A Testers Guide to Deal with Missed Bugs

I’m happy to announce our financing of $4.6M&nbsp; led by Accel and STRIVE, with participation from BoldCap and a host of well known entrepreneurs and operators 🎉



These include Shanmugam Krishnasamy, co-founder and CTO of Freshworks; Kiran Darisi, co-founder and VP of engineering at Freshworks; Parsuram Vijayasankar, co-founder and principal engineer at Freshworks; Vetri Vellore, CEO of Ally.io; Nitesh Banta, CEO at B12; Ioann Fainsilber, Co-Founder at Pintek, among others.



I’m grateful to the entire Testsigma team, our users, partners as we celebrate this huge milestone! And, I would like to welcome our investors to this exciting journey!



With an increasing focus on automation and DevOps, software delivery is faster than ever before! Automated testing is essential for balancing software quality with the accelerated velocity of release cycles, but because the toolchain that is supposed to enable automated testing has many moving parts, test automation becomes a parallel development project in organizations. Plus they have huge upfront and ongoing resource, tech, and expertise costs.&nbsp;



Today’s test stacks have made test automation more about writing and maintaining scripts than about taking quality software to market as quickly as possible.



What we’re trying to do at <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> is not just simplify test automation to speed up the testing, but also make it a sustainable, scalable process in which the tools and frameworks don’t require ongoing maintenance, freeing up the teams to focus on value delivery instead of building and maintaining scripts and frameworks.



Thousands of developers, QAs, product managers across the world at teams like Sage, HPE, Netgear, HDFC Life, IEEE,&nbsp; SignEasy, American Psychological Association, Mehiläinen, and more use Testsigma to test continuously throughout their software delivery cycles.&nbsp;



Since our beta launch we have run 1.5M+ tests for hundreds of products, and on boarded 1000+ users, we are now we have got all the power to accelerate our growth.



We will use the capital to strengthen the core engineering and product team and to build alongside and for a global community of testers, test automation engineers, and developers.



I would like to take this opportunity to share with you our next steps, what we will be focusing on, our road map, and how we are thinning and shaping this platform.&nbsp;



Our focus areas:



<ol><li>Bringing standardization to a fragmented testing toolchain</li><li>Enabling faster, more scalable test automation</li><li>Improving stability and reliability of automated tests&nbsp;</li><li>Leverage AI to build an autonomous testing platform&nbsp;</li><li>Extend to solve for complex <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-make-test-automation-more-inclusive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">test automation</a> requirements</li><li>Enabling everyone in modern teams to test for faster releases</li><li>Grow our community and build Testsigma as an open source project</li></ol>



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#The_current_test_stack_is_broken_needs_a_fresh_approach">1 The current test stack is broken &amp; needs a fresh approach</a></li><li><a href="#Bringing_standardization_to_a_fragmented_testing_toolchain">2 Bringing standardization to a fragmented testing toolchain</a></li><li><a href="#Building_a_unified_testing_ecosystem">3 Building a unified testing ecosystem</a></li><li><a href="#Effortless_extensibility">4 Effortless extensibility</a></li><li><a href="#No-code_testing_thats_not_just_record_and_playback">5 No-code testing that’s not just record and playback</a></li><li><a href="#Why_Open_Source">6 Why Open Source?</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="the-current-test-stack-is-broken-needs-a-fresh-approach">The current test stack is broken &amp; needs a fresh approach</h2>



Our founding team has been part of multiple product teams for various organizations, with each one of us being part of product teams for around 15 years. We have seen test automation problems first hand many times and helped the teams build scalable test automation processes.



In that time we’ve primarily seen two types of test automation approaches implemented, both being imperfect:



1. Custom built frameworks



Most teams prefer building a custom test stack/framework because of the flexibility but there are significant drawbacks:



i. We realized that the modern test stack is fragmented. It has too many moving parts to be easy to set up and scale.



ii. Given there are so many use cases, languages and app types, test automation becomes overwhelmingly complex &amp; time consuming to the point where it becomes its own development project.



2. Scriptless tools powered by AI



Modern tools are simple to begin with but don’t scale for complex setups and constantly evolving applications.



It became clear to us that simple, no-code, AI powered solutions are vendor dependent in terms of flexibility required for scale, whereas custom built solutions require intensive complex dev and integration efforts to both build and maintain over time. As a consequence, <a href="https://www.capgemini.com/in-en/insights/research-library/world-quality-report-wqr-20-21/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">almost two-thirds of all teams</a> that automate their testing never see a return on their investment.



In a nutshell, the current test stack is complex, time consuming to build, and just doesn’t scale like you would want it to.



We want to change that by standardizing the fragmented test stack and coalescing it into an easy-to-use platform that combines the flexibility of open source test automation tools but with the ease of existing closed source low-code solutions.



<h2 id="bringing-standardization-to-a-fragmented-testing-toolchain">Bringing standardization to a fragmented testing toolchain</h2>



We now know the problem lies with the lack of a common standard in the testing ecosystem. So how do we stop test automation from becoming a complex parallel development project?&nbsp; When we set out to build Testsigma we laid out 3 core principles the platform should achieve:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Unify a broken test stack</li><li>Simplify the complete testing cycle, from test planning to design, all the way to development, execution, and analysis</li><li>Make quality a shared responsibility by enabling non-programmers in the team to test</li></ul>



What we’re trying to do is not just simplify test automation but bring sustainable scalability that can help users and teams actually do more testing rather than being caught up with building and maintaining scripts and frameworks.



<h2 id="building-a-unified-testing-ecosystem">Building a unified testing ecosystem</h2>



To really solve for the broken test stack, we had to make sure our platform doesn’t limit users to specific use cases, programming languages, application types etc.&nbsp;



We decided to bring everything under one roof and built Testsigma as an open-source, low code platform that mimics what the modern Test automation workflow looks like.



Our platform works out-of-the-box. You don’t have to ‘set it up’ one framework, library, and tool at a time. You can simply install it and directly start automating tests for web apps, mobile apps, and APIs. This enables teams to shift focus towards scaling testing rather than maintaining the automation framework to support it.



From test development to reporting, users can perform integrated end-to-end testing that&#8217;s supplemented by powerful TestOps, built-in test data management and one-click integrations with delivery pipelines, for web apps, Android and iOS apps, and APIs, etc.



Read more about Testsigma <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.



<h2 id="effortless-extensibility">Effortless extensibility</h2>



We have seen that after teams automate a number of ‘standard’ tests, they struggle to scale because test scenarios increase in number and complexity while release cycles shortened. It&#8217;s no secret that test automation requirements are unique to every organization and constantly change&nbsp; based on the product &amp; what stage it is at. Test automation requirements can start out small and then grow rapidly.



We wanted to make scalability and extensibility something that was accessible and easy.



Testsigma&#8217;s platform approach will enable everyone to easily add custom actions, data generators, reports, integrations etc. form a community powered marketplace and build all these as needed using a simple Testsigma SDK.&nbsp;



Also, we are an open source platform, you can dig deep and extend the core platform as you need.



