Ministry of Testing

Mark is joined in this off the cuff podcast by Gem Hill, Alsa Tabatabei, Ben Dowen and Lee Marshall to talk about the thorny topic of Quality. The group discuss this trickiness around defining Quality, why context matters and what are the best snacks to eat. This podcast is sponsored by TestProject. TestProject and its community built the world's largest free test automation addons library you have got to explore! With over 1,500 ready-to-use automation actions, you are in for a whole new world of automation testing. No need to develop common testing scenarios from scratch anymore, now you can simply search for any action you need for testing straight from a fully-fledged automation Addons library, contributed by the community, for the community - and supporting any web, Android or iOS app, helping you empower test cases and deliver quality at speed. Show notes Adapting Crosby's 4 absolutes of quality into a software context - Dan Ashby Automation in Testing Rackets The Quality and Testing Information Model - David Greenlees Testing Ask Me Anything Callum Akehurst-Ryan Testing Ask Me Anything Lee Marshall Tester of the Day Tester of the Day - Nomination form Self Care Backpack

Adam talks to Lisi Hocke and Simon Berner about pairing, how to do it right, it's benefits and potential pitfalls - and their upcoming hands-on course in July. Click here to learn more about Lisi and Simon's training Show Notes: https://www.lisihocke.com/p/testing-tour.html https://www.ministryoftesting.com/events/practice-pairing-under-constraints-to-level-up-your-collaboration-skills-july-2021 With thanks to our sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by Xray, the leading Quality Assurance and Test Management app for Jira. More than 4.5 million testers, developers and QA managers trust Xray to manage 100+ million test cases each month. It is a mission-critical tool at over 5,000 companies in 65 countries, including 137 of the Global 500.   With Xray you can plan, execute and track your testing with full requirements traceability supported by both manual and automated tests, including BDD using Cucumber as well as JUnit, NUnit, Robot and others.   Discover the future of testing and start your free trial today at getxray.app

Carlos Kidman talks with Venkat Ramakrishnan about Pairwise Testing. Venkat's course, "Be Wise, Do Pairwise", covers what it is while providing hands-on examples of why and how to use this powerful technique for better testing and coverage. Enrol for Venkat's course on "Be Wise, Do Pairwise" today.

In this episode of the Ministry of Testing Podcast, Mike chats with Melissa Benua and Benjamin Bischoff about Testability testing. They discuss What is defined as Testability Testing Isn't all testing classed as "Testability"? Key concepts of Exploratory Testing Good and Bad approaches to Testability Testing Baby Steps, Coverage, Framework, Awareness of Testability - Changing the mindset to testing. Make it fun and challenging - tackle low hanging fruit first The challenges new testers face in getting the right balance and approach to Testability Testing Take-aways for the listeners to enable them to approach Testability in a more efficient way Organizations today emphasize frequent delivery at reduced costs to stay competitive. The SAP world is no different. But we know that testing in SAP environments is no easy feat. Join Avo Automation's exclusive webinar to learn how to seamlessly test SAP and other applications end to end on the 5th of May.

In conjunction with the Ministry of Testing’s Exploratory Testing Week, we welcome our Antipodean friend Lee Hawkins onto the island for a discussion about exploratory testing: Do we all understand what it is? Do we all do it? How do we estimate how long it will take? And how do we showcase the results of these activities? With both guest and host bringing experiential stories which delve back into the 1990s, we chat about ways for new testers to become familiar with ET, the need for senior testing figures to share more about how they test, and whether automation has a place in supporting exploratory activities. In perhaps the most musically on-point episode of the podcast so far, Lee shares his love for the many different and less-well-known facets of the band Status Quo, and we learn that they are not confined solely to music. This episode is sponsored by Provar: Struggling with the complexities of building and maintaining tests given the impact of localization (running tests that work for various languages, time zones, etc.)? Learn more about simplifying test automation for global companies in this complimentary white paper: https://bit.ly/32xyIri Podcast Links: Ministry of Testing - Exploratory Testing Week Leanpub: An Exploration of Testers AST: Navigating the World as a Context-Driven Tester World Time Buddy (Cross-timezone meeting planner) YouTube: Jonathan Coulton - Mandelbrot Set YouTube: Status Quo opening at Live Aid, 1985 YouTube: Bula Quo trailer Wikipedia: Exploratory Testing James Bach & Michael Bolton: Exploratory Testing 3.0 Agile Manifesto Ministry of Testing: Websites to Practice Testing TestBash Australia 2018: Adam Howard - Exploratory Testing Live YouTube: Neil’s Let’s Explore! Video series YouTube: Sam Connelly Let’s Test paired exploratory testing series YouTube: Simon Tomes’ TestBuddy Conversations series James Bach & Michael Bolton: Testing and Checking Refined  [PDF link] Tea Time with Testers, March 2021 (featuring Rob Sabourin’s “Simple Experience-Based Test Estimation” article) Francis Rossi autobiography - I Talk Too Much YouTube: Douglas Adams telling the “biscuit story” to David Letterman Association for Software Testing on Twitter (@AST_News) YouTube: Lee’s exploratory testing discussion with Simon Tomes Lee on Twitter (@TheRockerTester) Lee’s website Dr Lee Consulting Dr Lee’s Status Quo website Regular Links: Listen to and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud Sign up to be a guest on the show Testers' Island Discs playlist on Spotify Testers' Island Discs reading list on Goodreads Follow us on Twitter

