a one day seminar at CAST 2007-Self Education for Testers by James Bach. It inspired me to share my testing ideas

My name is not the only thing I read and noticed about that link, although I did of course respond with "Hooray!" Other things that made me want to stand up and cheer:

Well of course! I’ve been a hiring manager, and the idea that hiring managers are zombies who only look at paper credentials is wrong. SOME managers do that, but you don’t really want to work for someone like,do you?

For me phase 1 was just having the courage to talk about testing publicly. Now that someone I respect so much believes I have potential, phase 2 is to learn more and be better, to contribute value to the profession of software testing.

About Gender Preference

Testy Redhead — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:51:00 GMT

This post isn't about bias, but it is about something far less insidious. What if you just prefer what feels familiar to you or what is easier to read or you relate to naturally more?

I've had some interactions with some wonderful people lately, some of whom I respect deeply that made me wonder. I know that none of them consider themselves to have any gender bias or even preference. First was a minor argument with Craig in the kitchen after work. I was cooking us dinner and he came in to ask about my day. I told him that our wedding rehearsal was like dragging a drunk stranger to a Las Vegas chapel and having the Elvis minister not show up. He responded, "You know I don't like all of the metaphors. Just tell me what happened?" I was quite upset by this. I told him if he doesn't like talking to me that he doesn't like ME and that he was just rude and I don't get pissed and tell him to stop being so boring and literal when he tells me about his day. I don't insist he tantalize my mind a little. My metaphor took under 30 seconds while I was cooking for us, so really? He would begrudge me a metaphor? Well, it isn't about the metaphor, but I'll get to that.

Some of my favorite male writers have had me thinking lately. I've checked their blog rolls and the list of books they are reading and recommending. Not a single female writer among them. It isn't that I think they are at all biased, because I don't. They simply prefer the writing style of males. Well, also, there is less content to choose from that is topical and well written from females at this point, so I'm not trying to be critical, I simply noticed this and have been thinking about it.

The last and worst interaction I had was mentioning the decline of women in software testing in the last 5 years. You'll notice a huge shift of women out of engineering and software testing and into project and program management or even to management where possible. This isn't because women aren't capable of being amazing testers and software developers. It is because the system of rewards has moved towards processes which have a gender preference for measurement. Soft skills have no value in the measurement system and are given no credit. Style is worth nothing and cooperation counts for nothing of use. What can't be measured is thrown out, assumed to be of no value. When I brought this up to one of the women I most respect she asked me, "Have you asked the women how they felt? If they wanted to stay in testing and engineering?" I said that I hadn't because why would that matter? Why would you want to stay feeling undervalued and like you are in a no win situation? By the time the number of women left has dwindled and the number of new women studying and in the trenches has shrunk substantially, it is too late to get valid data by asking them what they want. They want to be appreciated for the skills they have and if the system is set up to prevent that, why would they want to stay? They will simply do something else.

Having been in software testing for ten years my opinion is that it has become a place with gender preference. Not gender bias, because if you act like a man, think like a man, and play the measurement and process game like a man there is no bias there at all. The way that work is valued has moved away from using cooperation, intuition and teamwork and towards using data, individual performance, and stripped down language. In an environment where there are no points for style and beauty the stark white walls are not pleasing to some of us who have a more feminine style. We won't complain much about the environment, what would be the point? Instead we just vote with our feet and pick somewhere we feel more comfortable. I think it's a loss to the whole industry and it takes software backwards.

So, I ask you for something simple. If you haven't thought about your gender preference, pick one book by a female author, or one blog written by a woman, or one song by a female artist and give it a try. Think about how the style may be different from what you are used to. See if it grows on you. Is there one thing you can do to bring some balance back to software as an industry? Those who need to read this most wouldn't be reading my blog. Instead they would be reading a bulleted list, something based more in data. Maybe you could pass along the essence of the message and ask them to consider their balance and try the ideas of just one female in software, maybe just a link to something they might like in the total menu of their data intake.

Good Enough

Testy Redhead — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:37:00 GMT

What's good enough for you
Is good enough for me
It's good enough
It's good enough for me
- Cyndi Lauper, The Goonies R Good Enough

We are the problem with quality. I don't mean software testers. I mean human beings.

My brother in law has talent as a carpenter. When our cat died he whipped up the most beautiful coffin overnight. It is nicer than what many humans are buried in. He created a covered porch on his house that is amazing. However, he doesn't work in carpentry. He would love to build furniture, but you see, I bought all furniture from China when I moved into my home. We really couldn't afford anything hand crafted in our first house having just paid the down payment. We are part of the reason that for fun he does carpentry and his talent isn't used on his job.

Those of us who love software want it to be perfect. We have a vision of the polish and groundbreaking delightful useful things it is going to do. I've been using twitter lately and it fails to load pretty often. I'd say between 4 and 5 times per day it doesn't work. Often I get the "fail whale" which is the cute page showing the site is overloaded. Sometimes it just times out without the whale. Either way, I still use it. Why? It is free and so I don't expect too much reliability.

I also think that some companies are competing against themselves. People don't want to upgrade because what they have is good enough for them. They know and like their older version. Unless something is amazingly different, they don't want the hassle and expense. Companies who are struggling certainly don't want to risk downtime. For example, my graphic designer friend has updated every Creative Suite for years. After 4 layoff rounds, she can neither afford the money, the time, or the learning curve to upgrade again because she's lost so many co-workers. I realize that she is lucky to just have a job right now, but the software she has is certainly good enough for now. Would she like new software? Sure, but it isn't practical right now. I think Office faces the same issue.

