Growing testing skills
using the Agile Testing
Ecosystem
Dr Lee Hawkins
Principal Test Architect
Dell Software, Melbourne
• 16 years at Quest Software / Dell
Who am I? Software in Melbourne, Australia.
• Really testing since 2007 after
attending Rapid Software Testing
with Michael Bolton.
• Current role is Principal Test
Architect (aka “helping teams to do
better testing”)
We deliver scalable and affordable
solutions that simplify IT and mitigate
risk. Our offerings, when combined
with Dell hardware and services, drive
unmatched efficiency to accelerate
business results.
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• The problems we were trying to
Overview solve
• “Testing Quadrants” models and
the Agile Testing Ecosystem
(Bach/Bolton)
• How we have used this model
• Lessons learned
• Summary
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The problems
we were trying
to solve
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Problems… (1)
• The number of projects adopting agile practices has increased
rapidly throughout Dell Software.
• Lots of (“manual”) testers struggling to find their way in these new
project environments.
• “Traditional” testing mentality and approach prevalent.
• Focus on defect detection (not prevention).
• Managers still relying on inappropriate testing metrics.
• Inability to complete feature testing within sprints.
• Automation always playing catch-up.
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Problems… (2)
• Some context:
– Large number of junior testers hired in low-cost locations (in an
offshored, rather than outsourced, model)
– Small number of testing teams operating in a more context-driven
fashion
• My attempts at advocating for earlier involvement of testers was
generally not very effective.
• So I was looking for a way of helping to transition testers away
from simply being test executors to becoming quality assistants
throughout sprints:
– How to explain the need for this change to management?
– What model or framework could I use to help?
– How could I take such a model and reinforce it with practical steps?
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• Brian Marick (2003)
“Testing
Quadrants” • Gregory & Crispin (2009 & 2014)
models and the • Elisabeth Hendrickson (2012)
Agile Testing • Gojko Adzic (2013)
Ecosystem • James Bach & Michael Bolton
(2014)
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Brian Marick (1)
• Marick version appeared in August 2003 in a blog post to
describe types of tests used in XP projects:
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Brian Marick (2)
1. Technology-facing programmer support
– Test-driven development, “checked examples”
2. Business-facing team support
– “Provoking the programmers to write the right code”
3. Business-facing product critiques
– Exploratory testing
4. Technology-facing product critiques
– Non-functional tests (“ilities”) (Note: numbering is mine)
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Brian Marick (3)
• After this series of blog posts, Marick noted (October 2003):
“Thus ends my essay on where agile testing is going and should
go. I want to reemphasize that I fully expect I'll look back on it in
five years and think "How naïve". That's always been the case in
the past. Why should the future be different?
I like being wrong, as long as the wrongness is a step along a
productive path. I feel that way about this essay.”
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Gregory & Crispin (4)
• Janet Gregory & Lisa Crispin version first appeared in their book
“Agile Testing” in 2009 (about five years after Marick’s original…):
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Gregory & Crispin (5)
• This version decorated Marick’s version with some explicit types
of testing marked on the quadrants, which they labelled Q1-4.
• “Support Programming” became “Supporting the Team”.
• They also added the “clouds” on the corners to indicate how the
testing might be performed for each quadrant.
• Q1 and Q2 focused on defect prevention, Q3 and Q4 on defect
detection.
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Gregory & Crispin (6)
• Modified again in “More Agile Testing” in 2014:
- “Supporting Programming/The Team” became “Guide Development”.
- More examples in each quadrant.
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Hendrickson (7)
• From Elisabeth Hendrickson’s keynote presentation at CAST
2012 “The Thinking Tester, Evolved”.
• Highlights checking expectations against exploring risks.
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“Testing Quadrants” models – Gojko Adzic (8)
• Blog post from Gojko Adzic “Let’s Break The Agile Testing
Quadrants” (2013).
• Keeps the “Business” vs “Technology” facings, but changes the
other facings (in line with “testing” vs “checking”).
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The Agile Testing Ecosystem – Bach/Bolton (1)
• In June 2014, James Bach presented at the Sydney Testers
Meetup, on “The REAL Agile Testing Quadrants” and I liked what I
saw in that presentation.
• James then gave a talk on these quadrants at Oredev 2014.
• But why the need for (yet) another version? His criticisms of
previous quadrants included:
- Perpetuate the ignorant attitude that testers don’t belong in Agile
unless they write code.
- Confusing “output checking” with “testing”.
- Implication that critiquing the product is not supporting the work of
programming.
- “Facings” are beside the point - it’s all about business and for business
- Making confusing and unnecessary distinctions about testing “done
manually” and testing “done by tools”.
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The Agile Testing Ecosystem – Bach/Bolton (2)
• James on the purpose of this model:
“To provide a conversational tool to help talk about
testing activities, shallow and deep. How developers
and testers can work together to perform both.”
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The Agile Testing Ecosystem (3)
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The Agile Testing Ecosystem – version 1.0 (4)
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The Agile Testing Ecosystem – some key ideas (5)
• Close ties with agile principles:
- “Discover something worth building” => high value of product
- “Build with change in mind”=> low cost of development
• Highlights the idea of “critical distance”:
- Bottom right – developer/builder mindset
- Top left – tester mindset
- Deep testing tends to require or create more distance from the
builder’s mindset.