<h2 id="no-code-testing-that-s-not-just-record-and-playback">No-code testing that’s not just record and playback</h2>



In cross-functional development teams, <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-automation-by-smes-qa-analysts-for-continuous-delivery-and-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">everyone including Devs, QAs, PMs are responsible</a> for the quality of releases. To balance quality with release velocity, we see teams adopting <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-continuous-testing-supercharges-your-automation-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shift-left continuous testing</a>. 



We built Testsigma as a platform that everyone in the team could use to plan, develop, execute, and analyze tests, but the traditional ‘record-and-playback’ approach to to test development left a lot of room for flakiness and browser compatibility issues to creep in.



To create tests in Testsigma all you need to know is simple English. You can either write tests step by step, or generate them by recording real-time user scenarios and interactions that are auto-converted into editable tests.&nbsp;



<h2 id="why-open-source">Why Open Source?</h2>



Our objective is to collaboratively build a future-ready test automation platform, an ‘operating system for software quality’ alongside its most important stakeholders – the user, that decisively bridges the gap between development and testing.



In our journey so far, we’ve noticed that there is a misalignment across quality, teams and tools. There isn&#8217;t a tool in the market that involves every quality stakeholder, technical or not, in the building and integration of a test automation framework within the SDLC. We think that by open sourcing our platform, we can bring SDETs, Test Engineers, and Test Automation architects on the same page as QAs, PMs, and SMEs.



Check out <a href="https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma GitHub repo</a>!



We open sourced Testsigma to achieve a few goals:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>With access to our source code, teams can dig into, customize and extend Testsigma as needed</li><li>Makes it easy to integrate existing open-source technology stacks. This flexibility is often missing in closed-source testing tools</li><li>Open-source is low risk because it doesn’t involve security constraints 3rd party cloud-based tools are restricted by</li><li>We are aware of the immense complexity in test automation, and that every challenge cannot be solved by one team. Open source is a powerful enabler where the entire dev &amp; testing community can collaborate towards the singular goal of simplifying test automation for everyone</li></ul>



We will of course continue to invest time and resources into improving both the open source and cloud version of our product but it’s the contribution of the community that will make Testsigma the universal standard in test automation.



Thank you! 🙏

Testsigma raises $4.6M from Accel and STRIVE to simplify test automation for everyone

Testsigma raises $4.6M from Accel and STRIVE to simplify test automation

Valentine’s day is a day to express your love to the other person 💞. You need not explicitly do this through words. Showing gratitude, care or making them comfortable all are signs of expressing love. 



But is it the same with people doing jobs together?



Relationships other than romantic ones often overlook this aspect of work that keeps people happy and make them stay for long &#8211; just like what happens in a relationship.&nbsp;



One such relationship is of testers with their reporting managers. A happy tester-manager relationship shows a direct positive effect on work quality. A happy tester stays in the company for long and provides valuable contributions constantly.



On a similar note, this valentine’s day, I have drafted a few points to strengthen your relationship and analyze areas to give special attention to.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Eliminate_the_nervousness">1 Eliminate the nervousness</a></li><li><a href="#Make_tester_comfortable_in_the_team">2 Make tester comfortable in the team</a></li><li><a href="#Involve_testers_as_much_as_possible">3 Involve testers as much as possible</a></li><li><a href="#Respect_their_way_of_working">4 Respect their way of working</a></li><li><a href="#Provide_support">5 Provide support</a></li><li><a href="#Surprise_with_rewards">6 Surprise with rewards 🎁</a></li><li><a href="#Whats_your_story">7 What’s your story!</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="eliminate-the-nervousness">Eliminate the nervousness</h2>



The initial part of any relationship begins with nervous individuals (like a newly joined tester). Unlike a romantic date, here one person – the manager, has a higher position and might have spent years dealing with new joiners. In any case, it is a new environment for the tester while the manager is already in his comfortable space. The nervousness, therefore, is only associated with the tester who just joined the organization and everyone is new to him.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/lIi1_oFnYUc_VVQ_9kSwgL0trneos0X2RJs_5nKaB57D41R23q-wWXtFoQRZOwm8KwPRAHkTLcjY3ZtVGLqiGzX-bWpdDTokmOPFSWObvNPhEzQQ1vUfRWZ1AWJsru9Ncwk1LwBA" alt="Eliminate the nervousness" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption><a href="https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/welcome-new-hire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Source</a></figcaption></figure></div>



Here is the chance to eliminate a tester’s nervousness. Ask questions that allows him to open up and be comfortable around you. These questions can be either of his past work for which he can speak freely or just general questions. Once the tester gets comfortable, you’d be able to sense the confidence in his inputs.



<h2 id="make-tester-comfortable-in-the-team">Make tester comfortable in the team</h2>



The next phase of your relationship kicks in when the tester is all settled and is ready to contribute to the software quality work. This is an important part of your relationship as an initial impression of the work culture can impact his contribution and output directly.



The best way to make your tester feel comfortable is to start by asking your development team to have a unified working mindset. If there are bugs, consider them legitimate and appreciate the work. Sometimes development team do not get along with testers due to their opposite approach towards software development.



One thinks that the software is working and when bugs arise, a lot of the time developers are quick to say, “Well, it works on my machine!”.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BNmEkvxIoPg2QRj8CmSgX6EtCOhv_OXMrXLzZglXkCoOfKM0FHSqOnFm9BWpfOawvqlsmuXxOXtKQrBZbsF9mcB2DLw7T6OtV4Kt8gpMcYqJZNm-8I4kqPYshmOc5uiucywYKOHV" alt="Make tester comfortable in the team" width="600" height="400" /></figure></div>



A tester should also be given ample time to perform his responsibilities. Bombarding the project a day before the release for testing and delivering is not a good approach to make your tester feel important and loved with your team.



On the contrary, it can make him stressed affecting the quality of work. A better way is to ask your tester how much time does he need to complete XYZ? Or in 2 days, how much can you complete? Consider all the phases of testing before setting any deadline such as verifying the bugs etc. Changing your approach with a small variation starting this valentine&#8217;s day can mean a lot to the tester.&nbsp;



<h2 id="involve-testers-as-much-as-possible">Involve testers as much as possible</h2>



Involvement directly shows how much you care about the person you are involving. The same feeling is experienced by the other side also. Unfortunately, sometimes testers might be left out in some areas where the manager thinks their work is different from what the discussion is about.&nbsp;



Involving the tester in sprints for better <a href="https://testsigma.com/ebook/in-sprint-test-automation-simplified" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in-sprint testing</a> will make them understand the current release-ready product. It will involve them in the development process that is always considered a good practice. Making them work on a version that has already been released can bring their morale down.



To strengthen your relationship, ask the tester to give as much input as possible. What do you think about this? Do you see any flaws in the planning? etc. This can make him feel important to the team and loved by the teammates.