I have an online friend who creates beautiful custom corsets. I own two and they are of the highest quality, all original designs and they last. Yet, I bought a corset for a friend and because of the price I bought an inferior one from China, taking work from an artist I respect and admire. Why did I do that? I'm not happy about it. I'd rather have bought her a work of art from Electra Designs and instead gotten her less expensive gifts. I learned from that. I bought my best friend the base price of a corset for her birthday. She added features to it and paid the difference.

Right now price rules. Good enough usually really isn't that good. However, our actions as consumers can help bring quality back one decision at a time. Price is not value. Free is not always better. Who has the power to make quality matter? We do. When we are the customer we get to choose.

So, think about it. Is it good enough for your customer? We may not like the answer. Good enough for their needs may be woefully short of our expectation, or it could be higher. Either way we need to find out what good enough is to them.

I now present the rest of the lyrics with the thought that Goonies never die. Thanks to Cyndi.

Here we are
Hanging onto strains of greed and blues
Break the chain then we break down
Oh it's not real if you don't feel it
Unspoken expectations
Ideals you used to play with
They've finally taken shape for us.

What's good enough for you
Is good enough for me
It's good enough
It's good enough for me
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Now you'll say
You're startin' to feel the push and pull
Of what could be and never can
You mirror me stumblin' through those

Old fashioned superstitions
I find too hard to break
Oh maybe you're out of place

The Perfect Job-Part 1

Testy Redhead — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:43:00 GMT

I have not started looking for a job just yet, but I'll be looking for a job in May of 2010. I have some work I need to finish up here, and I'm learning some new skills at the same time. This blog post is not about what is realistic. This is like an ideal wish list of what you would like to find in a romantic partner which is half movie star, half Messiah and 100% intrigued by your every move. Of course, much like Cheap Trick, I want YOU to want ME, so being into me is very important, but here are things I'm looking for.

1. Pays a livable wage that fit somewhere in the range of appropriate for an experienced and qualified test professional. Also, must have solid stable medical benefits, or be able to purchase my own at an affordable rate.

2. Bus or train accessible or has special commute plans is a plus! I love public transportation and will use it.

3. Software that I am working on is interesting and has potential that I can contribute to. It doesn't have to be great right now, but it must have potential. I perform really well when inspired, and I get inspired when I have a chance to make a difference and contribute to great software.

4. 21st century business approach or is ready for it now. Really does Agile or sincerely intends to and wants me to be a part of it. I mean by that an org that has team rewards and is willing to leave the carrot and stick, command and control ways of the past behind. I want to work for a company where the executive team is really for empowering people and teams and when they do reward people they aren't stuck in the unfounded "we reward individual performance" mind space. For example, what I am looking for is a company that puts their money where they mouth is. They understand http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html and want to move towards it or are already innovating in this space. In short, I'm looking for a company with a good future that I can believe in.

5. Wants balanced employees. By this I don't just mean work/life balance in terms of hours. I volunteer for things. For example, I am the editor of our internal quality newsletter. I do the design, publication, layout, editing, publishing, talking to authors, soliciting articles, gathering images, and troubleshooting the flex interface. I even make the action script buttons and effect for use in flash player. Also, I've worked on our video concepts at each tech summit where we've won a trophy for internal team building. I worked on putting together our quality summit for 500 people including scheduling and making signs and setting up our wiki and coordinating people. I want to work for a company who supports my flexibility and needs it. I want a company who will value that I can switch gears. I'm used to having 3 or 4 jobs at once and I don't mind moving around based on need. I think change is exciting so long as I'm not set up to fail. If everyone agrees on what is first priority, I can switch between tasks well and balance out a pretty big workload. I believe that I have these skills for a good reason and I'm good with them being used, so long as they aren't abused. I guess I want to be stretched to my full capabilities without being spread so thin that I break. I want to be both pushed and protected by a manager. I'm not sure how to put that into words better, but I'd like to be amazing for a company and have them care enough about my ability to continue to perform for them that they won't push so hard that I end up burned out.

6. Has a real career path and promotes from within ~50% of the time or more or aspires to. As a QE lead I'm very proud of the growth of the people on my team. I can help grow a bench, but I don't want to do it for no reason just to have the people leave the company. If there is a real career path for testers and they have opportunity, I can help them reach the goals they set. I can see what is special about the people I work with sometimes when they haven't seen it yet. I think this is because I like other people and have intuition to see what they find exciting.

7. Wants to be connected with ideas in the quality profession and supports me in writing and presenting. When I go to a conference I bring back ideas to share, I write about it, and I love to discuss with others how those ideas might apply. I seek out people to come present at my current company because I feel like the exchange of ideas keeps the company strong and current and it keeps us motivated. I'd like to work somewhere that will see this as value.

8. Trusts their employees when they earn it and offers them some autonomy. I'd like to work somewhere that measures my performance in what I accomplish total as evaluated by a human being. I do not want to enter stupid numbers into a tool to estimate number of hours spent. I want to work with my manager on actual real goals that help the project and as I execute those goals we agree on what my performance is, not a badly designed numerical plan, but judgment from a reasoning human who understands software development.

9. Is sincere about diversity and being a great place to work for a variety of humans. I want to be a part of a company opposes discrimination and values people for their work, ideas, and innovation.

10. Has some python work for me to do. I really like the skills I'm learning and would like to continue working on my python skills. I prefer if I can continue on in this language before shifting to another. This is minor on the wish list.

The Meaning of Team

Testy Redhead — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:09:00 GMT

It isn't the announcements, milestones, or working on the products day to day that I'll miss the most from Adobe. It's moments that crack me up.