Mike talks to Simon Tomes about Exploratory Testing:   What is defined as Exploratory Testing When should we consider it? Examples of Exploratory Testing What challenges testers face in getting the right balance between Exploratory Testing and other business needs Key concepts of Exploratory Testing How you could capture and structure your testing notes? What makes a successful debrief? How do you convince people on your team – and outside of your team – of the value of an Exploratory Testing

Adam talks to Dave Harrison, Nicola Lindgren and Callum Akehurst-Ryan about exploratory testing:  What is it?  What can it do?  How can you secure the time or budget to do it?  Where are the best places to find out more? Show notes https://www.developsense.com/blog/2012/07/few-hiccupps/ https://testbuddy.co/ https://elizabethzagroba.com/ https://nickytests.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/ https://www.ministryoftesting.com/testsphere/riskstorming https://www.amazon.com/Explore-Increase-Confidence-Exploratory-Testing/dp/1937785025 https://www.ministryoftesting.com/dojo/lessons/software-testing-heuristics-mind-the-gap https://callumakehurstryansblog.wordpress.com/ https://martinfowler.com/bliki/ExploratoryTesting.html http://thatsthebuffettable.blogspot.com/2017/07/pathway-exploratory-testing.html https://www.eviltester.com/2013/09/10-experiments-to-improve-your.html https://www.developsense.com/blog/2018/07/exploratory-testing-on-an-api-part-1/ https://danashby.co.uk/2017/12/13/a-new-model-for-test-strategies/ https://visible-quality.blogspot.com/ https://testobsessed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/testheuristicscheatsheetv1.pdf https://www.getxray.app/exploratory-testing-app/

Adam Leon Smith talks to @FullSnackTester (AKA Ben Dowen) about the origins and success of the #TesterOfTheDay initiative on social media.  Listed to hear more about how it all works, and please send nominations to @FullSnackTester (or via this form)   Thanks to Ben and all the current volunteers involved in the initiative: Joe Paul @QAJOEPAUL Simon Prior @siprior Michael @LangCheshire Danny Dainton @DannyDainton /  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannydainton/ Dan Billing @TheTestDoctor / https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielbilling/ Shey Crompton @SheyMouse / https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheycrompton/ https://interviews.testeroftheday.com/

In this month’s episode we welcome Lina Zubyte, who adds our desert island to the list of many countries on her tester’s passport. We talk about the nature of making human connections, how we can maintain these when we’re apart, and how to make sure we’re connecting/collaborating inclusively with a diverse group of people.  In an episode with almost as many off-the-cuff book references as musical choices, we talk about some of the more vulnerable aspects of being a tester or test manager, such as learning to let go, being comfortable with failure, and managing our approach to changes. We also talk about rising to challenges, which extends into Lina’s song choices, which include a live performance with a story that’s almost as remarkable as the music itself. This podcast is sponsored by TestProject, the world's first 100% free test automation platform for Web, Android, iOS, and API testing, just launched its major 2.0 next generation release, enabling its 100,000+ users to enjoy the best of both worlds and operate on either their Hybrid Cloud or completely offline. Whether you need the simplicity of a cloud solution or the control of hosting tests locally – TestProject has got you covered, making it easier for testers and developers to ensure quality with speed, eliminating maintenance and setup hassles and empowering Selenium and Appium with AI self-healing technology. By fostering a collaborative community that can come together, as individuals and in teams, TestProject is shaping the future of software testing and helping teams overcome testing challenges with ease and deliver flawless products. Podcast Links: Lina Zubyte: 2020 - The Year of Discovering What Actually Matters Wikipedia: Yes Man Screen Testing: Episode 14 - Yes Man (feat. Leigh Rathbone) Shona Rhimes - Year of Yes Slack: Donut app Johann Hari - Lost Connections Filter Magazine: Johann Hari’s Journey of Discovery About Depression (featuring the cow story) TestBash Netherlands 2020: Lina Zubyte - A Tester’s Guide to Managing Biases Ministry of Testing Dojo: Lina Zubyte - Inclusivity in the Time of Corona Jennifer Brown - How to be an Inclusive Leader Beyond the Status Quo #4 - Diversity Hiring Lina article series about inclusion Jennifer Brown - The Will to Change podcast YouTube: A&A Days 2018 - Lina Zubyte - It’s Tricky: Chatbots & QA Caroline Criado-Perez - Invisible Women YouTube: Racist hand dryer Wikipedia: The meaning behind the song title of Lina’s fourth choice Huffington Post: Jia Jiang’s 100-day “Rejection Therapy” (doughnut story with video) YouTube:  TestFlix 2020 - Lina Zubyte - The Secret Must-Know Best Practice Wikipedia: The story behind the recording of Lina’s fifth choice Lina on Twitter: @buggylina Lina’s website: qualitybits.tech Regular Links: Listen to and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud Sign up to be a guest on the show Testers' Island Discs playlist on Spotify Testers' Island Discs reading list on Goodreads Follow us on Twitter

