30 days of testing
The guys over at the Ministry of Testing proposed a 30 days of testing challenge for july. If you are somewhat interested in testing and out on twitter you will probably have stumbled upon the #30daysoftesting hashtag. If not, well you missed out on something! In a nutshell: The challenge was to perform a certain task on every day of the month:
As you can see, I did not put a check on every task, so you could probably say that I failed the challenge. But personally I think that I gained a lot out of it. So in contradiction to what is usually expected, I will start out with my personal summary and retrospective before having a look at the specific tasks.
The #30daysoftesting challenge made a lot of testers participate and share their experiences, ideas and tools. The great thing really was that known and unknown people joined in, each bringing a very unique flavour to the whole challenge. Personally I got to know some new tools (see below), read some very interesting discussions on twitter and on blog posts . You can get valuable insight on different topics, if you search twitter for the #30daysoftesting hashtag. And from a more retrospective point of view, I struggled with some of the tasks that boiled down to hands-on testing. Not really contentwise, but as far as time was concerned since my job is a bit more on the managing and coaching side of testing and it sometimes just didn’t fit in with my schedule. I actually fulfilled the tasks on other days, but since the challenge was to do them on a certain day that doesn’t really count.
But let’s get straight into the challenges now:
Day 1 – Buy one testing related book and read it by day 30
#30daysoftesting finally made a choice: Bridging the gap by @gojkoadzic pic.twitter.com/iowlRvVUHf
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 1. Juli 2016
I probably checked this one a bit prematurely. I chose this one because specification by example is a great way to get different people involved in the software development process to not just talk to each other, but to talk together in a way so that everyone understands about what has been talked about. The book is great from what I can judge after having read 56% and certainly is a reading recommendation.
Day 2 – Take a photo of something you are doing at work
Putting up the poster certainly counts for challenge 2, doesn’t it? #30daysoftesting pic.twitter.com/ofgGHjPFpY
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 2. Juli 2016
Day 3 – Listen to a testing podcast
Took a seaside walk while listening to @testinginthepub Episode 28 on testing requirements #30daysoftesting pic.twitter.com/L2hSbGWmzj
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 3. Juli 2016
This was a welcome reminder to get back into something I have abandoned since I joined my new employer in March. Up until February I spent a lot of time stuck in traffic jams while getting to work and back and I often listened to podcasts. My favourite ones being testing in the pub, letstalkabouttests and TestTalks. My new commuting time is about 5-10 minutes, and I really stopped listening to podcasts, because I always want to listen to whole episode at a time…yeah, lazy me.
Day 4 – Share a testing blogpost with a non-tester
shared @katrina_tester ‘s https://t.co/RmCuhXqpiZ with a dev after discussing selenium grid #30daysoftesting pic.twitter.com/ApxPiK5WcC
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 4. Juli 2016
Day 5 – Read and comment on one blog post
I really liked @karostol ‘s post on testing games, have a look! https://t.co/kTUrWwzjHJ #gamification #commentchallenge #30daysoftesting
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 5. Juli 2016
Day5: Absolutely enjoyed https://t.co/8zYWMFeivL by @chr_kram ! As I’ve mentioned in the comment 😉#30daysoftesting
— karo. stoltzenburg (@karostol) 5. Juli 2016
Next up was #commentchallenge – a challenge I actually try to fulfil every week and it really gets easier if you can make it a habit. Funnily enough I decided to comment on Karo Stoltzenburg’s blog while she commented on mine. But that wasn’t planned or anything. Actually day 5 shattered the record for visitors on a day on my blog and I had a number of comments as well, so that was a great thing.
Day 6 – Perform a crazy test
People called me crazy for testing at maximum zoom before, so that’s got to do for today #30daysoftesting btw: it found me a bug again 😉
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 6. Juli 2016
This was a somewhat vague challenge as many people pointed out on twitter: what is a crazy test? Putting a salami in a glas of coke? Well, I decided to go for a somewhat standard test for me, but for which I have been told that I was crazy: Testing on maximum browser zoom. And hey, sometimes you happen to see things then.
Day 7 – Find an accessibility bug
#30daysoftesting #day7 was the hardest so far, but analyzing my blog for accessibility has given me a lot of insight. and a bug or two.
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 7. Juli 2016
I haven’t really done a lot of accessibility testing before, so I decided to have a look at Katrina Clokie’s great pathway to usability and accessibility testing. And I used this to check my blog:
#30DaysOfTesting Day 7: @webaim‘s WAVE tool easily found accessibility issues on my blog! https://t.co/cP69anZATg pic.twitter.com/vFD4PGhlLX
— Neil Studd (@neilstudd) 7. Juli 2016
Day 8 – Download a mobile app, find 5 bugs and send the feedback to the creator
#30sdaysoftesting I failed to find 5 bugs in the @pocket app in the set time box. but then again I refuse to judge testers by bug count only
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 9. Juli 2016
Not much to add, I decided for pocket since it was recommended to me and gave myself 30 minutes time for an exploratory session (yeah, not that much, but that’s all that was left for the day…). Well, installation went smoothly and fiddling around with it, I didn’t really come across anything noteworthy.
Day 9 – Create a mindmap
word list by @ministryoftest mapped to semantic categorization #30daysoftesting see also https://t.co/F6WNXw6af1 pic.twitter.com/c0iiduZeWy
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 9. Juli 2016
Ministry of testing provided two lists with words that make testers either feel good or feel bad. Since these words were in quite a random order (at least to me) and led to some discussion, I decided to group these words in terms of semantic categorization and closeness. Interestingly enough, though not really surprising, it were the terms on the fringe that caused most of discussion and disagreement in the mentioned discussion. The closer a term is related to a core concept (testing in this case), the more widely it is accepted (i.e. leads to less discussion). As you can see I only included the positive list so far, maybe I should include the negative one as well.