Things like the song "Word Up" by Cameo. When I went into Gretchen's office she was playing the song and dancing along. I hadn't been her "lead" for that long, and things had been "serious business" on the project for awhile and quite stressful. I walked in, closed the door and we both danced the rest of the song like nerds. The time both Gretchen and I made the finals for the pinewood derby and seeing her let her nephew take the prize for his part. Gretchen amazes me. Seeing her bloom in confidence has been one of my favorite things in my career and the fact she is staying past this rif is a total moment of pride and happiness. I hope she continues to dance every time that song comes on no matter what pressure the job may bring. I'll still come have lunch with her, likely more often than I get to now. Gretchen came to support me the first time I presented in public, and her support is part of the reason I won Best Paper. She was there supporting me, making sure I couldn't get too terrified to talk. I am so thankful for that.

There is a photo in my office of Tiffany when she was a contractor the first year before I worked on her team. I believe this was from 2002. It's on Halloween and I'm dressed up as "Spanish Fly", so basically a spanish flare ruffled dress and dragonfly wings with bug eye glasses. She is dressed as devil schoolgirl rebel. We were having a great time and both are serious about Halloween and dressing up. She's been a friend for years and I believe we've learned from each other so much. She's the friend who taught me to take a break sometimes and that you can never own too many boots. She is the person who helped me take action and be bold when it was needed. I'm always soft, but sometimes when it is time to be strong or stop accepting excuses, I want to opt out. When bold action and constructive action in need and outrage SHOULD be the response Tiffany doesn't back down and she helps me realize that justified indignation can be a brilliant catalyst for positive change. I'll miss being able to come see her as regularly. Even the fact that she kept the cuddling skeletons I set up for her wedding shower decorations because it delighted her how I brought in their dark sense of humor makes me know that those memories will stay.

It's Chris and his amazing vintage cocktail hour with the authentic ingredients and how much he loves his dogs. His tastes really have changed how I look at the world. I own a purse that costs over $20 because of his encouragement. Relationship advice from Chris goes like this, "Make sure that your spouse knows more about how you feel than anyone else does." Also, "It is wrong to assume that bringing more money into the family means you can put less effort into the relationship. It doesn't work that way." Chris has changed how I view males. He is incredibly emotionally intelligent and sensitive and he sees things that other men overlook, so he's shown me some of the gender bias that I had built up and broken down some assumptions that "all men" are like this or like that. I feel like I see individuals to work with more rather than just "men are like this" or "men are like that". Chris is a very unique guy and I'll miss him. He also is a great person to ask a question about programming because he never ever treats you like an idiot. I believe he sees the potential in new programmers.

I have the flu right now, so now to lay back down and rest, but I just really enjoyed thinking about three team members who have really changed me for the better and these are things that make a team strong.

Agile Wow Moment

Testy Redhead — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:35:00 GMT

One phone call that would not have happened on any of the teams I was on before trying agile has stopped me in my tracks. This is the most important thing about agile so far that I've learned. Agile done right reveals disfunction to the team more quickly. It is easier to identify where the problem is, even if it is YOU!

There is a person I've been shutting out, resenting, and basically unfairly blaming for my frustration who just helped me a ton. A problem that has been blocking my progress for weeks has now been fixed on purpose and more quickly than I could have imagined. I am unblocked by someone on my team who could have helped me weeks ago if I just would have let them.

I'm the collaborative extrovert! How could it be me? How could it possibly be the "bubbly and smiling" one who is causing a problem with teamwork? Well, because I'm human and I make mistakes. In this case, luckily, not terrible unrecoverable mistakes, but like anyone I make snap judgments.

My bad feelings really weren't personal and I didn't even know they were a problem before tonight. The timing of introducing a new team member could not have been worse. Instead of giving a person some slack and ramp-up time in a tough situation I was just being selfish and immature. I wanted NO interaction and no new team members even if we DID need them. I didn't want any change to deal with. The person not being on the team was me. I wanted to be left alone and sulk like a whiny baby pee pants. Well, now I know it, I'm sorry, and starting right now I'm opening up to my team on purpose.

The best part is, instead of just feeling ashamed I feel like now that I know better, I can do better.

The Life Raft

Testy Redhead — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:14:00 GMT

It is Thanksgiving. I was at work until 9pm again trying to get something done for the product. I got upset yesterday and Craig told me that I need to care less. If it still hurts, you care too much. He wonders what I have to prove for a company that is moving on without me. I tried to explain the best I can, and so here it goes.

I love Adobe. Imagine if you were on a beautiful ship with many of your friends. A ship that had taken you far where you'd seen amazing things. In a storm it had taken on water and sustained some damage, and you'd lost a few crew members each storm up to that point. Last year you started taking on water and everyone had been bailing it out as hard as they could, you'd had to set even long term crew into life rafts and wish them well, and in rough seas too! Shivering and cold, but still trying, you've continued on, but nervous and working for many. Eventually the ship still leaking, they prepare you that you will go gently in a life raft with a survival kit and a generous set of supplies as well as an oar. You wish them the best to repair the ship and hope they end up at their intended destination safely.

Also you are preparing for a time in a small life raft. You can hope to be saved. You can row to somewhere else. Either way, until I get into my life raft I am doing all I can for the well being of those I care for on the ship that has taken me so many amazing places. I wasn't the right crew member for this trip, but they decided in an emergency, not at the dock, they had to get people out. I will always care. They do not toss me overboard in a disgusted heap. They kindly have warned me that I'll be going in a life raft with supplies and their blessing when the time comes. Of course I'll pull my weight bailing water, trying to get the ship where it is going, and raising spirits if I can until it is time to climb into my raft and row row row my boat.

