![How?
• Use charters to give structure
• Explore [target] with [resources] to discover
[information]
• Focus by using time boxed test sessions
• Document what you do!](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c74310c1-1a12-4aa3-882e-c0a327028136-161212123057/85/Exploratory-Testing-with-the-Team_ATDNL-5-320.jpg)
Exploratory Testing with the Team_ATDNL
- 1. Exploratory Testing with the Team A Journey worth Taking
- 2. •Ultra short recap about Exploratory Testing •The problem •The journey
- 3. Ultra short ET recap Tested =
- 4. • Think out of the box and be creative • Find nasty bugs • Learn about the product • This is where we can make the difference Why?
- 5. How? • Use charters to give structure • Explore [target] with [resources] to discover [information] • Focus by using time boxed test sessions • Document what you do!
- 6. The Problem
- 7. Manifestation of the Problem:
- 8. Testers do most of the testing
- 9. Developers think it’s not their job
- 10. Two testers versus 400.000 users in production?!
- 11. Users do all kinds of stuff you haven’t thought of
- 13. context from the team • Ahold, e-commerce for Dutch supermarket • Test automation basics in place • Existing phone app from 2009, code was messy • Making new tablet app for iOS & Android
- 15. Everybody can learn to test
- 16. ET is the most powerful way to find defects
- 17. And… • aside from all the automated checks, we need to explore the weird paths/states in the app • trying to find the unknown unknowns before our users do • more people testing == more chance of finding defects
- 18. Let’s start the journey • Educate developers and others about testing • Test together • Have fun • Try to find the black swans before the users do
- 19. step 1. Educate • Start teaching people the basics of Exploratory Testing • Article on company Wiki • Small presentation I could give to people • Give people context You want the materials that I made? No probs, contact me after this presentation
- 20. Step 2. Plan • get the Product Owner involved • plan the session (invite cross-team as well) • prepare for the ‘omg 2 hours of testing??!!’ response • promise free drinks
- 21. Step 3. prepare the session • make the ET charters yourself, or with the team, or the PO…it depends! • print out the charters • make sure the test system is available and everybody will test the same version • make sure your test session isn’t ruined by deployments, outages, whatever (if you can..)
- 22. sidestep: the charters • think about your context • where’s the biggest risk? • what is already automated?
- 23. Step 4. The session • intro: presentation (10-15 minutes) • stress the importance of documenting! • split the session in blocks of 30 minutes to help to keep the focus • debrief after 30 minutes, repeat the cycle • let people pair up
- 24. step 5. Debrief • longer debrief at the end, not everyone needed to attend • most important! • decide which bugs need fixing • administration: boring but necessary • this part can take a loooooooong time
- 25. My Expectation mainly UX type bugs, small improvements….
- 26. Reality: crashes, missed requirements. It was way worse than I thought!
- 27. Am I a bad tester?
- 28. Step 6. Celebrate! • very positive feedback on the session • people had fun • the value of the testing was crystal clear • retro: let’s do this every sprint
- 29. What I liked about it: • developers are great testers, they see different things (biases can be a good thing!) • everybody at Ahold was open to try this out • people really put effort into ‘thinking like a tester’ and ‘thinking like an end user’
- 30. Next sessions: • people from other teams started to organise their own sessions • PO’s from other teams were impressed with the results • lots of defects found in each session
- 31. and we lived happily ever after and everybody tests…?
- 32. BUT • Attendance got flaky • Developers started finding excuses why they couldn’t participate • Urgent vs important fallacy
- 33. Help? What would YOU do to solve this problem?
- 34. My own idea: • no longer a separate session, but part of the DoD • pair up with a developer every day • write charters with others
- 35. Keep up the spirit • Keep inspiring other team members to do ET sessions • Make the sessions a fun thing • Lead by example
- 36. Recap to set this up • Educate your colleagues • Plan the session • Prepare the session • Do the session • Debrief • Celebrate • And…..Don’t give up!
- 37. Never forget the goal The whole team is responsible for quality of the product As a tester, our job is to help achieve this goal
- 39. Contact Information • Twitter: @maaikees • Agile Test Consultant at Xebia Netherlands
- 40. Helpful resources • Blog Exploratory Testing 3.0 http:// www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/1509 • Book ‘Explore It!’ by Elizabeth Hendrickson • Test Heuristics Cheat Sheet • your brain (you know more than you think)