NEW EPISODE #172

​
“The quality is connected to the risk, and the risk is connected to the testing. If we don’t keep an eye on quality, our testing and development will drift, because we are no longer building the thing that people care about anymore.”
​

Mark Winteringham is a quality engineer and the author of “Testing Web APIs”. In this episode, discover how holistic, risk-based testing strategies can transform your software quality.

Mark explains how to prioritize our testing by understanding what users truly value and translating that into different risk-based testing strategies, such as testing API design, exploratory testing, automated testing, and acceptance test-driven design (ATDD). Mark also reveals the testing Venn diagram as our testing strategic roadmap.

Finally, get a glimpse of Mark’s upcoming book “AI-Assisted Testing” and learn how AI will evolve the roles of testers and developers.

Listen out for:

• Holistic Testing Strategy
• Start With Understanding the Problem
• Testing Venn Diagram Model
• Risk-Based Testing
• Defining Quality & Quality Attributes
• Testing API Design
• Exploratory Testing
• Automated Testing
• Acceptance Test-Driven Design (ATDD)
• “AI-Assisted Testing” Book
• Evolution of Developer and Tester Roles
  ​

​

Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/172.
Follow @techleadjournal on ​LinkedIn​, ​Twitter​, ​Instagram​, ​YouTube​, ​TikTok​.
Buy me a coffee ☕ or become a patron 😎.
​

​
​3 Key Takeaways

​

1. To build a high-quality product, we need to deeply understand the quality attributes that matter most to our users.
   ​
   Different users value different quality attributes, and these priorities shift over time.
   ​
   To build truly great products, we must constantly ask: “What does quality mean to our users today, and how might these needs evolve?”​
   ​
   If we don’t keep a close eye on the quality attributes, we risk building something that no longer aligns with what our users truly care about.
   ​
2. Building a good testing strategy requires a holistic and risk-based approach.
   ​
   To build the right testing strategy, we need to:​
   • Understand what quality attributes that matter to our users and business​
   • Identify the risks that might impact those quality attributes​
   ​
   From there, we can then choose the right testing activities to cover the identified risks.
   ​
3. Use the testing Venn diagram model to visualize and improve our product quality.
   ​
   If we want to be successful in our testing, we need a shared understanding of the goals and value of testing.​
   ​
   The testing model breaks down into 3 areas:​
   • Imagination: What we want in a product (explicitly & implicitly), e.g. requirements, discussions, desires.​
   • Implementation: What we have in a product (whether it matches the expectations), e.g. data, code, infrastructure.​
   • Our Understanding: How well our ideas about the product match its actual implementation.​
   ​
   By learning more about the imagination and implementation, and the more we can make the two overlap, the better informed we are about our product quality.​​
   ​

​
​2 Quotes for Reflection

​

​

​
​1 Tech Lead Wisdom

​

​

​

​

​

☎️ Book a 1:1 session with me​

​

​