One of the first things I did when joining my previous organisation was pitch testing throughout the SDLC. I wanted to share the importance of testing everything that we do. However not everyone shares that idea of continuous testing throughout the SDLC. For some continuous testing is continuously running the same tests over and over. […]
Author: Rich
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Devs can test
I repeatedly hear the notion that developers can’t test. I’m not sure if this is because we’re protective of our role (testing has been a dying role for decades) or to excuse developers who can’t be bothered to test. So let me be clear… Devs can test. In fact if I had a high risk […]
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A new era ahead
I’ve recently been made redundant after 14 years of service, the last 2 as a Quality Coach for Avigilon software (although the first 6 months was without a job title). However I am not disappointed or upset. Quite the opposite. It has given me a new lease if anything. I am excited for what the […]
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2024: Glad That’s Over
It has been a trying year, both personally and professionally. However before I flesh that out, I thought I’d try and articulate everything that has happened for me within the world of testing & quality: Big Fat Failure In my annual review I was quite scathing of myself. I failed the teams We started a […]
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Sketchnoting Adventures
I’ve been meaning to write this for a while but after a really interesting conversation at TestBash, I decided to finally get something written down! In June 2023 I attended Testing Atelier X and it included a workshop by Marianne Duijst on sketchnoting. I’ve seen some very attractive looking sketchnotes from many people, including the […]
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Success & Grief
I know this isn’t related to testing or quality but I wanted to air it as it does affect my interactions with people and the community. It has been a year since my wife passed away unexpectedly. Unsurprisingly it was a difficult year and I’ve really struggled. At the same time I’ve had what many […]
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2023 – A Reflection
It has been some year. I started in a dark place with lots of change underway. However it is, professionally speaking, been a bit of an immense year. Speaking Building upon my first time speaking at a testing conference in 2022, I’ve been fairly active. From running a threat modelling workshop for a small set […]
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Running Workshops
A little while ago I was asked about my experience and learnings from running workshops and what advice I have. I thought I’d share my thoughts on here. As a quick note up front, I am under no illusion that I’m not an expert and am still learning. I did also look into teaching as […]
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I’m not an expert
This topic could touch on many areas. I rate myself as an excellent tester, but I’m no expert in the field (I’m not “book smart”). I used to have great domain knowledge, but lately I’ve struggled after moving project and finding myself not understanding a word of what people are talking about (not fun when […]
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Collaborative reflections
Earlier this year I wrote about my changing role and push to help improve working practices and support my teams in testing. In terms of my role, it is certainly coming together. Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting involved more and more with teams and helping teams reflect on quality. My big win […]