The Latest

Technologist and evangelist Peter Varhol and Gerie Owens, a test architect and certified ScrumMaster, discuss their STARWEST presentation, “What Aircrews Can Teach Testers about Testing.” They talk about how testers can apply airline safety practices to their teams’ delivery of high-quality applications through complementary expertise, collaboration, and decision-making. They also explain how blind deference to authority and automation can be detrimental to a testing team, and how to use everyone’s skills to achieve success.

In this interview, Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insider Program at Microsoft, speaks about how the initiative allows them to get user feedback before final release. She highlights the importance of getting out in the field to understand your users’ experiences and the difficulties they encounter. Dona also discusses the evolution of the testing role, saying she anticipates that in the near future, testers will have their moment.

We should all just be professionals and do our jobs, right? There's no need for fun at work as long as everyone comes in and does their hours, right? As long as we have our processes to cover the work needed, we're good, right? Wrong!

Have you wondered where QA professionals fit into a DevSecOps transformation? Stacy Kirk thinks they should champion the transformation.

Getting good test documentation is a consistent challenge. Agile proposes that you should go very light on documentation, and while test documentation does not need to be heavy, it does need to be clear and cover all that the product is intended to do so you can ensure testing is consistent and results are recorded. Here's how to overcome some major barriers to getting good test documentation.

Acquiring new skills is always admirable, and it can even help you find new opportunities in an increasingly competitive job market. By going in with a plan and organizing your self-improvement activities, you’ll be learning new skills in no time. Agile can help. Here's how forty-five minutes a day and a structured approach using kanban can set you up for success.

Rob Sabourin, the program chair for STARWEST 2018, discusses the selection process for conference speakers, his favorite aspect of the conference, and the interactive Test Lab. He also details his “Testing in the Dark” talk, which gives strategies to use when you’re required to test software without any requirements, design, or product knowledge.