Non-Coding Activities a Development Team Needs a.k.a ”I don’t code , am I no longer useful ?”

1. Non-CodingActivities a DevelopmentTeamNeedsa.k.a ”I don’tcode, am I no longeruseful?” Maaret Pyhäjärvi| <maaret@iki.fi> | Twitter: maaretp TestSpecialist @ Granlund Oy | Part-timeTrainer | FAST | Agile Finland • Maaret Pyhäjärvi • Nimeä | Attribution (Finland) • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/fi/ • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/fi/deed.en

2. Outline In this presentation, I go through some of my personal experiences about the things of value that I work on in a development team as a professional tester without coding. The lessons I share are colored with real life stories of things that have happened. We will address: • selecting & clarifying what goes into the development pipeline • learning the system on what creates impacts to focus team work • confirming and collecting ideas about what to confirm • delivering and organizing for product feedback • tweaking configurations • designing improvement experiments This presentation is intended as a discussion opener on the skills and activities that benefit a development team, and an invitation to share your own experiences of the value you provide and expect someone to provide to create a successful product/system.

3. Context of the Story Years of software developmentwithout a tester 10 6 SWE SWE 5 2 PdM PdM 04/2012: add 1 tester(=specialistskills to testingthathasbeendonebefore)

4. HowThingsWorked in the Past • Monthlyreleases • Developerswouldtest (owntesting) • No testautomation • Developerswouldactivelyreact on feedback (logs & customer contacts) • Quickdeployment, positivecollaboration • ProductManagerswouldaccept(test in cycles) • Depth of acceptancedepended on otherduties & interests/abilities in testing • Developerswouldenhance the feature for bugs and missedrequirements • Allhoursinvoicable, unhappywith ”the others” nottellingwhatwasneededoracceptingwellenough • No openbugs in the database, butlogstell 10+ % of logged in usersexperiencevisibleerrors, hard to fixwithoutknowingwhat the userdid • Month of redoingtypicalafterdevelopmentdeclaresDone for Product Management • Considerednormalthat a Done feature cannotbeused on firstcycle of acceptance

5. WhatWeWorkTowards • Pride of work and results, fun! • Cleancode and less of it • Lessinterruptions to new developmenttasks • Avoidingunavoidablereworkthroughdiscussionsbeforeimplementing the wrongsolution • Doneincludeschecked + explored – withresults • Streamlinedacceptance

6. SomeNumbers 2013 Summary Notquitewherewe’dwant to be, makingprogressthough.

7. Examples of What I Do at Work as ’TestingSpecialist’ • Learnwhy the productexists & patientlyuse the system in variedways • Example: programerrors • Provide feedback / logbugs • Example: GM 856 / GD 484 issues in 2013 • Example: Vau • Workwithproductmanager & developer to clarify a feature • Example: 3 redos • Negotiatesmallerworkload for the team • Example: test-fix-finalizeweek • Enabletrainings and skillbuilding • Example: coderetreat • Pairupwithdevelopers for sharedexperiences on quality • Example: testingtogether for inventorymgmt • Challengerequirementswithproduct management • Example: specrewriteprior to implementation • Negotiaterightskillsetratios for the team • Example: moreskilledtesting and UI specialists • Example: let 2 peoplego • Point out thingsthatdon’twork • Example: unhappiness • Makeeffortsneededwithskilledtestingvisible • Example: testingbacklog • Fixtypos • Example: reporting vs. fixingtime • Create & Reviewunit & Seleniumtestideas • Example: KSP • Provideideas for how to test a business model • Example: GD productization • CreateUser Help Documentation • Example: GD Help • Providequalityperspective for steeringgroups • Example: Regularreviews of howwearedoing • Present for endusers on behalf of the team • Example: SalesPeople’straining Not a manager, verymuch a senior software specialist.

8. WrappingUp WORK WITH PRODUCT MANAGEMENT • selecting & clarifying what goes into the development pipeline • learning the system on what creates impacts to focus team work WORK WITH TESTING • confirming and collecting ideas about what to confirm • delivering and organizing for product feedback FIX NON-CODE • tweaking configurations HELP PEOPLE DELIVER VALUE BETTER • designing improvement experiments • Product management specialistbenefitfromgoodcollaborationwith the team – OUR product • Business ModelCanvas, ProductBacklog, SpecificationbyExample, Communication • Confirm & Explore • Testautomation (productowner & implementation), multidimensionaluse of the system for feedback • No strictroles • Fixingproblems is allowed for a non-developer and environmentstake a lot of work • Caring for people • Peoplemakeorbreakquality • Creativeideasfrom the outside world

9. Summary Most of developertimegoes on thinking for code, notcoding, and it is oftenhelpful to shareworkwithotherswithdiverseviewpoints Whilegeneralistsable to dealwithallfrom CTO to customersupportwouldbegreat, whoreallydoesthatwithlimitedlearningcapabilities and depth of learningneeded? MANY ESSENTIAL SKILLS – AND PERSONALITY MATTERS (”testerpersonality ” - someonewhotriesthings)