Where Are the Testers in XP?

1. the success of the project
2. show how you can be satisfied with an information-provider role, not insisting on being a gatekeeper or quality policeman ⁸
3. show how you can adapt to an iterative methodology, changing direction as the project changes, rather than insisting that the team stick to the plan ⁹
4. show how you can function with a minimum of formal specifications, asking for more information when you need it and taking the initiative to document key information yourself when you see the need

Interestingly, these are not only the criteria for how testers can provide value to XP teams; they are also the ingredients for exploratory testing. ^10,11

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Ståle Amland and Elisabeth Hendrickson for comments on early drafts.

References
¹By "the XP books" I mostly refer to Extreme Programming Explained, by Kent Beck and Planning Extreme Programming , by Kent Beck and Martin Fowler
²Correspondence on "Agile-Testing" mailing list , Ron Jeffries, 29 April 2002
³Planning Extreme Programming , Beck and Fowler, p. 17
⁴ "Circle of Life, Spiral of Death," Ramachandran and Shukla, in XP/Agile Universe 2002 Proceedings, Wells & Williams, ed.
⁵Framework for Integrated Test , Ward Cunningham
⁶Testing Extreme Programming , Lisa Crispin and Tip House
⁷Correspondence on "Software-Testing" mailing list , Cem Kaner, 18 September 2002
⁸"Don't Become the Quality Police," Pettichord, Stickyminds.com, 1 July 2002
⁹"XP, Iterative Development, and the Testing Community," Kaner, Stickyminds.com, 21 October 2002
¹⁰"What is Exploratory Testing?" James Bach, Stickyminds.com, 29 January 2001
¹¹"A Survey of Exploratory Testing," Brian Marick