Software Testing: How do you become a more efficient tester?

Software Testing

Over the past 25 years, testing has gained prominence as a critical phase that determines the 

success of any project or program. Testing as a discipline/science is approximately a USD 65-75 billion industry with an estimate of 9-15% year-on-year growth (Ovum[1] and other sources).

Given the stature of the testing industry, a crucial ingredient to make testing work is the people who deliver testing – testers. Like any major discipline, skills are of paramount importance in successful testing. Testing skills are crucial in aligning the test approach with the requirements of end users, making the outcome more relevant to the business context. Customer experience and stakeholder management is vital.

As the velocity of change in technology and the associated delivery methods have increased over the last 30 years, testing has kept pace. This combination of criticality (to the delivery and the business outcome) and the pace of change make testing itself the zenith of technology delivery.

Testing involves deep thinking, hard work, and meticulous planning. Testing can be quicker with smart work in the form of continuous improvements and clever planning. A tester’s reward is the identification of genuine, showstopper-critical defects (early in the life cycle) that results in changes to the software, application, program, project requirements, design, or code. Testing is an assimilation of features delivered by the requirements, design, and development phases, and determines the product quality. In the context of quality management, testing is the cornerstone of quality and provides motivation for quality improvements upstream in the lifecycle. Rephrasing a JRD Tata quote[2], a tester must forever strive for excellence, or even perfection, in any test however small and never be satisfied with the second best result or performance.

Testing as a discipline is a c. $65-$75 Billion dollar with a   good growth trajectory as per industry estimates.
   
This article touches on the key skills a tester should have to succeed in the era of the next generation of testing. Some of the key testing skills (this is not a comprehensive or exclusive list) are:

• Capability Areas – Skills      including testing knowledge, technical knowledge, analytical and logical      reasoning (ability to map requirements for testing and ability to validate      and verify results), end-to-end business, functional and domain knowledge*      (* This is for specialists/specialized phases of testing and is not      mandatory for all testers).
• Soft skills including clear       communication (written and verbal), skills in stakeholder management,       negotiation, diplomacy, team bonding with global multi-site multi-vendor       teams, and empathy with the clients (i.e. both testing and communicating       in a manner sympathetic with the end user requirements and demands). Soft       skills are very important for a tester to be successful.
• Soft skills are very important for a tester to be successful”
     
• Other skills including       observation, transparency, focused drive towards success, curiosity,       exploration, inquisitiveness, critical analysis, creativity, ability to       toggle between purism and pragmatism, cognitive psychology with an       ability to think in other people’s shoes, attention to detail, knowledge       of applied statistics, ability to detect patterns, knowledge gathering       skills, ability to withstand pressure, good memory for reconstruction.
• Core Skills Needed by Testers
  First things first – a tester should be familiar with testing concepts. At a bare minimum, an entry-level tester should have a theoretical understanding of the testing concepts, test phases, SDLC, requirements, as well as basic industry, functional, and product knowledge. Like any other mature discipline, testing has solid literature, tools, and standards available. A tester can learn in an iterative structured manner based on their level of knowledge and skills by making use of the numerous learning methods and tools available (online, classroom, simulations) in the market. However, theoretical technical testing alone will not be sufficient, as the testers need to develop an ability to strike a good balance between perfectionism and pragmatism that comes with experience.
  A professional tester should have a basic understanding of the following testing terms and concepts, depending on geography and industry. Some of the nice-to-learn topics are:
• Testing terms and concepts      (TMMi, BS 7925-1, NIST 500-234 or similar industry/global standard)
• Test types, test phases, test       prioritization, risk-based testing, regression test selection, test       automation, test traceability to requirements, shift-left testing, model       based standards, application based standards, application/product       specific functional standards, stakeholder management, requirements       integrity levels, to name but a few
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• Test policies (of testing       organization, client firm)
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• Test strategies (IEEE 1012),       approaches and documentation (IEEE 829, ISTQB[3])
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• Software engineering standards       (ISO 12207, 15026, 15288, IEEE 1028,1044, CMMi)
• Lodex