• I like the way they have included some examples of things to
do/think about (for both developers and testers) in each quadrant
- this makes the model immediately useful and a way to start
conversations about testing throughout the cycle.
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How we’ve used
this model
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How we’ve used this model (1)
• After seeing the Bach/Bolton model, I started mind mapping each
quadrant – this has taken up my office whiteboard ever since:
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How we’ve used this model – for managers (2)
• This version of the quadrants uses readily understandable terms
and ideas, no “testing speak” here to confuse.
• Good way to communicate how testing can play a part
throughout the whole sprint, not just using testing as a safety
mechanism at the end.
• Years of advocacy on risk-based testing, exploratory testing, and
embedding testers through agile development teams – but this
model has already yielded the most obvious “a-ha” moments.
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How we’ve used this model – for testers (3)
• For each quadrant, I produced wiki articles, forming a series that
applies testing across the entire sprint cycle.
• Mind map and theory
- Background for those unfamiliar with the ideas or activities.
• Some example activities
- Fleshing out the theory with some example activities.
• Tips for getting started
- “Calls to action”, especially for new players.
• Resources
- Links to articles, blogs, books, etc.
• Let’s look at an example, for the “Testing that helps develop the
vision of the product” quadrant.
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How we’ve used this model – for testers (4)
• Quadrant item: Explore definitions of “done”
• Question acceptance criteria
- Completeness and use of examples (concrete over abstract)
- Advocate for testability
- Think about exploratory testing charters (rough estimates ready for
sprint planning – “tester velocity”)
• What should be automated?
- Think about unit tests
- Think about API tests
- Minimize functional UI (workflow) tests
• Tips for getting started
- Be part of user story review meetings – invite yourself if need be
- Testability is crucial for you as the tester for deeper testing, so it’s in
your interest to ask for what you need as early as possible.
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How we’ve used this model – for testers (5)
• Quadrant item: Refine user stories
• Review
- Think of reviewing stories as another testing activity – so apply your
test heuristics & critical thinking skills
- Ask clarifying questions
- Look for testability
- Look for hidden assumptions
- Perform risk analysis
• Tips for getting started:
- Make yourself part of user story review meetings
- Use test heuristics to find gaps and inconsistencies in stories, so
stakeholders soon start to value your input (then actively seek it)
- Hold a risk analysis session to bring different stakeholders together
(diverse opinions).
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Lessons learned
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Lessons learned
• This is a great model for communicating the message that
testing happens throughout the iteration.
- But, not all teams (and managers) are ready for testers to be
involved throughout iterations yet.
- Many of the inexperienced junior testers still need absorb the fact
that their work isn’t just writing out defects, it is helping to deliver
software.
• This is a great model to counter the “all testing is automated in
agile” mindset.
• Works better with mature developers and testers.
• Explicit “calls to action” from the model work well to increase
adoption & encourage teams to interpret in their own context.
• The changes to make this successful are not just about testing
– there are changes for everyone in the team (even managers).
• Challenges for factory thinkers and metrics maniacs.
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Closing remarks
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Closing remarks
• Models can be useful but also dangerous.
• Use them as conversation pieces to get people talking about
testing in the way you want to encourage them to think.
• There are many “testing quadrants” models available – try some
and see what works (and what doesn’t) in your context.
• The Bach & Bolton “Agile Testing Ecosystem” is proving to be a
useful tool in helping testing move across the whole iteration in
agile teams.
• This model emphasizes whole team responsibility for testing.
• But (as with any model) it’s not a silver bullet. We have a very long
way to go with many teams.
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@therockertester
Contact me
Q&A [email protected]
therockertester.wordpress.com
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References (1)
My Agile Testing Project (Brian Marick 2003):
http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21/#agile-testing-project-1
“Agile Testing/More Agile Testing” books (Gregory & Crispin)
http://agiletester.ca/
(Free chapter 8 on planning using quadrants:
http://agiletester.rumspeed.net/wp-
content/uploads/sites/26/2014/09/Gregory_Chapter_8_Final.pdf )
The Thinking Tester, Evolved (Hendrickson, CAST 2012):
http://www.slideshare.net/ehendrickson/the-thinking-tester-evolved
Let’s Break The Agile Testing Quadrants (Gojko Adzic 2013):
http://gojko.net/2013/10/21/lets-break-the-agile-testing-quadrants
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References (2)
The Trouble with Models – Specifically the Agile Testing Quadrants
(Janet Gregory 2015):
https://skillsmatter.com/skillscasts/6182-the-trouble-with-models-
specifically-the-agile-testing-quadrants
Agile Test Planning with the Agile Testing Quadrants (Lisa Crispin
2009):
http://lisacrispin.com/downloads/AdpTestPlanning.pdf
The REAL Agile Testing Quadrants (James Bach, Sydney 2014):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8412433/RSTQuadrants.pdf
Skilled Testing and Agile Development Integrated (James Bach,
Oredev 2014):
https://vimeo.com/111621831
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