<h2 id="respect-their-way-of-working">Respect their way of working</h2>



Each person has a different way of working things and I&#8217;m sure your tester will have his/her way too. Unless he is a fresher, he might have failed repeatedly and settled on a methodology that he would have found successful and efficient. This may or may not be the way in which you or your team works. Let’s start by respecting the methodology rather than imposing our own on the tester.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cFoa3cxnEvQ4JVGkEeVLf8jXBYmCa3D-mIK61D-s988xrMu-L6KdgqoUU_Khh7GkJ9Fc1RIC3fSR_IVF0eeOGTuZ3svk7YwrqCG3FFRS_XGVsKTRts1cW2fUrAaROxU-8BUt4VR7" alt="Respect their way of working" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page">Source</a></figcaption></figure></div>



In addition, you should not only let him work his way but understand what his methodologies are. Maybe it is better and more efficient than how you currently work and you may like it. Even if you don’t, it will help in planning for future activities with respect to the way of work.&nbsp;



<h2 id="provide-support">Provide support</h2>



A good relationship always expects that people support each other in hardships and acknowledge prosperity. The same implies to a tester and manager relationship. There cannot be defined parameters for this section though. For instance, support may extend when the tester has delayed in delivering the tasks on time. Or answering a small (or silly) question patiently and in detail just like answering any other question.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Muwn3gSuRQLMBzrUaL4faBNkhpOEeV-UfmLRlW3f5dJaEN5LmAgyCganHFA1Nm1Q3u-mdgADcWt2JffvpEN8J3hiVru1Opy9ebnAOCNjGern1ssRnaPSC7W4ZrLx-8dLReJw3mZ7" alt="Testsigma - Provide support" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.hrinasia.com/employee-relations/how-to-give-employees-the-assistance-they-need-when-they-need-it-the-most/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Source</a></figcaption></figure></div>



A new tester may need more support from his manager as he is constantly figuring out different things about the organisation. Being readily available over chat or email (especially in work from home arrangements) is the best thing you could start doing from this day!



<h2 id="surprise-with-rewards">Surprise with rewards <a href="https://emojipedia.org/wrapped-gift/">🎁</a></h2>



The final thing you need to keep in mind to always maintain your relationship strong is surprising your tester frequently. Acknowledging someone for their work motivates people to do more. Not only this, they feel more comfortable and friendlier around you which is a sign of a growing relationship. Just like in a romantic relationship, surprising with <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/what-to-gift-your-software-tester-friend-if-you-were-the-secret-santa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gifts</a> also keeps your relationship healthier and the tester (or any employee) would feel valuable in the company. This increases retention and gives a bond with the employee for life.



<h2 id="what-s-your-story">What’s your story!</h2>



With the end of this small discussion on amplifying your relationship with your tester, I am sure you would have recalled your instances too. From making your tester comfortable in the new environment to providing him support in every hurdle he faces, there is always something unique about each relationship. In the comment section, let’s hear out your relationship with your tester and how you make sure that he is always appreciated.

Amplify your relationship with testers this valentine’s day!

How to contribute to open source projects

Why & How to Contribute to Open Source Projects?

Reasons to Choose an Open-Source Test Automation Tool

Top 4 Reasons to Choose an Open Source Tool for Test Automation

One day suddenly the whole world locked down to prevent the pandemic from being spread uncontrollably. When machines and factories were all stopped &#8211; your social media, mobile applications, and all the digital world was still operating at the same pace as before. 



Even if you did not notice, millions of developers and testers worked from their homes to keep you online and help you share your thoughts, purchase essential supplies and view live news.



What started as a necessity has now become a new normal in the information technology industry. <a href="https://kissflow.com/digital-workplace/remote-work/shocking-work-from-home-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">More than 55% of industries have now been permitted</a> to work from home even when the pandemic is over. 



Maintaining the same efficiency as the in-office setup is not possible if you are indulged in a complicated connection of multiple tool &#8211; you would need a good tool that not only supports but facilitates the work no matter what location you are working from. 



In this post, we will discuss one such tool along with a few points that make our remote life easy. How the tool manages in these situations, is the crux of our post.



For simplicity, I have divided this post into two different sections &#8211; technical and management &#8211; how <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Testsigma, a completely cloud-based test automation tool</a>, supports team members in both these domains while they work from home. Both of these sections focus on their respective expert areas with respect to Testsigma.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Technical_capabilities">1 Technical capabilities</a><ul><li><a href="#Cloud-based_infrastructure">1.1 Cloud-based infrastructure</a></li><li><a href="#Scalable">1.2 Scalable</a></li><li><a href="#English_based_scripting_using_NLP">1.3 English based scripting using NLP</a></li><li><a href="#Integration_with_tools">1.4 Integration with tools</a></li><li><a href="#Support_for_multiple_testing_methods">1.5 Support for multiple testing methods</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Management_capabilities">2 Management capabilities</a><ul><li><a href="#242157_Support">2.1 24&#215;7 Support</a></li><li><a href="#Collaborative_editing">2.2 Collaborative editing</a></li><li><a href="#Role-based_responsibilities">2.3 Role-based responsibilities</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">3 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="technical-capabilities">Technical capabilities</h2>



This section describes the technical capabilities of the tool Testsigma, for software <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">test automation</a>, that help the team execute tests smoothly.



<h3 id="cloud-based-infrastructure">Cloud-based infrastructure</h3>



The first requirement for working from home efficiently is to use a tool that is available over the cloud network. Testsigma checked this point even before the pandemic arrived. 



Cloud-based systems provide a two-fold advantage to the team. Firstly, it is available anywhere and everywhere you want it. You can sit in India or the United States or use my PC or your friend’s, you just have to log in and all your work will be visible to you right away.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/vc0NmnGBM9HWbF18KEfCDEVDhbAF9PIbYCWMDWFH7Ve6p-y9NwdADs9YqYipY4SIHZxdnAzXzfsUmGTV7Bb2qh5HeNjIBgFdpxKfA6URuPSX_25JgXd9J9pzv0knLB31qHZTRnHr" alt="Cloud-based infrastructure" width="600"/></figure></div>



Secondly, cloud-based systems do not eat up your personal resources that can have a huge impact on test execution. Consider you are running test scripts on one application while writing test scripts in another framework on a 4GB system. 



This can slow down the process and delay the test results. Since you are working from home, there is no other system to share the load also &#8211; Testsigma, a completely cloud-based test automation tool, lets you use your own resources for other works while providing their own powerful infrastructure to assign machines and run tests on them. As far as your personal system is concerned, an internet connection and a browser are all you want.



<h3 id="scalable">Scalable</h3>



A project, no matter how much potential it has, always start small, slow, and then eventually scales up with time. But even if you have a small team working remotely, scalability is always kept in mind for the future. 



If you are at a point where you are scaling constantly but the tools you are using have given up on you, the whole project can face a downtime which is bad for business and reputation.



Testsigma comes with scalability features for all types of teams &#8211; an individual, a team, or a complete organization. Testsigma works on the cloud infrastructure and therefore if you have a requirement to scale up your testing, you can do that just by clicking a couple of buttons with the comfort of sitting at home. 



This way you not only save a lot of time but you pay only for the number of resources you use and hence speed up the delivery.



<h3 id="english-based-scripting-using-nlp">English based scripting using NLP</h3>



Your legacy test code may be written in a programming language that your testers may or may not know. The same situation comes for frameworks that support only a couple of languages.&nbsp; To make changes to that code and write test scripts of their own the testers have to learn that supported programming language and then understand the legacy code. 



