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Psychology

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Do we need Testers? What is the right question to ask?

8 minute read - Psychology

Asking questions like “Do we need testing?” are important. But there are other questions we should probably ask first.

Claude Shannon on Creative Thinking Strategies

7 minute read - Psychology

I have had “A Mind At Play” by Jimmy Sonni and Rob Goodman sitting on my shelf for a while now, waiting patiently with a bookmark on page 219 for me to revisit for reflection. This is the section of the book that describes Claude Shannon’s 6 Strategies for Creative Thinking.

Normal is the rarest of all states

2 minute read - Psychology

TLDR; if you blindly copy an expert you do not learn context, you replicate mannerisms and lose their subtlety. Consciously analyse their actions, learn their skills, and apply them individually in a coordinated fashion.

Join the Anti Test-Automation Brigade Article for Testing Circus Magazine

11 minute read - Published Articles Test Automation Psychology

I wrote an article for the Testing Circus April 2016 issue. With the controversial and thought provoking title of “Join the Anti-“Test Automation” Brigade”. It has substance and is not just click bait.

NLP For Testers

2 minute read - Psychology

NLP for testers This is the supporting web page for the talks, and papers, on “NLP for testers” which I presented at a variety of conferences". There are some supporting reference material mentioned on this page which are not contained in the paper, either because of their topicality or their web specific nature. NLP Meta Model For Testers The Meta Model paper put out for comments to both the testing and NLP communities.

Q: What is Testing? A: look inside...

3 minute read - Psychology

What is Testing? Do you care? Why? Do you want to know because you want to know where the limits of your job start and end? Do you want to know because someone asked you that question and you think you need to give them an answer? Do you want to know because you really like definitions of abstract concepts? Do you want to know because you need to pass an exam and give someone the right answer?

Use Real Words to Communicate, Not Testing Phrases

2 minute read - Psychology

I think people use ‘standard’ testing phrases too much. e.g. System Testing Testing Performance Testing Functional Testing Non-functional Testing Black box testing Unit Testing etc. etc. The user of each phrase holding the assumption that the reader/listener of each phrase understands the phrase the same way as the user. They don’t, they have their own models that underpin that phrase. Try using real words. One recent example from the world in which I inhabit:

Paranoia as a learning and testing strategy

2 minute read - Psychology

Honestly who doesn’t enjoy reading conspiracy theories? Who doesn’t enjoy putting on the Helm of Paranoia.

I use paranoia as a learning strategy and as a testing strategy.

You can too…

Dangerous Test Concepts Exposed - QA and 'Types' of Testing

8 minute read - Psychology

There exist test ‘concepts’ which, while seemingly simple, have a tendency to confuse. Black Box/White Box Testing Functional/Non-Functional Testing Positive/Negative Testing QA Years spent studying hypnosis and revelling in the ambiguities of communication have left me with an inability to parse language the way I did as a child. I used to have the ability to read, and use, these terms without blinking. Now I throw a ParseException. I realise the above concepts may not seem strange to the majority of people reading this blog post.

Can the words that we use affect our thinking

5 minute read - Psychology Essays

How do the different words we use to describe a system, change the way that we think about that system? Can we describe the Application Under Test differently and change the way that we think about it?