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tristaanogre's avatar
tristaanogre
Esteemed Contributor
7 years ago

Pro-Tip: Don't forget - You are testers

Hopefully a brief one:

 

While much automated testing gets its biggest ROI from being regression tests, there is an aspect of the process of test automation that I think gets missed sometimes.  Frequently, people tasked with automating tests for an application get focused on getting the tests to run, making sure that you cover all contingencies, etc.  And this is laudable stuff.  But in the process don't forget:

 

You are a tester.

 

If it doesn't make sense, report it.

If the behavior doesn't seem right, report it.

If the application is clunky and unweildy and not user friendly, report it.

 

Basically, don't forget that, as you're digging in and trying to get that drop down list to click or figure out how to map that obscure component, you are a tester and one of the first lines of defense of the application before the end user sees it.  Too many times I've seen folks write a bit of automation to make the test run well when, in fact, what they were doing is masking something in automation code that really is a bug.  It doesn't do you any good to automate a bad application implementation.  

2 Replies

  • Marsha_R's avatar
    Marsha_R
    Champion Level 3

     

    If it doesn't make sense, report it.

    If the behavior doesn't seem right, report it.

    If the application is clunky and unweildy and not user friendly, report it.

     

    This this this always this!  Tickets are free.  Create piles of them if necessary. You may be the first person to look at the app who hasn't been staring at it for weeks and can see the typos or find that the tab order sucks or some other thing that got overlooked.   You may also be the last one to look at it before it gets released.

     

    You may not be the one who decides if the issues get fixed or not, but reporting every one you see can keep headaches from happening later.

    • AlexKaras's avatar
      AlexKaras
      Champion Level 3

      > You may not be the one who decides if the issues get fixed or not, but reporting every one you see can keep headaches from happening later.

       

      Yes, exactly so!

      One of the tester's responsibilities is to provide the management with the information about application's state. And it is management's (or stakeholders' if you like) responsibility to make the motivated but not blind decision whether or not the application may be released.

      (This is how I see it for the perfect world :) )