I'm bailing water, trying to weld up the holes frantically, preparing with rowing practice, and trying to cheer people as much as I can. Me learn to not care? That isn't going to happen. If it could happen I'd be a person with separate personas for work and life. Perhaps the best and worst thing about me is that I do care.

I may not be on the ship anymore, but I don't risk going down with it either. This wasn't my choice. My team was picked, every one of us working on the team I'm now on with any experience or skill with testing, to get into the life rafts. The boat can't hold us anymore and they think this is the best option for survival. We do it with some honor and dignity and we leave when our turn is up as well as we can, and we hope for the best for all parties involved. What am I going to do? Waste energy kicking and screaming? Nope, that energy is for my rowing. Not interested.

I feel thankful, excited, apprehensive, busy, sometimes relieved, and a little mixed. Yes, I wish the ship was in perfect condition in good weather and I was staying on, but with the leaking and water bailing and riding low in the water? Having a chance to get onto a life raft to row or be rescued sounds nice also. After lots of time with the frantic bailing of water and feeling insecure about the ship I'm on? Having the opportunity for something else and all that I need to survive for a time is an attractive alternative and I'm thankful for it. When you live under dread and apprehension for long enough, your fear happening isn't so bad. I'm so ready to feel better and move forward. I'm also learning now how to work well under contract, where I have a known end date instead of pretending that there is no end date. There is always an end date. Pretending otherwise is silly. In my case, it is simply known. This year I'm thankful for the life raft.

Performant-Please add this word to the dictionary.

Testy Redhead — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:31:00 GMT

Update: If you read this and hated it, please read the followup at www.softwaretestingclub.com/profiles/blogs/words-matter

Well, if "performant" isn't a word, it should be.

Craig (live-in boyfriend and real life developer counterpart) was telling me about a script with for loops 12 levels deep and how getting rid of some of the loops and caching common data gave HUGE performance increases. For that reason, his script is much more "performant".

How many of our test scripts are needlessly slow? How about our build scripts? Why not add in a task, just one day to see if we can make our existing tests more performant. If time is money, why are we wasting money?

Also, what do I need to be more performant? Mostly, right now, I need a shield. I need someone to stand between me and testing creep, the evil cousin of feature creep, who sneaks out near the end of the project and adds tasks to the front of the backlog. Don't be testing creep or feature creep. Be Master Performant!.

Expected Behavior

Testy Redhead — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:42:00 GMT

When writing bugs and adding planned test cases to a database I need to define the expected behavior. This task seems very simple on the surface. The unwritten part of the test case bothers me. What do we NOT expect? Good validation in an automated test case means knowing the answer.

When I add 2 and 2 I expect 4 for the sum. But do I? 2 plus 2 is 5 if I'm adding high values of 2. When I add 2 and negative 2 I expect zero. Also, I expect 4 what? The number 4 to appear. For how long? Where? How quickly should it appear? How much detail will it have? How big is it? What font will it be in? Do I have control over the default? Will it always be the same color?

What do I not expect? I do not expect the calculator to crash. I do not expect the number 4 to flash. I do not expect the number to be partially off of the calculator. I do not expect the battery life to be so low that I can't add twice. I do not expect it to clear out so quickly that I can't see the answer. I do not expect an error message that the format must be 2.000 or 02.00. I do not expect the number to be upside down.

I'll be learning what is expected and what is not expected as I get experience with the system under test. Testing earlier in the development process means I can help the team define what is expected. Last week I worked with the team twice to define how a bug I found would be fixed and the expected behavior changed for the better. Compared to the waterfall projects I've been on in the past, this was really cool! This involvement in defining how the software SHOULD work boosted my morale. I feel good about my team despite my awareness of the expiration date of my work.

Static expected results in planned tests are often a waste of time. Expected behavior is not the "best behavior". It isn't even what the majority of our customers expect. It is our best prediction at thetime we planned the scripted test. I dream of test automation with genius validation which can learn to update it's own expected results. What if "expected behavior" improved itself and updated automatically without tester intervention? Imagine the regression test suites understanding instantly that when run on the Mac OS that they now expect About information under the Apple menu without you coding it. If your tests knew that the system was Japanese, so that string is now the equivalent glyphs instead? It would be powerful for the regression test to understand each environment and teach itself what is expected rather than a tester predicting every behavior that is and is not expected. Screenshot recapture is not needed with UI changes when the automation now expects a new button. The future of UI test automation could be more exciting and maintainable if the expected behavior was dynamic. That would also free us up to make test inputs dynamic.

Expected behavior is dynamic. Unexpected behavior is even more unpredictable. Trying to define it in advance doesn't make much sense. Test planning that defines the point of the test is more useful in practice.

Data Abuse

Testy Redhead — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:42:00 GMT

Consider a study of the effectiveness of pain management methods when in agony from nerve pain based on a survey of friends online at the moment. Please check for yourself. No data was harmed in the making of this chart:

Please note some of the key features: a) No units of measurement for the numbers. 600 whats? What in the world am I talking about here? No context or relation between the methods. What do acupuncture and a boot to the head have in common? This chart! Also,what period of time is this over? Who participated? Was there a focus group? How is effectiveness measured? Who even put this together? How do you get more info?

Scared yet? Seen any charts like this impacting LIVES of real people at your workplace? Innocent facts are being abused! Sometimes by well intended individuals who are unaware of the proper care and feeding of data as to cause neglect, and at times intentionally by malicious numeralphiles who can't resist the allure of an attractive chart in the face of economic pressures.

