Hiccupps

I attended SoftTest 2018 last week and really enjoyed it. The vibe was good, the people were friendly, and the low-price, one-day format is right up my street. I've already posted sketchnotes and the slides from my own talk so here's a few words about the presentations that I saw. Conor Fitzgerald talked about the benefits of learning about other industries, disciplines and domains. Part career history — from "confirmatory checker" to exploratory tester — and part a list of resources he's found useful over the years, he covered how studying business and economics grew his testing perspectives; how heuristics, oracles, and a ready supply of questions help testers cover both breadth and depth; how burnishing your social skills helps to make and maintain interpersonal relationships (examples: don't blame, assume goodwill, be kind); and how explicit modelling and data gathering and analysis can guide and drive discovery and understanding. To create a hi...

I spoke about the overlap between testing and technical support at  SoftTest 2018  last week. The presentation was based on When Support Calls , the book I wrote with Neil Younger and Chris George for the Ministry of Testing . Here's the blurb: Testers are said to be advocates for the customer, but when do most testers come face to face with a real-life customer? I don’t mean internal stakeholders, but the people at the sharp end of things, the ones actually using the software. Rarely, I find. Which is why it can be a SHOCK! to be asked to participate in a customer support call. It’s an unusual situation, there’s pressure, the customer is watching, something needs fixing, and there’s a deadline ... of yesterday.  Gulp. But don’t worry! You’re on the call because a colleague values your input. Perhaps you’re great at analysis, or lateral thinking, or problem solving. Maybe you have deep knowledge of your product, or the whole ecosystem, or the historical angle. ...

I was at SoftTest 2018 in Dublin this week. I'll write proper notes later , but for now here's my sketchnotes (below) and the letter my youngest daughter gave me before I set off, detailing her research about the city (above).   For those who made it all the way down here: I did take a big coat and it was the right choice.