This problem can be faced either remotely or in-office. But what happens in such a scenario is that when people try to understand the code, they face a lot of problems in either understanding the logic or the flow of the execution. 



Resolving this issue in the office is easy. You just have to go to the tester/developer’s desk or someone who has already worked on it and get a bit of knowledge transfer or support from them. The work is done.



In a remote office setup, the only option is to either call or chat through your preferred application. This can be a lot of pain as people are busy and as a result, the process can extend to multiple days. 



Testsigma offers a straightforward and simple solution to this. The tool comes equipped with <a href="https://testsigma.com/ai-driven-test-automation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">artificial intelligence</a> and <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/smart-test-automation-using-nlp-what-you-should-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">natural language processing</a> capabilities. In simple words, it lets you do the simple work and perform the harder job by itself by asking you to write the scripts in plain English language.



The following image demonstrates a test script written to navigate to a particular website:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/8UJPNCOb5xo8UNY87ZPUP0MKu-EurmSyxjQRHMOtBEZyzlGIAp0aXsuHUDMQ7Hi2iVbkslqH7ggyCtzhTv40UezT0xVDaZH0BRQZMSrEhTeldx3fAbfOxmX3q4ovIDvxi44iJIdx" alt="Testsigma NLP based test" width="800"/></figure></div>



So when a new person looks at your legacy code, it is just like reading English sentences (refer to the above image). The process of completing the testing then becomes faster even while sitting at home.



<h3 id="integration-with-tools">Integration with tools</h3>



Software integrations need no introduction to the people working in the software industry. There is no perfect tool that has everything in-built into it. We have an awesome bug tracking software while another awesome cross-browser testing device lab etc. A good tool is one that can join all the integrations and provide you with convenience on a single screen.&nbsp;



Testsigma takes care of all the necessary integrations that the testers can use from the platform and make use of it as required.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/5a63PBbKVxB1I8hirP3yNbPTSEWwG3kHeN4vH-TDdYRrGQeBJYeg54gR3pbKnJxQFChWSLD9C86hPr3AsVmecvRitLs0HnAwSlzk38gmC1hsaDicWbuwzVhTgHBULqELPe-CbshA" alt="Integration with tools" width="800" height="448"/></figure></div>



You can also find the most important aspect of testing &#8211; integration with CI/CD tools for smooth build and test phases on each version. You can visit the integrations page to know more about the integrations that you may require.



<h3 id="support-for-multiple-testing-methods">Support for multiple testing methods</h3>



Software testing is a big umbrella that contains a lot of sub-testing processes that ensure that the released software is of top quality. These may include <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">regression testing</a>, <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">automation testing</a>, mobile app testing, cross-browser testing, etc. 



For all these things to work remotely, you might have to go for one framework that can do data-driven testing, another for automation, etc.&nbsp;



Testsigma brings every sub-testing process onto a single platform giving the freedom to the tester of choosing anyone or using all of them as per the requirements. With Testsigma, you don’t have to switch to various frameworks and learn each of them. 



The tool provides robust data-driven testing, regression testing, cross-browser testing, automation testing, and much more for the teams. While working remotely, if you are learning just a single software for all your needs, you can speed up the cycles.



<h2 id="management-capabilities">Management capabilities</h2>



This section describes the management capabilities of the tool that play an equal role in increasing efficiency and productivity while working remotely.



<h3 id="24x7-support">24&#215;7 Support</h3>



The most important part of working remotely as described in the NLP section above is the need to understand the framework or tool you are working on. 



If you are stuck anywhere, you just have two options &#8211; either google it, find the solution and try if it works or you can ask anyone from your team who has already worked on the framework before. While working remotely, both of these options have a high probability of failure as you are not physically present to ask anyone.



Testsigma understands that while working remotely, you may face a problem that needs to be solved urgently whether it is day or night. Therefore, the tool comes with 24-hour support every day so that your work never suffers at any time and you have someone to clear your queries from.



<h3 id="collaborative-editing">Collaborative editing</h3>



Collaborative editing is a process combining two terms &#8211; collaboration and editing. Collaboration means you have a platform that can facilitate sharing the documents, progress, reports etc. 



If I am done with a testing process, maybe I can send my reports from the same platform or it gets shared automatically to the team etc. In simple words, even if we are remote, the team gets an organized set of documents at their disposal. Collaborative editing is however a bit different than just collaboration.&nbsp;



For example, Google docs allows collaborative editing in which instead of sharing a copy of the document, we share the link to the same document with another person. The receiver can then edit the same document and I can see the changes. 



This is an important feature to look for while working remotely because it can get really messy if we start sharing multiple documents to the complete team and then look at the changes by each of them. It can become a small GitHub of our own but more complicated than that.



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank">Testsigma, a completely cloud-based test automation tool</a>, provides collaborative editing to its testers for not only sharing the test cases with the team but they can also provide their suggestions on the same test case while working from the comforts of their homes. 



This way, the whole team can see the changes on a single document and there is no complications or confusion to address.



<h3 id="role-based-responsibilities">Role-based responsibilities</h3>



In-office setups often work in different environments and are controlled by either credentials or access roles assigned in the backend that can restrict unauthorized access. When we are working remotely using a tool, this becomes a problem as now you are connecting to the tool’s server rather than using your own. 



Consider a scenario where you are two team members working on the same project and hence share all the files. But, since your teammate is in a senior position, he has access to deleting a file that you don’t. He can also create a new task for you or himself. If in any way, you can also do the same action as he does, it becomes a security loophole especially when contract employees are on board.&nbsp;



Testsigma comes with the user access levels to predefine who has access to what in the tool. You can also create custom roles and define access to them as per your requirements. While working from home, this becomes very helpful as you don’t have to create another layer through yourself when the tool covers everything for you.



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<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



 Working from home has become a new normal in the IT industry. Not only it has become convenient but <a href="https://kissflow.com/digital-workplace/remote-work/shocking-work-from-home-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">more than 75% of employees find it more productive</a> than in-office work. It seems like working from home will continue for some time now and for IT, it is not easy. 



The remote setup leaves us with the only option of using chat or calls to connect with someone and resolve our queries. Using multiple tools for multiple purposes just increases the query count a lot more which then results in the delay of work, projects, and fewer test cycles as before. 



The need of the hour is a tool that is complete in itself and can provide you with the functionalities of all the individual tools in a single place. Testsigma fits perfectly in such a scenario providing the tester with a platform that can help in automation, cross-browser testing, regression testing, and many more types.



Testsigma is a completely cloud-based test automation tool built on a robust infrastructure providing a clean interface and centralized testing experience to the organization, meanwhile, enhancing the work from home experience too.



Testsigma presents a unique style of writing the tests in the English language that helps in easy test creation. All these features help testers in work from home setup as learning becomes very easy and with 24-hour support, one dedicated person is always there for you. With Testsigma, you just have to focus on testing and the rest is taken care of by the tool.



