“Lessons Learned in Software Testing” by James Bach, Bret Pettichord, and Cem Kaner is a comprehensive guide to software testing, drawing on the authors’ extensive experience to offer valuable insights and practical advice. I think it’s a must-read for both aspiring and experienced software testers, and for good reason. The book is divided into seven sections, each focusing on different aspects of software testing range from test design to test automation to test management ..read more

I read this book by Sarah Drasner a few months ago and long story short, I highly recommend it to people in an Engineering Manager role. While I believe the book seems to be targeted at people who are new to the role, there’s so much good stuff in here, that I’d be surprised if someone who has decent amount of experience (in Engineering Management) doesn’t learn something new Engineering Management for the Rest of Us is jam-packed with useful advice, where Drasner doesn’t waste time saying things in 2 pages, that can be covered well in one paragraph ..read more

Here are my key takeaways from Ady Stokes webinar on Ministry of Testing, you can also check out his article Simple Tests For Accessibility Every Tester Should Know. Skip to main links These are used for sites with main menus on the top or side. This helps people save time and not have to tab (unnecessarily) heaps, to get to what they want to get to. A great example of this is University of Illinois’ College of Applied Health Sciences site ..read more

Important Note: I highly suggest you double check anything that ChatGPT recommends or tells you, including asking for links for any claims it makes regarding studies. For me, ChatGPT is rather useful for idea generation. Note: The only original thoughts in this blog post are what’s in italics, are the subheadings where I give it prompts. Note: I would be careful of putting in private company information into ChatGPT, including detailed requirements, like those mentioned in answer to my first question ..read more

Usually when someone thinks that something is “ready for test”, they are probably referring to something that is almost complete but you are just looking for a sign-off from a tester/QA. In these cases, you may find a separate column in a tool like Jira called “Ready for Test”. Only when something has made it into this column, is something deemed worthy of a tester’s time. This is one way of looking at it ..read more

Before I dive in, I want to point out that creating an environment of psychological safety is everyone’s responsibility. If one person is doing their best to make others feel welcome, but others are doing things that go against that - then people aren’t exactly going to feel safe to express themselves or feel safe to admit their mistakes. However, in this blog post, I want to highlight what I’m making a conscious effort to do, to make people feel comfortable and also (hopefully) lead by example ..read more

You might have heard of “shift left” when it comes to testing. You might have heard of the numerous virtues of testing early because it’s much cheaper to find a bug early in the SDLC compared to just before you go live. But exactly how do you do that? What may this process look like? Here I share a few concrete, practical ideas on how to contribute as a tester, before code is written ..read more

I’ve previously written about software testing job sites, but I wanted to take the opportunity to dive a bit deeper into how to find a role as a software tester. While I have also written about starting your software testing career (and finding the first role), this post is focussed on testers in general, regardless of experience. This blog post reflects what I have learned, what has worked for me, and what I have seen work for others ..read more

In one of my past YouTube videos, someone asked me to create a video on staying motivated as a tester. To be honest, I don’t really have the energy to create a video, but I do enjoy writing, so here are my thoughts on the topic! (Maybe I’ll create a video on this when I have a bit more energy!) Past Struggles With Motivation Since I started my testing career over 10 years ago, I’ve had phases where I have struggled with motivation ..read more

These are my notes from Ard Kramer’s talk, How to Nudge Your Way Through Agile Testing at SANAE Beer Ex. What is nudging? Choice architecture Alters people’s behaviour Without removing options or significantly changing incentives Video of världen’s djupaste sopptunna (the world’s deepest rubbish bin) Fun can change behaviour for the better. In the video, there is a sound effect where you hear the rubbish going all the way down then a crash at the bottom ..read more