TESTER PERCEPTION - PART 2

Now if we are viewed as people on a project that do not 'build' anything, how can that effect our perception as testers?

Lets start with a quick definition of perception

"the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted. "

So the definition of perception contains the word interpretation. If we are interpreted, there is a risk that the interpretation could be wrong, which in turn can affect how we are viewed as testers. Whether it be how we are regarded in our teams or how we are viewed in the wider software community. In either case there is chance that this could be disastrous for us as a community as well as individually.

The word interpretation instantly (for me) brings to mind the translation of a foreign language. My wife is German but speaks very good English and there are times where she is trying to interpret what I have said in English, to German. Now sometimes it is very hard to interpret because there is no equivalent word in German. Other times what I am trying to say she can translate but it means something slightly different. So interpretation is hard and it requires some work from both sides. Whether it be making an effort to get across what you want to say or trying your best to interpret what someone is saying.

If this is the case in languages, then the same can be said for testing. Are we being interpreted incorrectly?

So going back to how not building anything could view how we are perceived, here are a few views that could be held by other people if they interpret what we do differently to us.

NOTE: these may not be accurate views but they are for illustration only :)

1) Lets just automated testing (Testing Manager)

Why not just automate the testing? As the testing manager I am always getting pressure to reduce the costs in my department, so If I automated the testing I will be saving money as I don't have to pay lots of people, all that needs to be done is to get someone to write some automated tests and that will be the testing taken care of. It can’t be that hard and I’ve seen someone knock up a test in Selenium very quickly.... Also I will get a number of test cases complete and the number of those that have passed and this is a metric which I can use and I won’t just get some woolly document that the testers always seem to produce.

2) Get the developers to test (Testing Manager)

The developers could test surely? They are writing the code so why not test at the same time? If I had a word with the development manager I’m sure we could plan something that would mean that the developers can test and code.

3) Blimey these testers are a pain in the backside (Stakeholder)

These testers are a pain in the backside, they have all this information about the application and they bring up issues such as Usability, but I don't care. I just want the application tested and out in the real world earning money. If they spent as much time actually doing their job of testing rather than finding out about the application this software would of shipped ages ago

4) Can’t we just offshore this? (Testing Manager)

Testing factories - yes that's what we need. A factory of testers that will just write their test cases, go through them and once they have all passed the software can be shipped. Also I will save money as these testers are cheaper than the on-shore ones and they won’t ask so many questions.

5) I can’t see evidence of what these testers actually do (Developers, Test Managers, Stakeholders)

Apart from a few mind maps I can’t really see what these testers produce. I want to see that they have actually done some work. Some days these testers don't seem to have updated any documentation or raised any bugs. I need testers to be productive and produce something that proves to me that they are testing.

OK, these are just a few and I’m sure that you can think of more.

We can be viewed as not productive because we don't 'produce' anything. Some people hold the opinion that that in order to be productive you have to produce something. Testing is a discipline that encompasses an awful lot of different things and not all of these things actually produce anything that can be read, used or viewed

So we may be trying to say something, but these people have interpreted it the totally opposite way. Therefore, on our side (and on theirs) there needs to be some effort to make sure the translation is correct and there are as fewer translation errors as possible.

In Part 3 I will talk about what we can do to help other people interpret us in the way we want.