We tried our best to highlight how the test automation tool Testsigma can smoothen out your work from home. However, if you would like to query anything else about the tool, feel free to contact our support. Also, we would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

Simplify your work from home challenges with test automation tool Testsigma

Simplify your Work from Home Challenges with Test Automation Tool Testsigma

25 Top Software Testing Trends to Look Out for this Year

Communication is the key to managing the stakeholders. Many times, not enough efforts are made to communicate clear details, status, risks on the ongoing projects. On the other hand, not everyone can detail every important aspect or gauge what’s important to communicate without being subjective and setting aside all emotions during communication.&nbsp;



Usually, Engineering teams are focused on their work and do not put a lot of emphasis on communication and highlighting the risks with all the data. Even when they do, the usual sentences will be ‘should be able to complete on time’, ‘too many bugs’, ‘not ready’, &#8216;looks good’ which are all subjective in nature and do not really convey the information that helps in making a decision. Often there are assumptions that communication happened or that everyone knows all the details. This leads to management being in the dark on important aspects.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-1.png" alt="George Bernard Shaw Quote" class="wp-image-16688" width="329" height="242"/></figure></div>



One way of ensuring <a href="https://www.chanty.com/blog/guide-on-effective-communication/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">smooth communication</a> is to have proper data to represent the status and risks.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Metrics_in_SDLC">1 Metrics in SDLC</a></li><li><a href="#When_and_when_not_to_use_Metrics_in_SDLC">2 When and when not to use Metrics in SDLC</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="metrics-in-sdlc">Metrics in SDLC</h2>



Metrics are pure data. They show you numbers without emotions which is the most important factor in analyzing the data. The real problem, in SDLC, starts when these metrics are considered as a single source of truth or when they are taken up as absolute measures or when used inappropriately.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="358" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-XPcvwEhd3Kcm.jpg" alt="Goodhart's law" class="wp-image-16693"/></figure>



A few notable points on metrics:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Metrics are indicators of current or past conditions&#8211;they are not THE truth. The proper initial response to any metric anomaly is to investigate, not act.</li><li>The more a quantitative metric is visible and used to make important decisions, the more it will be gamed.</li><li>Be careful what you measure because that is what you are going to get. You should measure things, but understand when to make them as targets.&nbsp;</li><li>Vanity metrics makes you feel good, they cannot be used for decision making.</li></ul>



Also Know: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/v-model-in-software-development-life-cycle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">V model in SDLC</a>



<h2 id="when-and-when-not-to-use-metrics-in-sdlc">When and when not to use Metrics in SDLC</h2>



There are some metrics that are absolutely useful while there are others that are mostly misleading or distracting, more of a Vanity metrics or that can be easily gamed. In other words, not well thought of. Every Manager, every leader at some point goes through the process of picking a wrong metric, getting carried away with the same.&nbsp;



Always ask questions before you pick a metric:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Will they be gamed?</li><li>Are we choosing Vanity metrics?</li><li>Do we need to use this metric as a measure?</li><li>Do we need to publish this metric?</li></ul>



Learn More: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/entry-and-exit-criteria/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Entry and Exit In SDLC</a>



Take for example &#8211; ‘Zero technical debt’ as a Metric &#8211; this means all bugs identified, during the SDLC, should be fixed and cannot be left in the backlog. If we start measuring teams on this metric, the whole focus will be on fixing every bug even if it’s from a feature that no customer has been using,&nbsp; even in cases when it’s impacting the new features and so the customer adoption.&nbsp;



There are a few metrics that we should watch silently, during the SDLC, to understand how the team is doing, to understand what needs to be improved in our process. If you upfront publish these metrics as measures, they will eventually be gamed.&nbsp;

Metrics in SDLC: Let the Truth Prevail

COVID-19 has changed our lives in so many ways. There is not a single aspect of our life that is untouched by it. The way organizations operate their work has also changed drastically. Before 2020 no one would have guessed that work from home will become such an internationally accepted phenomenon.



However, working from home has been a new experience for most of us, and there are times that we find ourselves struggling too. So, we thought of sharing some tips and tricks with the testing community that is working from home, aiming to improve their working experience overall.&nbsp;



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Maintain_continuous_team_collaboration">1 Maintain continuous team collaboration</a></li><li><a href="#Robust_and_secure_infrastructure_saves_the_day">2 Robust and secure infrastructure saves the day</a></li><li><a href="#Meeting_tools_to_have_effective_global_meetings">3 Meeting tools to have effective global meetings</a></li><li><a href="#Keep_distraction_away_from_the_work_area">4 Keep distraction away from the work area</a></li><li><a href="#Tracking_the_processes_to_plan_better">5 Tracking the processes to plan better</a></li><li><a href="#Maintain_professionalism_at_all_cost">6 Maintain professionalism at all cost</a></li><li><a href="#Set_clear_boundaries_and_expectations_for_others_and_yourself">7 Set clear boundaries and expectations for others and yourself</a></li><li><a href="#Take_breaks_and_do_exercise_to_keep_the_spirit_high">8 Take breaks and do exercise to keep the spirit high</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">9 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="maintain-continuous-team-collaboration">Maintain continuous team collaboration</h2>



During regular office setup, any doubt clearance or communication can happen right away. However, in a remote working setup, smooth communication becomes challenging.



In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly &#8211; Mark Sanborn. This quote is absolutely true, when working in a team communication and collaboration is the key to success. Relying on text messages to communicate is not productive at all. Today, teams are relying on <a href="https://www.cloudtalk.io/phone-solution-for-remote-teams/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">communication tools</a> like Zoom, Skype, and Slack, etc. to keep team collaboration handy.&nbsp;



Also, the integrations with tools such as JIRA, Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint etc. keep the teams on the same page. This is critical since even if a small detail is missed the results can be catastrophic from a testing perspective.



A daily stand-up, even for 10-15 mins, is essential for smooth communication among the team members. You can have a daily stand-up at the beginning of the workday to resolve any roadblocks and define tasks for the day. A daily standup in the evening can help to communicate how much has been achieved for the day and plan the day ahead better.



<h2 id="robust-and-secure-infrastructure-saves-the-day">Robust and secure infrastructure saves the day</h2>



Today, when people are working from home, they are using personal or company-provided laptops to connect to the office network. In such a case, the infrastructure is required to be robust and stable to provide 24*7 available testing environments for automation testing.



Mostly we are using a virtual desktop to stay connected to the organization’s network. Any technical glitch such as a network bandwidth issue can impact the output of the whole organization. This can cause a huge negative impact on the employees and the clients as well especially in an agile environment. 



We cannot even afford a single day of downtime when working in sprints. Hence, it is imperative for organizations to have proper backup and plan to tackle such unforeseen issues.



From employees perspective, there are infrastructure issues that can impact the productivity for the day, they are:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Unstable internet connection</li><li>Video recording not working</li><li>Screen sharing lags in voice and screen</li></ul>



The most common and annoying is internet connectivity issues. Even a few packet drops in the internet connection can disconnect you from the virtual network. Hence, it is very important to choose a service provider which provides the best network and customer support in your area.



<h2 id="meeting-tools-to-have-effective-global-meetings">Meeting tools to have effective global meetings</h2>



This is an era of distributed teams across the world where their team members are sitting across continents, where businesses are renting virtual business and <a href="https://www.alliancevirtualoffices.com/virtual-office-blog/virtual-mailing-address/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">virtual mailing addresses</a> for their remote working environment.