It seems cliché' to talk about interesting times and the economic downturn, but the last few years have seen an increase in the character condensation among people I encounter in the software industry. Whatever they were before, they become even more of. Betrayal, gossip, defensiveness, and thinly veiled self-serving protectionism are happening more often. At the same time, altruistic and generous people are reaching out to support each other. Hope, service, loyalty, and volunteerism are still present but harder to seek out, and those who are money driven think we are "suckers", "unprofessional", "immature", or "self limiting". I would say that if it is unprofessional, immature, self limiting, and unrealistic to have ethics, sign me up. Justify playing a dirty game how you will, but don't insult me for my decision not to. I'll pay for it. You'll be the one rolling around on a pile of money, so you win the money. I've never been super motivated by money alone, so that's ok. I prefer the good people. I'll keep them.

In all business there are decisions made, and it seems to me, more than ever, data plays an important role in those decisions. There are many good uses of data, and I do not mean to imply that there are not responsible and useful metrics that can be used well. I am just saying that there are some egregious abuses going on right now in software. Most people want to base their choices on more than just gut feeling and whims, or have some explanation to back up those decisions. Data comes in to play as soon as someone has a question they want a logical answer to. Data itself is absolutely innocent of any intent, malice, or will. However, the fact it exists at all means that there is the potential for abuse, and there are certain types of data that are simply begging for it. These masochistic data types lure in well meaning people causing all sorts of havoc, and ill intentioned and desperate individuals also are found near these troubled numbers.

1. Maybe it's Maybelline-Unverifiable data. These are the numbers that are made "confidential" or access is locked down so that no one else can check the source or how the information is tabulated. This is similar to tabloid data, where items presented as fact are mostly rumor or based on "our sources".

2. Eyes Without a Face-Data with absolutely no context presented as fact. An example of this is the ever popular bug trend. Showing that there are fewer bugs does not say much about quality if you don't understand the defect density, have the same number of testable builds, a reasonably close amount of test coverage, and all known bugs included in the count. When you present just one number it is very easy to make that number appear in any way.

3. Some Airbrushing-Same data, different presentation. "We have improved our customer service ratings by 100% in the last month!" Based on that, should you give my quality team a bonus? Customers are more satisfied. Of course, the month before we dropped to an all time low and now we are STILL at an all time low and customers hate us more than ever. Furthermore, sales have dropped and because our low quality is well known now, fewer people were surveyed this month, and we only surveyed people when we had time, so we hand-picked the respondents. We also changed our collection methods and started asking a totally different question about satisfaction, but compared the data anyhow, because the data won't mind. After all, it's the best information we have and when asked we'll just say, "Well, its just a guideline. It's the best data we have and that is far better than no data!" The trouble is, the gap between reality and the metrics will come out. When you see the unairbrushed version in sweats, how are you going to react?

4. Dude Looks Like a Lady-This is when you take subjective data and make it appear objective with a nice dress. So, for example, you have people enter in the time they actually spent doing things compared to an estimate and then you use it for metrics. The trouble is, people are not good at entering how much time they actually spent, especially if you measure them based on it. People enter round numbers and they don't remember real time. Things they hate doing seem to last forever! Things they love just fly by for them. Perceptual time in the human mind is not actual time. Anyhow, a common data abuse is to collect estimates from people and have them self report either time or arbitrary percentages of total time without any basis in real time. Then you take the time spent and present it as objective data. If you get information like this, I urge you to check for the telltale signs and ask questions.

5. Minotaur Madness-When there is obviously not a fit or a match, yet you find a way to match up the wrong data with the point you are trying to make. If you are making a comparison between apples and oranges, the conclusion you are drawing is abusive to the data.

There are many more abuses happening to data which are unfair and must be stopped. False accusations and verbal abuse are rampant. Data isn't useless, stupid, nor is it a lying tramp. Data itself exists to serve us in any way that it can, not judging, not doing anything at all. We should set up a data protection program so that it can survive without being abused, and those who abuse it should be punished and rehabilitated so that the abuse can stop and we all can make more productive and reasonable business decisions.

Time, Time, Time, See What You've Done To Me

Testy Redhead — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:25:00 GMT

Today I found and argued about and isolated many bugs on one topic alone. Time.

Testing tools used:
1 calculator (free with Windows AND Mac operating systems)
System Event Viewer and Advanced time control panel for Windows.

Problems:
Times listed in steps did not add up to the "overall duration" ever. We are missing some time.
Client time is used for some calculations causing things to happen in negative time for some time zones.
The "time" server lied making things happen in the far future for negative time.
Some time is in GST and some is not which is problematic.

Good Things:
Time is always tracked in seconds (yay), so the displays in various ways all work.
Date last modified is shown and consistent.

Questions: What else should I ask myself and find out about time overall? Are there other tools which can help me test time I should look into? What interesting time related issues have you found?

In short, I missed my bus, am behind on other tests, and still I am interested to see if this software can stand the test of time. Yes, pun intended.

Context Driven

Testy Redhead — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:42:00 GMT

I am swamped today at work and was up fretting pointlessly about my future last night rather than being my usual cheery self, but something struck me strongly today. If you have not seen this or haven't read it for awhile, slowly read each line of the context driven testing website.

Reading that and giving it thought made my entire day better. If you read that and nod, you aren't alone. I'm there with you, and you are in some pretty amazing company I am learning. Some generous and thoughtful people who help each other get better and continue to learn.

