The Lean Startup Method and Its Value for Testers
- 1. T1 Test Management 5/5/16 9:45 The Lean Startup Method and Its Value for Testers Presented by: Lee Copeland TechWell Corp. Brought to you by: 350 Corporate Way, Suite 400, Orange Park, FL 32073 888-‐-‐-‐268-‐-‐-‐8770 ·∙·∙ 904-‐-‐-‐278-‐-‐-‐0524 -‐ [email protected] -‐ http://www.stareast.techwell.com/
- 2. Lee Copeland TechWell Corp. With more than forty years of experience as an information systems professional at commercial and nonprofit organizations, Lee Copeland has held technical and managerial positions in applications development, software testing, and software process improvement. At TechWell, Lee has developed and taught numerous training courses on software development and testing issues, and is a sought-‐ after speaker at software conferences in the United States and abroad. He is the author of the popular reference book, A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design.
- 3. Lee Copeland TechWell (formerly SQE) [email protected] @grandpacopeland Testing Lessons from Lean Startups
- 4. Lean Startup Is Everywhere Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
- 5. Topics • The Dismal Record of Startups • Eric Ries • Foundations of Lean Startup • What Value for Testers?
- 6. The Dismal Record of Startups • A startup is an organization created to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty • Does this sound familiar?
- 7. The Dismal Record of Startups • Shikhar Ghosh of the Harvard Business School reported these statistics: – 95% of startups will fall short of their financial projections – 80% will fail to meet their projected return on investment – 40% will cease operations with investors losing everything
- 8. The Dismal Record of Startups • The #1 cause of failure = No Market for their product • It’s a great product or service that no one wants to buy
- 9. Eric Ries • An entrepreneur with an impressive track record – Product to connect students with … employers – Product to let people play in a 3D virtual world
- 10. Eric Ries • Ries learned that under conditions of extreme uncertainty, classical management methods do not bring success • He formulated the Lean Startup methodology based on his and others’ experiences
- 11. Foundations of Lean Startup 1. Build-Measure-Learn (BML) Loop 2. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) 3. Validated Learning 4. Customer Development 5. One Metric That Matters (OMTM)
- 12. 1. Build-Measure-Learn Loop In rapid iterations Persevere or Pivot?
- 13. • The MVP is that version of the product that enables a full turn of the Build-Measure-Learn loop with a minimum amount of effort and the least amount of development time • The minimum viable product lacks many features that may prove essential later on 2. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) (Final product)(Minimum viable product)
- 14. 3. Validated Learning • Validated learning is “the process of demonstrating empirically that the team has discovered valuable truths about the present and future business prospects”
- 15. 4. Customer Development • Learning and discovering who a company’s initial customers will be, and what markets they are in, requires a separate and distinct process from Product Development ― Steve Blank
- 16. 5. One Metric That Matters (OMTM) • Most metrics gathered by organizations are “vanity metrics.” They make us feel good (or look good), but don’t really show progress toward our goal • The One Metric That Matters measures the one most important thing at the present state of the startup
- 17. The Lean Startup Methodology What Value for Testers?
- 18. What Value for Testers? • As software testers, we are rarely part of an entrepreneurial startup team • Are there lessons for us from the Lean Startup methodology?
- 19. 1. Build-Measure-Learn Loop • BML loop is equivalent to the Exploratory Testing loop
- 20. 2. Minimal Viable Product (MVP) • The idea of an MVP suggests we should start with a Minimal Viable Set of Tests • Don’t strive for “completeness” from the beginning • Add additional tests as the need becomes apparent and warranted
- 21. 3. Validated Learning “It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so” Will Rogers American Humorist
- 22. 3. Validated Learning • The Lean Startup methodology suggests running frequent experiments to determine customer response • As testers, we can run frequent tests to determine both customer and system response
- 23. 4. Customer Development • Asks: – What are the problems our product solves? – Do potential customers perceive these problems as important?
- 24. 4. Customer Development • Customer Development suggests that we should identify different “customers” of our testing services: – Developers – Users – Management And SERVE them, not our testing process
- 25. 4. Customer Development • Or this could be our future …
- 26. 5. One Metric That Matters
- 27. 5. One Metric That Matters • Is your metrics program an example of “success theatre”?
- 28. 5. One Metric That Matters • Replace the dozens of vanity metrics … – Test cases planned – Test cases implemented – Test cases executed – Test cases passed – Test cases failed – …
- 29. 5. One Metric That Matters • … with one that is truly indicative of something vital • Bob Galen suggests we should consider measures in the areas of: – Predictability – Value Delivered – Quality – Team Health
- 30. Conclusion • The Lean Startup methodology has many insights to offer to software testers • Become familiar with its precepts. Adopt its ideas for your testing