Post on 15-Jul-2015
W2
Test Techniques
10/15/2014 11:30:00 AM
Testing Lessons Learned from
Sesame Street
Presented by:
Rob Sabourin
AmiBug.com
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com
Rob Sabourin
AmiBug.com Rob Sabourin, P. Eng., has more than thirty years of management experience leading teams of software development professionals. A well-respected member of the software engineering community, Rob has managed, trained, mentored, and coached hundreds of top professionals in the field. He frequently speaks at conferences and writes on software engineering, SQA, testing, management, and internationalization. Rob wrote I am a Bug!, the popular software testing children's book; works as an adjunct professor of software engineering at McGill University; and serves as the principle consultant (and president/janitor) of AmiBug.Com, Inc. Contact Rob atrsabourin@amibug.com.
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 1
Testing Lessons
from Sesame Street
Robert Sabourin
President & Principal consultant
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
Montreal, Canada
rsabourin@amibug.com
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
Testing Lessons Learned from Sesame Street
Rob Sabourin has discovered testing lessons in the Simpsons, the Looney Tunes
gang, Great Detectives, Dr. Seuss, and other unlikely places, but this year he
journeys to Sesame Street. Sesame Street teaches basic life skills in a safe,
entertaining, memorable style. Rob uses them to solve stubborn technical,
management, and people-related testing problems. Oscar the Grouch guides us
through failure mode analysis. Ernie and Bert help us tackle problems from different
perspectives. Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus teach about persistence, rhetoric, and
bug advocacy. The Count misdirects management with fallacious metrics. And
Kermit demonstrates that it is not easy being a tester, but we can make a difference
by getting the right things done well. Sesame Street songs teach testing lessons,
too. Rob performs a powerful affinity analysis singing "One of these things …".
Enjoy testing lessons brought to you by Rob and your friends at Sesame Street.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 2
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 3
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 4
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 5
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 6
Learning and Metaphors
• Teaching
• Learning
• Retaining
• Applying knowledge
• Share experiences
• Don’t get carried away …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 7
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Origins
– Children’s Television Workshop
– PBS – Public Broadcasting
– Since 1969
– First preschool educational service on PBS
based on lab research
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 8
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Format
– Actors
– Muppets
– Humor
– Music
– Stories
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 9
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Goals
– “… to create a children's
television show that would
"master the addictive qualities
of television and do something
good with them …”
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 10
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Cognitive Skills
– Modeling
– Explaining
– Reasoning
– ABCs & 123s
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 11
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Social skills
– Roles & Responsibilities
– Collaboration in problem
solving
– Nonaggressive conflict
resolution
– Tolerance of diversity
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 12
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Who are the people in
the neighborhood?
– Many people
– Collaborating
– Doing their part
– Different roles
– Diverse contributions
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 13
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Who do we work with on
a testing team?
– Many people
– Collaborating
– Doing their part
– Different roles
– Diverse contributions
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 14
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 15
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• One of these things …
– Is not like the other …
– Doesn’t belong …
– Can you tell me which …
– Before I finish this song …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 16
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• One of these things …
– Affinity analysis …
– Test oracles …
– Bug isolation …
– Time boxing …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 17
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Counting…
– How many?
– How many so far?
– How many to go?
– Counting to 12.
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 18
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Counting…
– Metrics
– Measures
• Product
• Progress
• Resources
• Quality
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 19
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
Co
un
tin
g T
ests
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 20
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
Co
un
tin
g T
ests
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 21
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
Co
un
tin
g T
ests
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 22
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Big Bird’s
Imaginary Friend
– Mr. Snuffleupagus …
– Was he real …
– Prove he exists …
– Truth revealed …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 23
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• A Tester`s
Imaginary Bug
– Persistence …
– Rhetoric …
– Evidence …
– Bug advocacy …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 24
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Truth Revealed
– Side effects …
– Trusting …
– Behaviour …
– Crying wolf …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 25
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Elmo`s World
– Learning is fun …
– Do not be afraid
not to know something …
– Ask questions …
– Non threatening …
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 26
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Ernie and Bert
– Contrast
– Diverse
– Too fun
– Too serious
– Unintended
consequences
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 27
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Stakeholder Values
– Different strokes
– Different folks
– Happy
– Sad
– Context sensitive
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 28
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 29
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 30
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Oscar
– Love trash
– Messy environment
– Failures modes
– Negative
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 31
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Oscar
– Breaking
– Drive to fail
– Disruptive
– Unhappy path
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 32
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Kermit
– Observing
– Not easy being
green
– Blends in a bit
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 33
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Kermit
– Reporting
– Facts
– News
– Story telling
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 34
Testing Lessons from Sesame Street
• Sponsors
– Brought to you by the letter E
– And the number 3
– Someone is paying the bill
– Never to young to have fun
learning!
AmiBug.Com, Inc.
© Robert Sabourin, 2014 18-Sep-14 Slide 35
Thank You
Questions?