We stand on the shoulders of giants. When I feel alone I discover that I'm not giving enough credit where it is due. In my fear I didn't even reach out for anyone, and they reached out to me of their own generosity and I'm beyond thankful for it. I am entitled to nothing. I try to work hard to earn a spot in the discussion and will continue to do so. I hope that the generosity I've seen from other practitioners in context driven software testing is one day a great investment. Thank you for being everything awesome about software testing. I'm inspired.

When life gives you lemons sometimes it also gives you a visit from Gordon Christie.

Testy Redhead — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:49:00 GMT

If you have iTunes installed do a search for Edinbus which is available in the UK version as it is for Scotland only. Gordon spent his money to become an iPhone developer and made a free application so that other people in his city can more easily use the bus system. He already has a day job. He is a newlywed, married just over a year ago, yet he wants to do something good for software users. He rode the bus around at all bizarre hours to test his application in many phone states. His application is far better than many of the applications other developers are charging for. Yesterday he showed me the objective C program, which to me looks like a bunch of brackets thrown into a pile and mixed all up, but he assures me it is meant to look this way. I showed him my python scripts I'm working on and we talked about procedural vs. object oriented programming design and why a person would do testing or writing or software development for free. His wife designed all of the icons in his program.

Why is Gordon so wonderful? He is one of the few people out there who gets what motivates me. He wants to work on software that he cares about that provides a wonderful user experience. There are very few companies who understand how important a polished and brilliant interface is. He is willing to spend his time and accept the less money to do so. He really loves good computer software. He asked me not to be hasty or distraught about my layoff, and I asked him to write a blog about his iPhone application development project.

He told me yesterday that I have a year to find a job and I should not just "jump at anyone willing to pay me money". In his opinion, I belong at a company who cares enough about the experience they are providing people with their software to appreciate the talent I have, and not a company who is "in the position that IBM is in or will be in 10 years".

What he is talking about is important for me. For people who are motivated by safety, by comfort, and by ego it is much easier to find a job they would like to stay at. For me it isn't just "about the people", it is about the software I work on. If I am set up to fail or not allowed to positively impact the product quality because of the company culture, I won't be happy there long term. I could lose my passion for testing and be gone from the industry entirely. My second lifelong dream is to drive large construction equipment and it is a life goal for me to drive a backhoe. At least then you really feel like you are making progress. See, I need to make progress or I become dangerous. I have lots of energy, generally positive, but if I feel defeated I'm the sort of person who can cause a minor riot, either for good or evil, so it is important to stay positive. It isn't just about the team, it is about the software being produced. I will put up with quite a load of challenges if I believe in the software.

As my friend, Gordon thinks Adobe is being idiotic for laying me off, but he is sweet that way. I know that due to the economy they made lots of tough decisions. I know that from the fine company I'm in because some really talented developers are also on transition.

This is the bottom line. I'm very dedicated to a positive user experience and high overall quality. I am trained to protect that above all else. I believe I am looking for a job where that is a valued attribute in practice and I am willing to pick up the needed skills in the next seven months in order to be hired on the right team. I am not passing around my resume right now, I am in the information collecting stage. I am very lucky to have some people who are willing to help me land on my feet, and of course, Craig who has got my back, and a long time friend like Gordon, one of the first developers to ever believe in my testing talent to help me brush myself off and get back out there.

What is a test?

Testy Redhead — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Version 2.5: A test is an action which produces discoveries that can be used to evaluate product quality.

I'm discovering my limitations with writing. Unfortunately I am not talented with words in quite the way Matt Heusser is. I am trying really hard to learn and sometimes I just close my eyes and think "Learn faster, Lanette!" Anyhow, I hope I'll have another update and I'm still thinking about this.

~~A test is an action which produces data that can be used to evaluate product quality.~~

Why is a test an action? What about those tests that sit in your database? Do they not count? Of COURSE they don't count. They do not become a test until someone or something takes action. They are just a plan. Remember, TEST is a verb. Also, just because you want it to be so does not mean that software is going to test itself.

There was a big battle in my mind over produces. Does it create data? Or does it produce data? Or does it discover data that is already there? Well, the action of the test produces some sort of data I believe. It may not create it, but produces to me also means presents, so it presents it somewhere else. When I am testing I am hunting data to tell me something about the software under test. What about a case where you look at the launched product, notice a button missing and did not have any input or output, but still reported a value bug. To me, this is still a test because there was an action, there was learned information and there was evaluation for the purpose of evaluating product quality. I thought the word data made sense, but then I talked more with James Bach and Ben Simo and the word data was confusing a few other people, and it is very unclear what I mean to say by that term. That word didn't fit in the definition and it didn't convey what I meant either. A test produces more than data. It isn't only inputs and outputs and results that a test produces, but it is learned information. By "discoveries" I mean any information that we have now which we did not have prior to the action of performing the test. The information may have existed, but until I learned of it, it could not be used by me to evaluate product quality.

"can be used" is key. It can still be a test even if it isn't used properly. If I do a series of tests and the learned information is never evaluated, the test still happened because the data exists, but until the data is learned the test is not complete. This happens all of the time with automated tests. The tests happen and the data is never used to evaluate product quality because the resulting data isn't human readable easily and the time to do the translation from the language of "suckish" to human ran out. It still was a test because the data exists, but I would argue that you haven't completed the test yet because the evaluation has not happened. This is a test in progress.