Obviously, the teams need to work in such a timing where the time zones coincide and overlap. The usual 9-5 office timings will not work, in a globally distributed team set up.&nbsp;



<a href="https://attrock.com/blog/slack-alternatives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tools such as Slack</a>, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, etc. help teams to share screens so that the whole team can view the same screen and provide inputs. This is really required when the testing team is demonstrating a defect during a defect triage call.



These tools help to keep the communication game up without any compromise on the quality of work.



<h2 id="keep-distraction-away-from-the-work-area">Keep distraction away from the work area</h2>



In an organization’s office setup, employees are focused on their work only. However, when we are working from home there are all sorts of distractions around. This is normal because it is home, not an office, but as an employee, this may impact our productivity.



&nbsp;Distractions like other family members working from home and having meetings or children having online classes are daily events. There may be guests visiting or your cat needs your attention. 



The list is endless, but there has to be a way to keep the distractions away and stay focused on work. Because you will not want to miss a defect anyway.



A solution is to have a separate corner in the home where you can set up your workstation away from these distractions. Choose a corner that is comparatively quiet and has a well-defined work routine. Create a to-do list daily, this plan will help you to achieve short-term goals and maintain mental peace.



<h2 id="tracking-the-processes-to-plan-better">Tracking the processes to plan better</h2>



During a testing process, you need to track and plan the testing activities such as:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Test planning</li><li>Test scripts writing</li><li>Test data creation and management</li><li>Test versioning, review, and approvals</li><li>Test case scheduling</li><li>Test reporting</li></ul>



Thankfully, we have many testing tools that are great for managing the above-mentioned testing activities. These testing tools are available on the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere, hence they promote work from home. Thus, out of all the tips we discussed above, the most important for the testing community is the adoption of testing tools during work from home &#8211; for managed and quality software testing.



One such <a aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test automation tool is Testsigma</a>, which is cloud-based, AI, and NLP-driven. It helps you to write your test cases in plain English and accelerates the test case writing by up to 5x speed. 



You can perform automated end-to-end testing of web, mobile, and APIs at ease. There is no need to write cumbersome code and framework any further.



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In a DevOps and Agile environment, teams are working on the cloud and the same version of artifacts are accessible to everyone. Without metrics, parameters, and tracking we can not have a successful scrum. 



Data such as how many test cases are executed, the number of unit/regression tests failed, which defects are new or fixed, etc. helps in having a clear picture of the testing process. 



This helps in tracking tasks such as who is writing test scripts for which module. This in turn enables proper planning of tasks for the whole team. The <a aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/ebook/in-sprint-test-automation-simplified" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in-sprint test automation</a> helps to achieve quick results with continuous testing and integration of code.



If there are any resource bandwidth issues, the testing activities can be quickly redistributed to the whole team to have minimum impact on the delivery date. This tracking and continuous status sharing to the higher management helps in making decisions and coordinating release management.



You can also use <a aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/what-are-the-kpis-of-software-testing-and-qa-testsigma/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KPIs</a> to track the effectiveness of your software testing and <a aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test automation</a> process, it can be as primitive as colour-coding. For example, you may keep this colour coding to determine how much the team has achieved out of the expected output. 



This can be applied on a daily/weekly basis to keep the team motivated to achieve their short-term goals. Green may mean awesome work, yellow may mean great work, etc.



<h2 id="maintain-professionalism-at-all-cost">Maintain professionalism at all cost</h2>



Although it may seem comfortable to work from bed, it is not a good idea to do so. You will agree that a proper work routine and ethics certainly help to achieve a better outcome. Maintain a proper workstation desk with all the technical essentials available right there.&nbsp;



There are steps that you can take to maintain professionalism during working from home:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Dress professionally: Working in a comfortable t-shirt and pyjamas is an advantage of working from home. However, when you have important meetings wearing a formal dress instils a sense of professionalism. </li><li>Video meetings: Make sure that you attend video meetings on a desk setup and not from anywhere. Also, try to keep background noise as minimum as possible, as we understand in a home we cannot totally avoid it.</li></ul>



<h2 id="set-clear-boundaries-and-expectations-for-others-and-yourself">Set clear boundaries and expectations for others and yourself</h2>



An issue which most people face during work-from-home is that the boundaries between working and non-working hours blur. People find themselves attending late-night work meetings. They complain about working longer than when they used to work at the office. Why is it so? The reason is a lack of proper boundaries and unclear expectations.



It is advisable to be firm and assertive about the office timings, mention clearly how many hours per day you can invest. Do not accept more work than you can execute in designated working hours. The reason is that blurring these boundaries is toxic for your family. Losing on family time can negatively impact your mental peace and work eventually.



It not only applies to you, but it also applies to others as well. When you are defining daily tasks or other assignments, meetings, etc. for your team members, stay empathetic about their family life. If you&#8217;re struggling with working overtime, use a <a href="https://www.timecamp.com/blog/2023/02/best-weekly-schedule-templates/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weekly schedule template</a> or simply use <a href="https://apploye.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">time tracking software</a> to keep track of the overtime and plan your work ahead.



<h2 id="take-breaks-and-do-exercise-to-keep-the-spirit-high">Take breaks and do exercise to keep the spirit high</h2>



Due to COVID-19, people are already feeling low globally, because everyone is missing the life they had pre-Covid. The monotonous life with no fun may become outright boring. To come out of negativity it is really important you take mini-steps to elevate your mood and feel refreshed.&nbsp;



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Do not sit for long hours at a stretch, take mini breaks in between to divert your mind from stress and work pressure.</li><li>Play with kids or pets, it is the easiest mood refresher.</li><li>Exercise or take small walks, releases endorphins in the body and makes you feel happy and good.</li><li>If you love playing games, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://im-a-puzzle.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">play jigsaw puzzles</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.solitairebliss.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solitaire games</a>. It will help you refresh your mind as well help you improve cognitive and learning skills. Taking breaks and staying active during the day is essential, Working late into the night can disrupt your sleep, leaving you tired the next day. Remember, taking a break at night is just as important as daytime breaks. So, invest in a peaceful night&#8217;s rest on a <a href="https://eachnight.com/mattress-guides/best-mattress/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cozy mattress</a> to boost your spirits and energy for the next working day.</li></ul>



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



“I discovered that a fresh start is a process. A fresh start is a journey – a journey that requires a plan.” – Vivian Jokotade



So, for the testing community and also in general &#8211; consider work from home as a new beginning which has its perks such as work-life balance, the flexibility of work timings, and no need to travel for work, etc. However, it has its share of limitations as well. Technical and personal aspects of work from home need to be sorted out for a seamless work experience by proper planning and vision ane we hope that this tips will help.




PC: <a href="https://www.freepik.com/vectors/people" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">People vector created by goonerua &#8211; www.freepik.com</a>

Working from home - tips and tricks for the testing community

Working from home – tips and tricks for the testing community

What to gift your software tester friend if you were the secret Santa?

What to gift your software tester friend if you are the secret Santa?

George Ukkuru is a seasoned technocrat and AVP of quality engineering, DevOps, and SRE @Marlabs Inc. Over the course of two decades, he has helped Fortune 500 companies implement Agile testing practices. He has also authored a number of books on quality engineering and test automation. 



