Software testing team tutorials and videos

Why Employee Communication Software is Here to Stay for Software Testing Teams

Software Testing Magazine — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:38:54 +0000

Effective communication tools are revolutionizing productivity within software testing teams. According to a Gallup poll, well-executed communication strategies can boost productivity by up to 23%, translating to billions in potential savings or revenue. As the nature of software testing shifts toward distributed models, with remote teams often spanning different time zones, a centralized communication platform becomes essential. Many teams are adopting employee communication software equipped with advanced features like automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and real-time analytics. These tools streamline communication, ensuring testing teams remain aligned and productive throughout each phase of the software testing life cycle. The Essential Role of Communication Software for Software Testing Teams Clear, streamlined communication is the backbone of effective software testing, especially for remote or distributed teams who rely on consistent communication to stay aligned on project goals and testing priorities. Traditional methods like emails and calls often create gaps, leading to delays or missed updates that can hinder the testing process. Employee communication software centralizes messaging, creating a reliable platform where testers can quickly share updates and receive critical project information in real time. This real-time connection strengthens team cohesion and engagement, which is vital for remote testers who might otherwise feel disconnected from their colleagues. Key Features for Enhanced Communication in Software Testing Today’s communication platforms offer advanced features tailored to the specific needs of software testing teams, including push notifications, targeted messaging, and cross-device compatibility. These tools ensure that critical alerts and project updates reach team members wherever they are, whether working [...]

The post Why Employee Communication Software is Here to Stay for Software Testing Teams first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

Tools for Distributed Software Testing Teams

Software Testing Magazine — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 13:05:04 +0000

Even before Covid, there was a trend to distributed software development and software testing teams. In this article, we are going to list some tools that can be useful for distributed software testing teams. Author: Franco Martinig There are multiple existing sources about tools for distributed software development teams or remote working. In this article, we will focus on free or inexpensive tools that are available to small distributed software testing teams that operate outside a major organizational framework. We do not discuss the tools needed for testing which depend on the target to be tested (mobile app, website, API), but rather the tools that distributed software testers will use to communicate or plan and perform the test activities. You could naturally rent your own space on the web and install some open-source tools, but we will limit the scope to tools that teams can quickly use without having to spend a lot of time and efforts for installation and configuration. Team communication Besides the traditional email communication, distributed software testing teams can also need to use other tools for real-time messaging, chat, or video conferencing. For instant messaging or continuous conversations, Discord, Slack, Rocket Chat, Mattermost, Bitrix24 or Chanty are the best know tools that are available for free. If all team members use Gmail, Google Chat and Google Meet can also be options. Microsoft Teams has also a free option with limited features that can be used by small teams for chat, videoconferencing and document sharing. People working [...]

The post Tools for Distributed Software Testing Teams first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

Whole Team Quality

Software Testing Magazine — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:58:04 +0000

We know that successful Agile teams live and breathe by the “Whole Team Quality” principle. But what does it actually mean in practice – and what does it definitely not mean? This presentation explores techniques that Agile and Scrum teams can use to evolve their software testers and developers and to empower the team to (want to) be responsible for quality together – without suggesting that what we really need is just a great super role that can do everything. The presenter shares some stories about things that have and haven’t worked and addresses some of the questions and fears that come up when we talk about whole team quality. Video producer: https://cucumber.io/

The post Whole Team Quality first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

Software Testing Team Communication

Software Testing Magazine — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:10:53 +0000

Software testers like software developers might be generally more introverted than extroverted. However, with Agile software development approaches like Scrum, communication between team members and with external stakeholders become a critical for project success. In this extract from her book “Guide to Advanced Software Testing”, Anne Mette Hass presents some general ideas about the communication issues for software testing teams. Author: Anne Mette Hass Testers need to communicate with people in all the organizational units involved in the testing. This means that testers have to communicate with many different people at many different organizational levels internally in their organization and externally, for example, with customers. The first thing to remember is that communication is difficult. The perfect way of communicating where people understand each other absolutely perfectly and completely is not possible. We are people and we are all “colored” by our personalities, our upbringing, and our experience – just to mention a few factors. But we have to communicate and we have to make an effort to make it work. One of the things we can do is to understand the type of people we are dealing with, both in terms of their personality types, their education and background, and their responsibilities and working conditions. Another thing is to accept that it is the “sender” of the information who is responsible for making it understandable to the audience. We as testers must learn that other teams talk in different languages: management speaks “money”; users (and marketing and sales) speak [...]

