I Wouldn't Have Seen It If I Hadn't Believed It: Confirmation Bias in Testing

"It ain't what we don't know that gives us trouble; it's what we know that ain't so." Will Rogers was talking about confirmation bias-the tendency to feel secure in our beliefs rather than to seek evidence that might challenge them. In testing, confirmation bias prompts us to stop a test too early, to choose tests that conform too closely to the happy path, or to ignore results that confound our expectations. As a result, defects have a chance to hide in our self-induced blind spots. We can't eliminate confirmation bias, but we can manage and control it by diversifying our models, our techniques, and our test teams. In this hands-on and eyes-on session, Michael Bolton presents a set of exercises, videos, and conversations that show testing biases in action. Discover some new tricks that can help you defend yourself and your testing clients from being too sure, too soon, and later ... sorry.