In this QnA, Ukkuru lays out the scope and depth of his experience without even trying. He makes the points that non-functional testing should be higher up in your priority, that manual test data provisioning keeps you from truly reaping the rewards of automation, and that you must never miss an opportunity to celebrate good work. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Q1_What_changes_have_you_seen_in_SDLC_and_QAs_role_in_it_over_the_course_of_two_decades">1 Q1: What changes have you seen in SDLC and QA’s role in it over the course of two decades?</a></li><li><a href="#Q2_Whats_your_battle-tested_process_for_finding_and_resolving_bugs_in_Productionnbsp">2 Q2: What’s your battle-tested process for finding and resolving bugs in Production?&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Q3_What_are_some_testing_anti-patterns_you_wish_never_existed">3 Q3: What are some testing anti-patterns you wish never existed?</a></li><li><a href="#Q4_If_you_had_to_restart_your_career_today_what_key_lessons_would_you_take_from_the_past">4 Q4: If you had to restart your career today, what key lessons would you take from the past?</a></li><li><a href="#Q5_To_aspiring_leaders_what_is_your_advice_on_how_to_be_a_good_manager">5 Q5: To aspiring leaders, what is your advice on how to be a good manager?</a></li></ul></div>
<h3 id="q1-what-changes-have-you-seen-in-sdlc-and-qa-s-role-in-it-over-the-course-of-two-decades">Q1: What changes have you seen in SDLC and QA’s role in it over the course of two decades?</h3>



In the last two decades, I have seen:



1. The emergence and dismantlement of the TCOE model, aka Independent Verification and Validation. It started in the early 2000s. Today, TCOEs have been converted to a hybrid model as teams adopt Agile &amp; DevOps. 2. Automation used to be a nice-to-have skill. When I started my career, automation was used for automating UI-based regression testing. Today, automation is a must-have skill, and the focus has moved from regression testing to complete test lifecycle automation.



The type of applications that are being tested has changed as well, from (now) legacy client server-based applications to microservice-based or cloud-based architectures. This changes how teams test for quality. 



The focus has shifted to non-functional testing, including running security tests, API &amp; workflow-based performance testing, Chaos Engineering, compatibility testing, etc. As technology advancement continues, we’ll see newer, more nuanced types of testing.



<h3 id="q2-what-s-your-battle-tested-process-for-finding-and-resolving-bugs-in-production">Q2: What’s your battle-tested process for finding and resolving bugs in Production?&nbsp;</h3>



Once a bug&#8217;s been found on production, I have several practices to fast-track its resolution:&nbsp;



1. Continuously review production tickets and identify defect trends, in collaboration with the Operations Team.2. Use an algorithm that identifies the best developers for determining the root cause and fixing the defect.3. Organize regression packs based on the type of fixes going into production and define when to use them.4. Monitor social media feedback, application logs, Mobil App Store feedback to identify the issues faced by the end users and take proactive actions to identify patterns.



<h3 id="q3-what-are-some-testing-anti-patterns-you-wish-never-existed">Q3: What are some testing anti-patterns you wish never existed?</h3>



I see several anti-patterns in software testing. But the ones that peeve me the most are:



1. Heavy focus on UI Automation. The effort and cost to maintain UI automation is disproportionately higher than the rewards, I think. UI changes frequently as the products evolve. Teams need to strike a fine balance between UI and API-based tests. API Tests are faster to design, execute and maintain.



2. Manual test data provisioning. The test data is ported to test environments after manually masking data from obfuscation. That is slow. You can&#8217;t truly automate for DevOps using this approach. Instead, teams should use synthetic data provisioning and self-service mechanisms to accelerate and automate data provisioning.



3. Late Identification of Non-Functional Defects. This is usually a result of a lack of clarity around non-functional testing requirements. Performance or security tests are seen as a part of &#8216;hardening&#8217; or release-level sprints. Unfortunately, performance and security bugs often need architectural changes to fix, and keeping non-functional testing for the end of the cycle can cause schedule and cost overruns.



I advise teams to look at behavior-driven testing techniques to document security and performance requirements. Engineers should also integrate and execute API-based performance tests and SAST/DAST scans to the DevOps pipeline.



<h3 id="q4-if-you-had-to-restart-your-career-today-what-key-lessons-would-you-take-from-the-past">Q4: If you had to restart your career today, what key lessons would you take from the past?</h3>



Master at least one programming language, preferably Java, Python, or C#, so that you can design and create scripted tests.



Focus on taking up courses around test automation, either with open source or commercial tools.&nbsp;Or both.



Spend time learning about practices and concepts in software testing. ISTQB Foundation syllabus should be a good starting point.&nbsp;



Learn about Cloud, Agile, and DevOps principles and practices. Learn the basics of tools like Jira, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, etc.



Your communication skills matter more than you think.&nbsp;Work towards improving them. 



<h3 id="q5-to-aspiring-leaders-what-is-your-advice-on-how-to-be-a-good-manager">Q5: To aspiring leaders, what is your advice on how to be a good manager?</h3>



Take up formal courses on Agile or Project Management. Refresh your skills regularly to stay relevant.



This is my style, but I advise new managers to get actively involved in the project. Remember that you are not a people manager. Understand what the project objectives are and how it is going to impact a business or end-user. Work from there.



Understand the technologies involved so you can grasp the nuances of the project. This will help you make decisions and manage risks.



Learn the art of remote management. Here are some practices that work for me:-



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Have frequent meetings with your direct reports, preferably over video.</li><li>Do NOT micro-manage and follow-up every hour. Trust your team. Move away from a task-based and adopt a Goal-based approach while assigning work.</li><li>Spend time with your team to understand their strengths, passions, and weaknesses. Assign work based on their strengths and provide training and mentoring to help employees overcome their weaknesses.</li><li>Keep your team in the loop about the happenings in your department and the larger organization. This will help take care of rumors and avoid perceptions.</li><li>Provide feedback on the work assigned without delays. Don&#8217;t be a bottleneck.</li><li>Never miss an opportunity to appreciate and celebrate good work.</li></ul>



For more experience-led insights from George Ukkuru, check his book on software testing estimation on Kindle.

Quality Engineering Discussions 5 Questions with George Ukkuru

Quality Engineering Discussions: 5 Questions with George Ukkuru

Rahul Parwal is a software engineer, speaker, mentor, and writer out of Jaipur, Rajasthan. He has dabbled in software development, testing, and automation, and often shares his learnings in <a href="https://testingtitbits.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">his blog</a>.



