Habits Of Highly Effective Testers


Have you ever noticed how a few testers seem to get more done effortlessly?

Everything about them is comfortable, confident, & nonchalant yet deliberate at the same time.

What is it about these individuals that sets them apart?

In reality, there’s no set-in-stone formula for being a great tester.

It’s more complex than that.

Fortunately, there are common habits of effective tester that you can emulate.

Here’s a list, along with my tips on implementing these habits in your daily work.

**A.] They Don’t Have A ‘Stack’ Full Of Testing Tools **

How do you stay productive and master a testing tool? Simple, don’t give yourself an option to do otherwise.

If you’re always switching tools to do the same job, then it’s much harder to learn one very well.

Yes you should use the best tool for the job, but most times you can get by with what you’re using now.

Tip #1: Find a tool that you’re drawn to, master it then, go broad on everything else.

B.] They Write Automation Test That Get Better With Time

Besides saving time and being less stressful, building automation test that are easy to maintain will give your company and incredible aura of highly stable code.

Building a layered testing framework is the name of the game. Effective testing avoid quantity for stability.

Tip #2: Take the time to build an automation testing framework for your team. This is the layer between a testing tool (Selenium) & a unit framework (JUnit).

C.] They Test For The End User

Effective testers know that a team’s story point velocity isn’t going to impress end users. They focus on how users will use the product.

Never be afraid to push back if something doesn’t seem right from a user perspective. Even if it’s not in the specs the user should come first.

Tip #3: Spend some time hanging out with & understanding the customer. You want to be a customer focused expert.

D.] They’re Always Testing

Effective testers are ALWAYS testing, even when they aren’t suppose to be testing.

They don’t wait around to be told what and when to test. They’re proactive about writing test plans.

If they see something wrong in another area they’ll take the time to root cause the issue. Even when it’s not directly related to the area under test.

Tip #4: Being an effective tester is like any other habit. With consistent practice your skills will improve. Anyone can report bugs that don’t suck with practice.

E.] They Don’t Know Their Bug Count

They don’t know how many bugs they’ve filled, how many test they’ve automated, or any other meaningless metric.

They’re focus on finding issues before customers do.

Tip #5: Avoid the code coverage trap & similar pesky issues.

By gaining even a few of these habits you’ll achieve result seen by highly effective testers.


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