"evaluate" is a tough one. This is where the craft and skill of testing comes in. Taking action and producing learned information is not very difficult. Taking the right action and producing useful data is far more complicated. However, even if you do the first two well, evaluating that data takes skill. I'm not talking about human vs machine here because that doesn't matter at all. Evaluate is all HUMAN all the time, and this is why test automation is deceptively difficult. The evaluation part of a test is when the available powers of observation are used to determine "Is there a bug here?" Answering that question takes into account all of the past experience of the evaluator including their higher level thinking skills, their observation ability, and even their mood at the time of evaluation. There is far too little scientific research done in this space, and I'd like to know what makes the best testers more productive in this space and what factors contribute to their best evaluation versus the times they are just distracted or "off". I can already see the wheels spinning in some executive minds, NO, we can not just automate tests to get around this problem because this data applies to each and every person writing the test automation as well. Until machines can write their own tests, observe, evaluate, and create as well as humans we will have this issue regardless of the method used to take the action of "test".

"produces learned information"-I do not mean learned information in terms of just data, but I mean anything and everything learned during the process of the action of the test. You might have learned that the software is untestable just by trying to launch it, or even sooner, you might have gone to find a build and it didn't exist! So in the process of a step that didn't even state the expectation that a build would exist you've learned something of great value which is relevant to the software quality.

I digress into a daydream here: I wish I knew that there was a team of brilliant developers working on innovative ways to evaluate data resulting from software tests. This to me represents hope for the future of test automation. Finding better ways to validate, collect, and parse the relevant data so that it is more useful for the humans. I think machines could one day test rather than just "checking", but until we program them with more power in the ability to "evaluate" we will continue to just create more automated tests that suck rather than better automated tests. I want to go to a conference next year and see something amazing in terms of how the automated test evaluates the data after the test action.

"product quality"-I include this only because I think this is the difference between a test and random vandalism. When I was about twelve I got curious and tore apart a floppy disk to see what was inside. If I did that with other people's property, I would go to jail. The difference between a test and an act of vandalism lies in the intent. If the purpose is the improve product quality, and I use product and not software because I think this applies to manufacturing tests as well, then the end intent justifies the loss of product. What is the difference between testing and hacking? It is in the intent, not in the action, especially with security testing.

Why do I think this is what a test is and why do I disagree with the IEEE and also with myself? Well, because I was wrong. And because I think they are wrong. The definition they give does not fit the scope of testing. It is far too narrow. I'd love to discuss why the IEEE is wrong and why was wrong before, and if I am wrong now, please, let's talk about it!

What in the world did I say a test case was?

Testy Redhead — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:15:00 GMT

From my technical paper Reducing Test Case Bloat:

Clinically defined a test case is an input and an expected result.* For my purposes it does not matter if a test case is automated or manual so long as it is a planned test. For the purpose of reducing test case bloat, I’d go further and say that it is a test you plan to execute a minimum of once in the product life cycle.

*IEEE (1998). IEEE standard for software test documentation. New York: IEEE. ISBN 0-7381-1443-X.

Why would I say that? Did I think about it? What am I talking about with the "planned" stuff? Do I really think that to qualify as a test case that a test must be "planned" and what does "planned" even mean?

I want to summarize why I didn't go in to what a test case is in this paper. I didn't think it would help. My paper is a survival guide. If I set even ONE tester partly free from a useless legacy test case so that they can do testing of value again, it is worth this shoddy definition of a test case to me. My intention is to offer a paper that helps a real human testing in a company go back with a practical list they can apply to the legacy test suite in their test case database. I wrote this paper to help testers, and I hope at the same time I was careful enough to not harm testing as a profession by limiting the scope. If I was harmful with this definition I apologize. I didn't mean to be. I do think that most of the test case bloat is included in this narrow definition of test case. This is not how I define a test case most of the time, but it is how I look for test case bloat.

My paper has a purpose. The purpose is not aspirational nor is it a paper about theory. What I mean by that is this paper is intended to help a person testing at a company which has test case bloat. In the situation where you have scripted test cases piled up to deal with and it has become critical to address, my paper is intended to help a tester evaluate existing planned test cases in order build their own escape plan. Wouldn't it be better to prevent it from getting to that point? Yes, but it is too late for most testers in large companies already.

Think about that person responsible for legacy test cases which are scripted, in most cases with very low craftsmanship. How are they going to contribute to better software quality? All of their testing time is being eaten up by test cases of low value which are unlikely to find bugs. When I was in this situation I'd come to work in the morning, and have hundreds of failures reported from my automation to sift through. Most of the time they weren't even bugs. It was a total waste of my brain. Keep in mind that the testers who get these huge legacy regression suites assigned to them are treated as if it is no big deal. After all, "It's automated" so that means it should be free now, or at least low cost in terms of tester time, and no one wants to admit they have failed. A huge investment went into creating these fragile and low value automated tests. If you admit the amount of time it actually takes you are branded as a low performer with a bad attitude who isn't on board with "quality progress". I want to help those testers find away out so that they can go to lunch again and so that they can build a case to spend less time on these regression test suites and use their creativity to invent and run new tests which are more likely to find important bugs and improve the user experience.

So, do I believe that there SHOULD be huge legacy regression test suites that waste tester time, return little value, and are hard to maintain? I do not. I think that there are scripted and planned test cases of value, both automated and manual, which can be used together with other testing methods to create a balanced test plan in most situations. I think we have a long way to go towards making our test automation and scripted human executed test cases better, more maintainable, and most of all with verification logic that doesn't suck. The current way we are validating pass and fail results in test automation is usually limited and insufficient for returning major value for the time invested. If I like it or not, we individual contributor testers are facing a problem of test case bloat right now, so I wanted to bring up the topic and provide some helpful suggestions that I've tried in practice. Is my definition good enough? Certainly not, but it is accurate enough to find the majority of test case bloat in my opinion.

