Joep Schuurkes (Posts about quality engineering)https://smallsheds.garden/categories/cat_quality-engineering.atom2023-12-29T09:15:50ZJoep SchuurkesNikolaA good tester is all over the placehttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2023/a-good-tester-is-all-over-the-place/2023-11-26T00:00:00+01:002023-11-26T00:00:00+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>Over the past year, I've been thinking about how testing-related roles are still an unsolved problem in software development. We keep trying different permutations: shifting left and shifting right, being closer to the programmers while not too far from other testers, doing less testing ourselves so we can support others more, etc.</p>
<p>And still, to be effective in any of these permutations, you can't let yourself be limited by them. You need to work both inside and outside the existing structures. You have to "be all over the place", in a good way.</p>
<h2>Testers do testing</h2>
<p>Let's start with a straightforward statement: a tester tests. Then what is testing? I <a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2018/reflections-on-my-testing-manifesto/">still like</a> the definition <em>"Testing is investigating in order to evaluate a product."</em> The most obvious thing to investigate, to test, is the code that is being written. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is through the combination of exploratory testing and test automation, i.e. what <a href="https://maaretp.com/">Maaret Pyhäjärvi</a> has named "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_67oQrPZhQ">contemporary exploratory testing</a>". And to be clear, while the execution part tends to be the most visible, effective testing also needs good test strategy, design, and reporting.</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2023/a-good-tester-is-all-over-the-place/">Read more…</a> (11 min remaining to read)</p></div>I'm a quality engineer and I'm not sure how I feel about thathttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2023/im-a-quality-engineer-and-im-not-sure-how-i-feel-about-that/2023-07-05T11:42:34+02:002023-07-05T11:42:34+02:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>This post is a slightly edited version of the experience report I <a class="reference external" href="https://smallsheds.garden/slides/xp2023-quality-engineer.html">presented</a> at the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.agilealliance.org/xp2023/">xp2023</a> conference. It covers my first six months at a scale-up, working as a quality engineer for the first time - after having worked in other testing-related roles for 15+ years.</p>
<p>My main finding is that for a quality engineering role to work well, certain structures need to be in place. The most important one is that the impact the quality engineer is expected to have, is clear to both the quality engineer and the team(s) they are supporting. However, regardless of which structures you put in place, a quality engineer will also need to work around those structures to be fully effective.</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2023/im-a-quality-engineer-and-im-not-sure-how-i-feel-about-that/">Read more…</a> (22 min remaining to read)</p></div>Three lessons after three months of quality engineeringhttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/three-lessons-after-three-months-of-quality-engineering/2022-11-27T16:41:25+01:002022-11-27T16:41:25+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>Three months ago I started a new job as a quality engineer, supporting two teams. So far it's been an interesting challenge. The two teams were formed only a few months before I joined, although some team members had been working for the company before that. Each team has their own product manager. We also have an engineering manager, but he joined only two weeks before I did. And then I was added to the mix, with a job description that didn't give a lot more guidance than: support the team in things related to testing and quality.</p>
<p>So my first task in my new job was figuring out what my job was. Or rather, figure out what concrete things I could do that fit that job description. This was not made easier by the fact that we're a fully remote company. Not being in the same space throughout the day does make things harder when you're trying to find your place. Reflecting on the past three months made me realize there are three things that are really important: visibility, connections, and patience.</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/three-lessons-after-three-months-of-quality-engineering/">Read more…</a> (5 min remaining to read)</p></div>Agile tester or quality engineer, who's to say?https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/agile-tester-or-quality-engineer-whos-to-say/2022-11-06T16:29:25+01:002022-11-06T16:29:25+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>In her article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041001003124/http://www.qualitytree.com/feature/btwq.pdf">"Better Testing, Worse Quality?"</a> <a href="https://ruby.social/@testobsessed">Elisabeth Hendrickson</a> makes an interesting case about independent testing, i.e. testing done by an independent test team. She discovered that beyond a certain point, investigating more in independent testing will make both quality and speed go down, not up. In <a href="https://itrevolution.com/podcast/the-idealcast-episode-3/">episode 3</a> of the <a href="https://itrevolution.com/podcast/">Idealcast</a>, she summarizes her article as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"[...] when you ramp up the amount of investment in an independent test group, then given the amount of pressure that's already on the developers to deliver, it is so easy<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/agile-tester-or-quality-engineer-whos-to-say/#fn:1">1</a></sup> for the developers to say, this isn't my problem anymore. Thank goodness we've got the professionals over here. It's their job to test." <em>(00:11:21)</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Later in the article, Elisabeth Hendrickson gives advice on how to avoid or escape this spiral of decreasing quality and speed. There are four dials you can turn either up or down:</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2022/agile-tester-or-quality-engineer-whos-to-say/">Read more…</a> (2 min remaining to read)</p></div>Testing maturity in an agile/CDT contexthttps://smallsheds.garden/blog/2017/testing-maturity-in-an-agilecdt-context/2017-02-05T17:43:10+01:002017-02-05T17:43:10+01:00Joep Schuurkes<div><p>One day during a team meeting at Joep's previous job at a bank the Team Manager of Testing, listed a number of topics his testers could work on in the coming months. One of those topics was "testing maturity". This topic was on the list not because this manager was such a fan of maturity models, but because the other team managers (Business Analysis and Development) had produced one for their own teams and higher management would like to have one for testing as well. And although Joep saw little value in a classic five-tiered maturity model either, he was intrigued by the question: so what can you do with respect to maturity models that is of value?</p>
<p><a href="https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2017/testing-maturity-in-an-agilecdt-context/">Read more…</a> (2 min remaining to read)</p></div>