In this QnA, Rahul makes the point that a randomly failing test is always worth investigating and that assumptions are dangerous in testing.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Q1_What_are_your_most_and_least_favorite_things_about_test_automationnbsp">1 Q1: What are your most and least favorite things about test automation?&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Q2_It_sounds_great_on_paper_but_what_would_it_really_take_for_a_mid-sized_org_to_incorporate_continuous_testing_in_their_release_cyclenbspnbsp">2 Q2: It sounds great on paper, but what would it really take for a mid-sized org to incorporate continuous testing in their release cycle?&nbsp;&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Q3_What_are_some_Severity_1_bugs_that_ALMOST_slipped_past_you_and_how_did_you_make_sure_they_never_did_so_again">3 Q3: What are some Severity 1 bugs that ALMOST slipped past you — and how did you make sure they never did so again?</a></li><li><a href="#Q4_How_do_you_manage_failed_tests_and_tests_that_fail_randomly">4 Q4: How do you manage failed tests and tests that fail randomly?</a></li><li><a href="#Q5_Whats_your_most_memorable_deployment_andor_release_day_Good_OR_bad_just_as_long_as_no_one_dies_at_the_end8230">5 Q5: What’s your most memorable deployment and/or release day? (Good OR bad, just as long as no one dies at the end&#8230;)</a></li><li><a href="#Bonus_If_you_could_give_just_ONE_piece_of_advice_to_fledgling_software_testers_what_would_it_be">6 Bonus: If you could give just ONE piece of advice to fledgling software testers, what would it be?</a></li></ul></div>
<h3 id="q1-what-are-your-most-and-least-favorite-things-about-test-automation">Q1: What are your most and least favorite things about test automation?&nbsp;</h3>



One of the things I like about test automation is that it can be scaled over multiple platforms, devices, interfaces, environments, etc. quickly and reliably. Test automation, if planned and executed correctly, can be a great service to testing and QA.



There is, however, The Silver Bullet Syndrome, where everyone wants to ascribe the responsibility of succeeding with test automation success to a tool. “Let’s find the one tool to solve all of our problems.” It doesn&#8217;t work.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ghN79ATI0DLYh5CNL3-LxlBUzyTg_fCE011vqAikrZkvyJqUZWPufXB3-U_BQNUtUCnw_qjdmjD0g4OSQGM_kurFoNBWGnPFVwH-dpYhyrWL36RWBwbVm4P-ILV8z8KCIp6Q_--H" alt="Definition" width="600"/></figure>



The concept of automation extends well beyond a tool. Teams attempting test automation should consider a tool’s capabilities and limitations. But first, they should establish realistic expectations, sort out people constraints, and have the support of management. Without all three, adopting test automation will just be an uphill battle.



<h3 id="q2-it-sounds-great-on-paper-but-what-would-it-really-take-for-a-mid-sized-org-to-incorporate-continuous-testing-in-their-release-cycle">Q2: It sounds great on paper, but what would it really take for a mid-sized org to incorporate continuous testing in their release cycle?&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3>



The best way to start is by evaluating and understanding your context, team, and environment.



&#8220;No matter how they phrase it, it&#8217;s always a people problem,&#8221; as Sherbie&#8217;s Law says.&nbsp;CI/CD and consequently, continuous testing, needs a shift in the team&#8217;s mindset. If you push a whole bunch of processes and tools on people without getting them on board, you are setting them all up for failure.&nbsp;



In practice, my advice is to start with small experiments and do one thing at a time. Don&#8217;t expect overnight results, and <ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Make it a team sport. Establish channels of collaboration. Hold knowledge-sharing sessions. Try Pair and mob testing to reduce knowledge silos within the team.</li><li>Plan before you execute. At each stage of the product life cycle, plan what and how you&#8217;ll test.</li></ul> 





<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/k81_BbjtH20lB1vpqnVsN9Sij_GDLcaZa6KtTE9P6hAF17sur2tq9Xj81j2CmxqWgPDEiMy3hrjeHj6x0ftLAlMia_XmvetYDw_WDirOJ3O5WbQPBHdPgkzVj4R9MG9rsfFRSw-M" alt="Plan before you execute" width="600"/></figure></div>



<h3 id="q3-what-are-some-severity-1-bugs-that-almost-slipped-past-you-and-how-did-you-make-sure-they-never-did-so-again">Q3: What are some Severity 1 bugs that ALMOST slipped past you — and how did you make sure they never did so again?</h3>



I have had two such incidents. I’ll share both, along with the lessons I learned from them:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Software loading was failing if a specific application is running in parallel. Lesson: Test your software in real user conditions. Remember to test how your app works with shared resources such as memory, space, network resources, etc.</li> <li>The application gave a timeout if the form submission exceeded 15 minutes. Lesson: Actual users are not as fast as an automation bot/script. Users will take will never perform a form submission as quickly as a script, so use waits judiciously.</li></ul>



<h3 id="q4-how-do-you-manage-failed-tests-and-tests-that-fail-randomly">Q4: How do you manage failed tests and tests that fail randomly?</h3>



A failing test establishes my confidence in a test I’ve designed. The amazing Angie Jones once tweeted something which sums up my feelings on failed tests.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/0SG95qwUYRPHWIFFupruMFOcQE4y1wgMeyTfDrUNOwAO7sHAERCa3PC7e_SEGVzhCbnRKyOxrHyizTYGGGv3cd5OpLg8LYL0E3yTlkVrTb5mQuJLLrXEWSrwhfRaC0ckYHeCUAy8" alt="How do you manage failed tests and tests that fail randomly" width="600"/></figure>



Randomly failing tests are interesting. They give me a reason to go sleuthing, to find and uncover variables that might be affecting my product and its functionality. My bug analysis and exploration skills have greatly improved as a result of investigating such bugs. Whenever I see a randomly failing test, I triangulate failure conditions by varying:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Data</li><li>Behavior</li><li>Options &amp; Settings</li><li>Software &amp; Hardware Environment</li><li>Configuration &amp; Dependencies, etc.</li></ul>



A randomly failing test is usually a symptom of a much larger problem. Sometimes, developers refer to such cases as corner cases, but I&#8217;ve learned to never ignore a random failure without investigating it. It might just be the tip of the iceberg of a whole load of flaky tests.



<h3 id="q5-what-s-your-most-memorable-deployment-and-or-release-day-good-or-bad-just-as-long-as-no-one-dies-at-the-end">Q5: What’s your most memorable deployment and/or release day? (Good OR bad, just as long as no one dies at the end&#8230;)</h3>



In my first project as a software tester, I was testing for a product release of a large enterprise financial application. The stakes were very high since this product was developed to sunset a legacy system that had been in place for decades.



During testing, we were going through all the flows on a mocked simulated data set that was providing data as per our testing layer. After months of rigorous testing, on the release day, we started getting errors from the monitoring system.&nbsp;



There were gaps in the mocked simulated data and the actual production data. We hadn’t questioned the authenticity of the test data during the testing cycle. We ended up with a release rollback.



Some lessons that I learned that day:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Never assume anything &#8211; What if the data is wrong?</li><li>Learn how to create your own testing data. This way, you understand the sources, flows, and formats of the data.</li><li>If you use mock/simulated data for testing, be sure to run a significant number of tests using real data as well.</li></ul>



<h3 id="bonus-if-you-could-give-just-one-piece-of-advice-to-fledgling-software-testers-what-would-it-be">Bonus: If you could give just ONE piece of advice to fledgling software testers, what would it be?</h3>



Like Paul Muad’Dib of Dune, “Learn how to learn.” Testing is a continuous search for information: Both about your product and the tests that you run it through. None of us are born with knowledge. Trust that you can learn new ways to test. Be a continuous learner.

Quality Engineering Discussions: 5 Questions with Rahul Parwal