Category Archives: Planning for Quality

Articles discussing how to build quality into the project through upfront planning, practical practices, and streamlined processes

“Project: Risky Decision” – a Card Game

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Trevor Atkins

I designed this teaching game in 2014 as a different sort of hands-on activity to supplement my Software Testing & Risk Management training sessions and presentations, specifically to highlight certain concepts around risk mitigation strategies. This version of “Project: Risky … Continue reading →

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The Difficult Journey – Building Quality Software

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Brad Thompson

The goal of building software is to produce a product that will bring value to our customers. As software developers we have a reputation for finding and embracing new technologies. These new technologies, however, can only take us so far … Continue reading →

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Testing Matters because Quality Matters

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Trevor Atkins

In the course of crafting my contribution for Alexandra McPeak‘s follow-up article for CrossBrowserTesting.com / SmartBear Software‘s #WhyTestingMatters thread, “Expert Insight: Why Testing Matters“, I wrote the following article.  Check out Alex’s first article, “Why Testing Matters“, as well for … Continue reading →

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Confidence’s Role in Software Testing

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Brad Thompson

Confidence – “the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.” https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/confidence A few weeks ago I sat down to write about verifying bug fixes. I wanted to determine if there was a systematic approach … Continue reading →

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Better Test Reporting – Data-Driven Storytelling

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Trevor Atkins

Testers have a lot of project “health” data at their finger tips – data collected from others in order to perform testing and data generated from testing itself. And, sometimes test reporting gets stuck on simply communicating this data, these … Continue reading →

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The Calculus of Acceptance Testing

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Adam Geras

It’s tempting to believe that acceptance testing is the straight-forward process of comparing the as-built solution to the as-required solution. Any differences discovered during testing are highlighted in defect reports and ultimately resolved through a defect resolution process. You’re done … Continue reading →

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8 Test Automation Tips for Project Managers

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Trevor Atkins

Software testing has always faced large volumes of work and short timeframes. To get the most value for your testing dollars, test automation is typically a critical component. However, many teams have attempted to add test automation to their projects … Continue reading →

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Software Testing Guiding Principles

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Scott Acker

All effective test teams typically have well defined processes, appropriate tools and resources with a variety of skills. However, teams cannot be successful if they place 100% dependency on the documented processes, as doing so leads to conflicts. Especially when testers use … Continue reading →

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Testing COTS Systems? Make Evaluation Count

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Trevor Atkins

Over the years, I have been involved in a number of projects testing COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) systems across a range of industries. Sometimes the project was with the vendor and sometimes with the customer. When it came to supporting a company … Continue reading →

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Stop Testing – Start Thinking

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Scott Acker

Throughout my career I have observed numerous organizations all looking for the ‘silver bullet’ to solve all their product quality problems. News Flash: There is no ‘silver bullet’.  Solving product quality problems can only begin when organizations “Stop Testing and … Continue reading →

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