Craig told me that the internet doesn't get to give me homework. I said that James Bach absolutely does get to give me homework any time he wants. He is the smartest tester I've ever talked to and he has done more for testing as a profession than the testing organizations combined have in my opinion. I care very much about what a test case is, and I hope to participate in a conversation about it with other testers I respect soon. Now, I have to get out of trouble though as Craig is threatening to shut off our internet connection if I don't get off the computer and get ready for our guests!

Microsoft Testing has Changed!

Testy Redhead — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:52:00 GMT

About the Change

In 2007 I wrote a blog post on how to test better than Microsoft. It was based on information as an outsider pre-Vista and back as far as the Windows 2000 development lifecycle. At the time, I was convinced that Microsoft was determined to trail blaze a path to software hell and that no one was going to stop them. The unbalanced approach where "the code is all that matters" really concerned me for the user experience. Well, then something happened. Vista happened. And Microsoft changed! I don't mean changed slightly. I mean started taking good advice from thought leaders. The distance between reality and presented metrics became known and smart people did something to fix it! I am not sure if there was a test leadership change, or if it was due to layoffs, or what exactly changed there, but since Vista there is something new going on in Redmond. Maybe it was always there, but it wasn't visible to outsiders.

My opinion of testing at Microsoft has changed, but it isn't because I think I was wrong. It is because testing at Microsoft is different than I thought it was. Maybe I hadn't talked to enough testers on enough different teams, or maybe they are more open about sharing ideas than they were. The company culture has changed, or at least my view of it has changed. The arrogance has diminished. The attitude of "We have the right answer and everyone else in testing is to be mocked" no longer applies. They are sharing with the community and not just to bestow their wisdom from their pristine tower on the peasants, but they are opening a two-sided conversation.

And now? What happened to the Microsoft of old? Other companies are COPYING the failure in the old trail they have moved on from. I thought Microsoft was crazy three years ago, but who is crazy now? The companies who are following 3-5 year old ideas that have failed in this economy? I think that Microsoft, with the huge number of testers it has, really does influence testing overall. However, it seems that as the testers and higher up managers moved on from Microsoft some years ago they took with them ideas from the company at that time without the advantages of the experience since. Those companies who think Microsoft is no longer much of a threat? I think they might want to take another look. I think they might start to deliver some innovative software again. I am not saying they will, but they might. Do I know for sure? Nope. This is just my impression from what I've seen as an outsider right now. In 3 years my opinion might change again. The company might change again. Who knows?

At PNSQC the first Keynote speaker from Intel talked about quality mascots. First it was the Salmon--"Moving quality upstream", then it was the Hedgehog based on "Good to Great", until the companies declared "great" didn't turn out to last, then it was "Shift Left" which is to the speaker a repeat of "Move quality upstream" and he feels like the true mascot of quality is the old farting dog who no one notices unless it makes a stink. Hearing him talk about this rhetoric that is sold to quality groups industry wide made me realize that we're being tricked. The same cycle of ideas and mascots aren't working in this economy. Quality isn't in a groove, that's a RUT we're stuck in. We are chasing our own tail. Guess what? Microsoft isn't over simplifying the problem anymore. They have multiple thought leaders working on important things, like training! Really. Other companies have stopped going to conferences and training their QE people all together. They have deprioritized teaching their so called "Quality" teams who really are no more than baby programmers who have no testing experience anything at all about testing as a profession. Now who is determined to follow the rut straight to quality purgatory? The same companies who Microsoft based their course correction on to get better quality?

What company has the guts to stay their own course? It seems right now that only Apple has that courage.

So, I'm sure that some people reading this think I am wrong. Let me just say I hope so. Time will tell. I hope very much that I am wrong and that I've missed a critical aspect among the jargon and buzzwords. I hope that there is some listening going on with the talking and that the feedback is a loop and not a funnel. I really hope that quality software will continue to be produced from multiple companies because the competition is good for those of us who use computer software.

How much failure is needed before a company will course correct? In the case of Microsoft, it appears Vista was enough. How stubborn are other software companies prepared to be? Stubborn enough to not exist anymore? Stubborn enough to alienate most of their user base? I read this weekend about "The Quark Debacle" and wondered if in the future we'll be reading about that with other companies names as well. I very much hope not.

About Yesterday
Microsoft testers were very good to me! I was also thrilled to ask questions and find out that Leo Lee who helped with the arrangements and set up the meeting was a volunteer to do these tasks. When people in QE take time out of testing to educate themselves and their fellow testers that is something of value to the company and to see that Microsoft realizes it? Good for them.

I did go into more detail on each of the bloat reducing ideas, but I should have cut some from the start of the presentation so I could have summarized. This is for those who attended.

The summary I wish I'd given:

Reducing test case bloat is a relatively new activity to add to your testing tasks. During test planning I find it useful to specify when I'm going to "maintain" and "define" my test case sets. Balancing the intentional risk with the time savings can allow you to focus on the highest priority test cases, giving your software an advantage when compared against an overly bloated test case database diverting time and attention from the highest impact tests. In addition to intentionally cutting test cases, organizing your tests into tiered structures can help you test in order of stakeholder priority making your approach more pragmatic and efficient. If bloat is not yet a problem for your team, and you are still working hard to create enough tests to get to code coverage and automation percentage goals, keep this idea tucked away for the future. If your legacy test cases have become unmanageable and too expensive to maintain and they are impeding you from moving forward, consider this survival guide a resource to help you create a better balance so that you can focus on the future while still dealing with the past.