Day 10 – find an event to attend (online or face to face)
not strictly testing,but I signed up for the #liberatingstructures usergroup Hamburg August meetup https://t.co/puUUhfuaNG #30daysoftesting
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 10. Juli 2016
If you haven’t heard about liberating structures, have a look here. It is a great toolbox for improving meetings in terms of getting everyone involved and getting results.
Day 11 – Take a picture of your team
#30daysoftesting we don’t need to talk about requirements. just writing them down is enough! pic.twitter.com/qNeJ92tE4T
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 11. Juli 2016
Seriously: No one ever said that I would have to share the picture. The challenge clearly just asked for taking one!
Day 12 – Doodle a problem
#30daysoftesting maybe I shouldn’t have skipped the Arts class in primary school for additional Handball Training pic.twitter.com/GgvbDSYwxX
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 12. Juli 2016
Day 13 – Find a user experience problem
Audio of cel phone calls goes silent at certain places. WhatsApp call without problems at the same places. #30daysoftesting #usability
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 13. Juli 2016
Well, I knew of this problem before, but experienced it again that day. Actually I am already able to predict where I will loose the connection. And that is voice connection, no problems with data connections at all.
Day 14 – Step outside your comfort zone
Some time ago I wrote about getting out of your comfort zone and what a comfort zone is https://t.co/hIHzjnTSYS #30daysoftesting #ICYMI
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 14. Juli 2016
Stepping out of a different kind of #comfortzone #30daysoftesting pic.twitter.com/OxL9Ho0uFk
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 14. Juli 2016
Day 15 – Find a problem with an e-commerce website
chose my former employer @getDigital_de for today’s #30daysoftesting challenge.can’t add -1 items to cart, but can change to -1 when in cart
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 15. Juli 2016
Finding bugs on this e-commerce website was easier than for the day 8 challenge. Quite a few of clipping and translation problems, but this one actually stood out.
Day 16 – Go to a non-testing event
It won’t get any more non-testing than going on a boat Sightseeing Tour with the family #30daysoftesting #lübeck pic.twitter.com/2QUwDsXzPo
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 16. Juli 2016
If you are ever in Lübeck, be sure to take one of those tours. Sightseeing from a boat is always an interesting thing to do.
Day 17 – Find and share a quote that inspires you
#30daysoftesting #quote #GOAT pic.twitter.com/McmtJcMNvv
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 17. Juli 2016
Day 18 – Find a broken link. And report it
I piggybacked @Marcel_Gehlen‘s approach for my own blog today and it found me 4 dead links. #30daysoftesting https://t.co/5MR0M2bhry
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 18. Juli 2016
I didn’t know http://www.deadlinkchecker.com/ before, but it came quite handy for this task. If you are testing, you occasionally stumble across dead links, but looking for them is a different story.
Day 19 – Find and use a new tool
see day 20.
Day 20 – Find a good place to perform some security tests
see day 19. Well, maybe not:
started to get a grip on @zaproxy for day 19 and 20 combined #30daysoftesting#owasp
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 20. Juli 2016
The Zed Attack Proxy is an interesting tool for performing security testing. I didn’t really get past installing it, watching some tutorial videos and playing around a bit, but familiarizing myself with it is in the upper third of my personal backlog.
Day 21 – pair test with someone
I failed on this one. And that makes me a bit angry, because I am a big proponent of pairing up and sharing knowledge.
Day 22 – share your favourite testing tool
+1 #bugmagnet is really great. And I already recommended it today to a colleague. #30daysoftesting https://t.co/eZWAloBgB7
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 22. Juli 2016
Sharing a brain is pretty hard to do, so this one will have to do. And I bet (and hope) that bugmagnet is the most recommended tool for this day.
Day 23 – Help someone test better
Thank you @DannyDainton for your generosity. You sir are truly amazing! Can’t thank you enough. https://t.co/ASUtt0zUDH
— Patrick Prill (@TestPappy) 23. Juli 2016
I didn’t participate in this challenge due to other social events, but this is a truly remarkable thing. Hats off, Danny!
Day 24 – Connect with a tester who you haven’t previously connected with
No #30daysoftesting this weekend for me. Rather enjoyed beach and Barbecue. But I will catch up soon. pic.twitter.com/OJmXddsclm
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 24. Juli 2016
There was a weekend testing Europe session that day. If you don’t know WTEU yet, better get to know it! Great way to connect with testers from all around Europe and beyond.
Day 25 – Contribute to a testing discussion
We had our regular tester’s meeting that day over at Mach AG, which is a great community of practice with interesting test-related discussions every time, so that’s a big check, even without a tweet.
Day 26 – Invite a non-tester to a test event
#30daysoftesting progress chart pic.twitter.com/b4qmzX5DaF
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 26. Juli 2016
Day 27 – Say something nice about the thing you just tested
I didn’t do any hands on testing that day, so I missed this one out (again). But this challenge to me is about a paradigm shift. Traditionally testers pointed out what was wrong with something. So saying something nice was not really part of the game. Nowadays, with an evolved testing understanding focusing on giving feedback, saying nice things comes more naturally as part of a broader feedback culture.
Day 28 – Summarise an issue in 140 characters or less
Again, no hands-on testing that day. But being concise is certainly a skill every tester should possess.
Day 29 – Find an out by one error
Seems I missed out on yesterday’s challenge by a minute #30daysoftesting
— Christian Kram (@chr_kram) 29. Juli 2016
Day 30 – Give someone positive feedback
Well, this is an extension of day 27 to me (saying something nice without anyone hearing isn’t that helpful, isn’t it?) and since positive reinforcement has been one of my mainstay as a coach, this comes naturally to me and I do so quite often. Positivity ftw!