In this episode of the Ministry of Testing Podcast, Mike is joined by Syed Ali, Han Toan Lim and Crystal Preston-Watson to discuss the topic of Accessibility Testing. Crystal is a Quality Engineer that supports accessibility for Salesforce.org nonprofit cloud. She is based in Denver, Colorado and has been in tech for 10 years, first starting out as a front-end developer then moving to testing in 2013. She has been involved with accessibility since 2017 first as a QA consultant for Aetna then as an accessibility engineer.  Han Toan is a senior tester based in the Netherlands. Being visually impaired for the past few years has led to him learning to use all kinds of tools to make his life comfortable. It has changed his way of making things. He blogs about it on https://mindfultester.com/category/accessibility/ Syed has worked in Testing for 8 years. Throughout that period, he has always advocated for software that is more accessible to people. The most notable recent project he has worked on was the Natwest Business Banking app which won an award. It was also one of the few projects he has been a part of, where Accessibility was thought about from the start of the project. A transcript for this podcast is available to download either from this link or the lesson resources below.

When you think about testing tools, do you think about the brain first? Deep thinking is necessary for good testing. That’s why it’s very important to develop critical thinking skills to improve the way you test. But, no matter how good you already are at critical thinking, you will make thinking errors. This is because cognitive biases influence us all. This has impactful consequences for testing because wasn’t testing supposed to be unbiased and factual? This course will help you navigate the harsh reality that biases and thinking errors have on your testing. As an introduction to the Couse on the Ministry Of Testing website, we discuss What are Cognitive Biases? Introduction to the course some examples of biases how the course can help participants challenges and how you could overcome them This course will help you recognise cognitive biases and explain what they are and how to use them to your advantage in your testing.

Carlos Kidman talks with Isabel Evans about Critical and Lateral Thinking and how different types of thinking are crucial to our roles as testers. Are you thinking about "thinking"? Join us for our Virtual SauceCon Event on April 20-22. SauceCon brings together the global community of Sauce Labs users and automated testing experts. Teams from around the world will come together to learn from each other and level up their automated testing and continuous delivery skills. Register Now for SauceCon 2021. Resources 6 Thinking Hats, by Edward de Bono Creative Trespassing, by Tania Katan Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg CTRL SHIFT, by Mike Bonifer and Jessie Shternshuc Software Design Decoded, by Marian Petre and Andre van de Hoek Thinking, fast and slow, by Daniel Kahneman

Adam Leon Smith talks to Eldar Kravetsky and Marat Strelets from TestProject, the free mobile and web automation platform.  Digging into its capability for mobile automation in particular, and the AI functionality it offers.

On this month’s podcast, we’re delighted to be joined by the renowned (and SEO-friendly) Viv Richards, for a chat about visual regression testing which definitely doesn’t take any diversions into discussions about cricket. If you’re stumped by the concept of visual regression testing, if you’re bowled over by the number of different tools that are available in the marketplace, or if you’re worried about being caught out by focusing on automating the wrong things, there’s a variety of advice on offer within this month’s episode. Viv’s musical selections include some classic earworms, one of which achieves a significant Testers’ Island milestone, and you can find out which boy-band member manages to have one of his solo tracks selected before any of his band’s offerings. This episode is sponsored by TestProject, the world's first 100% free test automation platform for Web, Android, iOS and API testing, trusted by over 80,000 users in the testing community. TestProject helps testers and developers ensure quality with speed, by eliminating maintenance & setup hassles and empowering Selenium & Appium with AI self-healing technology. No matter your skillset, TestProject has all the tools you need to ensure a top-notch automation experience, using advanced codeless features or open source SDK compatible with native Selenium APIs. To top it off, you also get to leverage their useful Addons library, out-of-the-box beautiful test reports, seamless integrations into your CI/CD pipelines, worldwide team collaboration options to boost efficiency, and all of this at no cost. Try out TestProject today. Podcast Links: Ministry of Testing UI Automation Week The other Viv Richards, if you don’t know what the intro is all about Leonardo Giroto - Visual Regression Testing overview Selenium Martin Fowler - The Practical Test Pyramid Happo and Percy (other tools are available!) Viv’s self-built C# visual testing tool on GitHub Ministry of Testing: Web API Automation Experience Report - Beth Marshall and Viv Richards The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Testers podcast series GitLab - Embracing Asynchronous Communication Postman Leanpub - Around the World with 80 Software Testers Viv on Twitter: @11vlr Regular Links: Listen to and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud Sign up to be a guest on the show Testers' Island Discs playlist on Spotify Testers' Island Discs reading list on Goodreads Follow us on Twitter

Ever wondered what's involved when you write an article for Ministry of Testing? In this podcast, Mark introduces our two editors Amy Brown and Gareth Waterhouse. The three discuss experiences and thoughts on writing and share advise for potential future authors looking to write their first article and beyond. If you'd like to write for Ministry of Testing, you can learn more about how on our contribute page