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STARWEST 2006 Concurrent Sessions
Go To: AGILE METHODS | EXPLORATORY TESTING | INSPECTIONS | METRICS | SECURITY TESTING |
SOA TESTING | SPECIAL TOPICS | TEST AUTOMATION | TEST MANAGEMENT | TEST TECHNIQUES
View by Date
| Test Management | | | Wednesday, October 18, 2006 11:30 AM |
The Nine “Forgettings”
Lee Copeland, Software Quality Engineering
People forget things. Simple things like keys, passwords, and the names of friends long ago. People forget more important things like passports, anniversaries, and backing up data. But Lee Copeland is concerned with things that the testing community is forgetting—forgetting our beginnings. We forget the grandfathers of formal testing and the contributions they made. We forget organizational context, the reason we exist and where we fit in our company. We forget to grow, to learn, and to practice the latest testing techniques. And we forget process context, the reason that a process was first created but which may no longer exist. Join Lee for an explanation of these nine “forgettings”, the negative effects of each, and how we can use them to improve our testing, our organization, and ourselves.
• Learn how we must constantly rediscover
• Understand that each “forgetting” limits our personal and organizational ability
• Discover the power we have to grow and to improve |
| | | Wednesday, October 18, 2006 1:45 PM |
Quantifying the Value of Your Testing to Management
Arya Barirani, Mercury
Congratulations, you're a true testing expert. You know all there is to know about test planning, design, execution and reporting, performance tests, usability tests, regression tests, agile, SCRUM, and all the rest. But it’s still possible that your IT executives and business stakeholders do not fully understand the value of your work. It's time to communicate with them in a language they understand: Return on Investment (ROI). Arya Barirani will show you how to calculate the ROI of common test activities including test automation, defect reduction, and downtime prevention; how to create reports for maximum effect; and how to evangelize the value of your testing efforts. You will learn how to make better decisions about investments like strategic sourcing, lab infrastructure, and staffing through better quantification of their business value.
• Learn how to use ROI as a metric to demonstrate the value of testing
• Consider reporting techniques for maximum executive buy-in
• Discover marketing (yes, marketing!) techniques for promoting your testing activities |
| | | Wednesday, October 18, 2006 3:00 PM |
Step Away From the Tests: Take a Quality Break
John Lambert, Microsoft Corporation
Designing, implementing, and executing tests is critically important, but testers sometimes need to take a break. John Lambert describes four un-testing techniques that can quickly improve quality: watching bugs, helping developers, talking to other testers, and increasing positive interactions. Watching bugs enables us to see defect patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. Helping developers allows you to understand their process and help them understand yours. Talking to other testers helps you learn new techniques and share your experience. Increasing positive interactions builds a cohesive team that works together to solve problems. Join John as he presents ways to easily incorporate these un-testing activities into your schedule to help improve the quality of your products.
• Learn why testers need to step away from their daily testing activities
• Make a positive impact on your systems’ quality
• Add these activities to your schedule |
| | | T1 is a Double-Track Session! | | Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:45 AM |
Management Networking
Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Sometimes, it feels as if you're the only test/development/project manager/director/VP you know with your particular problems. But I can guarantee you this—you're not alone. If you have problems you’d like to discuss and start to solve, this session is for you. Each participant will have a chance to both air their concerns and help others. You'll have a chance to meet other managers across industries and countries; hear how your peers have solved problems; listen to the current issues your peers are addressing; solve some problems; hear from experts; and build your personal contact network. Bring your notebook, a pen, and plenty of business cards.
• Learn multiple problem-solving techniques
• Practice some peer coaching
• Ask for and receive expert advice |
| | | Thursday, October 19, 2006 1:30 PM |
Skill Diversity: The Key to Building the Ideal Test Team
Barry Power, Bayer Corporation
The dictionary defines “diversity” as “variety”—and that’s just what an effective test team needs. It’s much easier to hire people just like you—after all, they are easy to understand and manage. But Barry Power has found that teams consisting of all thinkers, all planners, all doers, all coordinators, or all finishers are not as effective as teams with a diverse composition. Barry has built powerful teams when combining leading-edge thinkers with nose-to-the-grindstone doers, the steadiness of experience with the enthusiasm of rookies, and the benefits of knowledge with the vision that only new eyes possess. Join Barry as he describes successful teams in fields as diverse as aerospace rockets and medical devices. Learn how you can create more effective teams through diversity.
• Discover the powerful meaning of diversity
• Learn what characteristics to value in teams
• Match team members with team roles and responsibilities |
| | | Thursday, October 19, 2006 3:00 PM |
Building a Testing Factory
Patricia Medhurst, RBC Financial Group
At Royal Bank Financial Group we are building a testing factory. Our vision is that code enters as raw material and exits as our finished product—thoroughly tested. As a roadmap for our work, we have used the IT Information Library (ITIL) standard. ITIL is well known throughout Europe and Canada but has yet to make inroads in the United States. It defines four disciplines: service support, service delivery, the business perspective, and application management. These disciplines define processes such as incident management, problem management, availability management, change management, and many others. Join Patricia Medhurst as she discusses their success and their next steps in completing their testing factory.
• Learn how Royal Bank built their test factory
• Understand how to integrate individual process into a cohesive whole
• Determine if ITIL would be useful for your test organization |
| | | Friday, October 20, 2006 10:00 AM |
Keeping it Between the Ditches: A Dashboard to Guide Your Testing
Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services Inc
As a test manager, you need to know how testing is proceeding at any point during the test. You are concerned with important factors such as test time remaining, resources expended, product quality, and test quality. When unexpected things happen, you may need additional information. Like the dashboard in your car, a test manager’s dashboard is a collection of metrics that can help keep your testing effort on track (and out of the ditch). In this session, Randall Rice will explore what should be on your dashboard, how to obtain the data, how to track the results and use them to make informed decisions, and how to convey the results to management. Randall will present examples of various dashboard styles.
• Build your own test management dashboard
• Select useful metrics for your dashboard
• Use the dashboard to successfully control the test |
| | | Friday, October 20, 2006 11:15 AM |
Improving the Skills of Software Testers
Krishna Iyer, ZenTEST Labs
Many training courses include the topic of soft skills for testers, specifically their attitudes and behaviors. Testers are told that to be effective they need a negative mindset and a negative approach. Krishna Iyer challenges this belief. He believes testers must be creative rather than critical; curious rather than destructive; and empathetic rather than negative. Join Krishna as he leads exercises in mind mapping, systems thinking, and belief deconstruction to improve our eye's ability to perceive detail, our nose's ability to sniff out defects, and our brain's ability to discover. Finally, Krishna will list the beliefs that hinder testers and the beliefs that help and share how he has been successful in deconstructing some of these beliefs and inculcating new ones.
• Hear the latest research in cognitive thinking
• Learn practical techniques to improve testing skills
• Understand the mindset of effective testers |
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