Your Users are Diverse – Why Aren’t Your Testers? – Big Ideas from TestBash Manchester 2018

One of the biggest conversations in tech at the moment is increasing diversity in the industry. As a 35 year old white middle class male, I represent a very large percentage of people working in our industry, but a much smaller percentage of the actual users of technology worldwide. If we are making products for […]

Testing in Production – Big Ideas from TestBash Manchester 2018

As testers, we’re used to performing most of our jobs in an isolated bubble where the worst that can happen is, often, getting blocked by a bug. We test code, sometimes in multiple environments (just to be really sure) and then we push up to production. Once the code is there, we may do some […]

Testing is a Thinking Craft – Big Ideas from TestBash Manchester 2018

Through understanding our thought processes and those of people around us, we can become better testers. We can achieve more, get our way more often, and make fewer unreasonable mistakes. Whilst we recognise the potential “dark side” of these abilities, let’s remember we are using them to achieve a positive result for our organisations and […]

Attending TestBash: The Dos and Don’ts

Four TestBashes in, I feel like I’ve finally cracked it. Here’s my tips for enjoying your TestBash experience YOUR way!

Finland 2018

A few months back I visited the ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL Finland, spending a week living in a log cabin and driving around 2000 miles, hitting 8 national parks and seeing several wild moose (meese?) in the process. Some pics below – and a video of the walk up to our cabin (via the “swimming pond”).

Dealing With Commitment – Priority Order in Sprints

A recent encounter with a new (to my team) Scrum Master has me scratching my head, and I thought I’d get some thoughts down about it. It relates to the order teams are expected to deliver stories in. My understanding is, and has in fact always been, that when the scrum team commits to work, […]

99 Seconds of Impostor Syndrome; or, my lightning talk about being terrified of talking to a room full of testers

I mentioned in my first post here this year that I was just back from TestBash Manchester 2017, where I’d surprised myself by giving a lightning talk to several hundred testers. Lightning talks are unscheduled and involve signing up on the day, queuing for your turn on stage and then, if you’re anything like me… […]