The post Software Testing Team Communication first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

Software Testing Mind Maps

Software Testing Magazine — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 14:08:49 +0000

TestInsane Technologies has created a repository of software testing mind maps. A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. It is often created around a single concept to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added. Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those. Test reporting mindmap. Author: Susan Finley. Source: http://apps.testinsane.com/mindmaps/ In the Software Testing Mind Maps repository, you can find information on various software testing topics. These are uploaded as source files on the portal that not only can be downloaded but can be edited to anyone’s convenience. With many contributions from testers across the globe, this web site facilitates a forum for software testers to exhibit expertise as well as learn new ones. Currently this initiative has attracted more than 25 contributors from around the globe that have submitted more than on hundred mind maps. Visit http://apps.testinsane.com/mindmaps/

The post Software Testing Mind Maps first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

Who To Involve in Test Automation

Software Testing Magazine — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 14:47:32 +0000

One of the current theory about testing is that programmers take care of the unit tests and QA people manage the higher levels of the testing pyramid. In his blog post, Kenny Cruden discusses the fact that this theoretical approach can work in practice. When you split the testing efforts between two group of people, Kenny Cruden writes that this rises two questions for the software development team: “Do we have duplication of test coverage?” and “Is our test suite structured in a cohesive manner throughout the whole stack?”. Two practical issues are created: 1) the fact that QA people spend too much time writing automated tests and neglect their other activities, like shaping stories for instance. 2) QA people are writing tests without knowledge of the lower levels tests Kenny Cruden proposes four rules for a successful test automation effort: 1. Only work on test automation if you have the skills to work on production code if required. 2. Only work on production code if you have the skills to work on test automation if required. 3. In case of 1) or 2) not being true, pair with someone who meets the requirements of 1) and 2) until it is. 4. The team must own and contribute to test code, not certain individuals or disciplines within it. Read the complete blog post on http://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/test-automation-who-should-be-involved?

The post Who To Involve in Test Automation first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

Test Automation Doesn’t Mean You Need Less Testers

Software Testing Magazine — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:34:17 +0000

It’s commonly said that Test Automation means you need less testers on the team, it speeds up the testing process and allows more time for Exploratory Testing. In this talk Richard shares his critique of these common outcomes by calling upon his experiences of working in and managing teams where Automation has played a crucial part in the testing approach and has been used to great effect; but hasn’t resulted in the above outcomes. This presentation explains why he believes these common misconceptions of Automation are unfounded and gives reasoning as to how and why these myths have gained such momentum. In addition he briefly touches upon the Testing versus Checking definitions and how they can be used to educate team members ensuring there is a common understanding of these aspects leading to a greater appreciation of Testing. Attendees should expect to take away a deep understanding of the real benefits of Automation and the importance of a whole team understanding of why and how to use Automation to assist Testing. Video producer: The Association for Software Testing

The post Test Automation Doesn’t Mean You Need Less Testers first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.

The Software Tester as a Designer

Software Testing Magazine — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:33:06 +0000

Software testing is an activity that has often been placed at the end of the software development life cycle, something that you did if there were some time left before the project deadline. In his book ” Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners”, Ilan Goldstein explains that the software testers should be active since the beginning of the project. I believe that the core skill of a tester is actually that of design. Irrespective of who actually runs or implements a test, a seasoned professional tester will always be able to design the most effective test cases compared to anyone else on the team. Well-designed tests not only form the foundation for the eventual testing itself but can also provide vital input into the technical design that takes place during sprint planning. When a tester is involved in the design of a user story’s test cases prior to the sprint planning session, I can assure you that the meeting will be a great deal smoother and faster with fewer contentious debates. Reference: “Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners: Agile Tactics, Tools, & Tips”, Ilan Goldstein, Addison-Wesley The main idea between this quote is that the software tester mindset will help the users and developers to see more easily the ambiguity in the requirements definition that become more apparent when you try to test them. This idea is similar to the “three amigos” and “power of three” concepts developed by other proponents of Agile testing that recommend to associated product owners, developers [...]

The post The Software Tester as a Designer first appeared on Software Testing Magazine.