Attending my first TestBash
Early this spring I attended TestBash Brighton 2019 conference, organised by Ministry of Testing — a global software testing community. I knew about TestBash before I was offered my first position as a tester. So to me, it always seemed like ‘It would be the best thing in the world if I could participate in one’. My dream came true after I joined 15gifts. As if having tickets to the workshop and main talk day wasn’t enough, I was also offered a chance to volunteer on one of the other days! Needless to say, I was very excited.
Volunteering experience gave me an insider’s perspective. My main task was to meet and greet attendees, register them and give them the almighty goodie bag. I met the organisers and the whole bunch of other volunteers who were absolutely amazing individuals.
Seeing the inner cogs and gears of the event was great. After all, testers love knowing how things work!
The workshop was about how to improve feedback from automated tests, using approval testing. The technique seems valid, although test automation is new to me and the implementation of the technique might take a while. But I would be happy if I succeeded in implementing it.
All of the talks were great too. From topics such as pair testing, performance and security to machine learning and all the way to diversity and testing culture — they all had ideas worth noting.
Also, the workshop and the main talk day provided me with lots of new ideas, basic or advanced understanding on various subjects, led me to conversations with testers from different backgrounds and even from different countries!
Someone at the conference gave me some advice: instead of burning out of motivation to complete 15 noted ideas from the conference, pick 1–2 and implement them 100%. So I’ve chosen to try pair testing session with another tester, who would have knowledge in a specific area and from which I could learn.
Some of my notes
Retrospective Prime directive — a reminder by Norm Kerth (Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Review), to not to play the blame game
“Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.”
Books, advised by other testers:
- Power of the Habit, by Charles Duhigg
- Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini;
TestPhere — A deck of cards featuring testing concepts
Each card explains the concept with a slogan and three examples that were designed to have you think about them in different ways. Testers brainstorm, coach, share knowledge and experiences by using these cards.
Better work-life balance tips
