Say What?...Beam me up Scottie!.....

Ok, I recently participated in a testing challenge posted by Lanette Creamer.

The challenge was to test a Star Trek Teleporter where the 'Head Honcho' wanted to do a demonstration in 3 months.

I want to try and explain what I was trying to do in the challenge. ( Or what I think I was trying to do)

Ok when I started looking at the challenge there were already a few test ideas that had been posted. With limited time for me to do the challenge I skimmed the posts.


My immediate reaction, was to assume nothing. I was thinking about what is a 'Star Trek Teleporter' - I was thinking what if this was a kids toy or a computer game, and would I test this differently than a teleporter that beams people and objects about. Like way different test ideas, different customers, laws, competitors - the works.

Who was the customer? that's gonna tell me something right? A lot. I need to understand the customer don't I? What they want? Their expectations? What they want at the demo? Why they want a demo? Is there any significance in the time frame of 3 months?

The 'Head Honcho'- What someone calls the 'Head Honcho' might not be what I might call them? Aha.....queue the 'Test Automation' debate on Twitter! (well I do want to do a separate post on words, meaning and perception hopefully in less than 2 months time)

Anyway how might the 'Head Honcho' affect my role? What I do?

I'm not sure if people doing the challemge had already made some assumptions or were defining ideas to test assumptions. From my 'skimming' however, I thought there were some good test ideas from previous posts and a basis for good 'Quicktests' - I believe as Cem Kaner defines them, Tests that were ready right away. Things that wouldn't take to long to perform to give some information.

I think that may be important...you can question or test assumptions...or is that the same thing? de-dah a meaning behind the post..nearly...

Even when I found out the customer was the CIA, I was thinking hmm..could this really be the Central Intelligence Agency, but what if it was a company called Criminal International Arms, and would my view change? Assumption or skepticism?

Aha Skepticism, I had a conversation with one of my colleagues a while back, I'm still thinking about it now, I think it's just niggling me, He said the earth is tilted on is axis at 23.5 degrees? So I say 'really, how do we know that?', and he says 'it's proven, it's known, it just is'. I'm still thinking how do you prove that?, do you need to prove that? and is it really known?, a mathematical equation has proven it? I probably don't need to worry about this but hey I google the question... Interesting information, and some disagreement...but lots of forum information about measuring the axial tilt using a stick the sun at noon, summer solstice (just missed it?!) something flat, a shadow and an equation..... Time for me to put the skeptical axial tilt thoughts to bed perhaps..a digression..

Now, I think some of my questions may not have been necessary had I talked to Lanette, or some of the other testers, the 'Head Honcho' or the engineer, oh and of course the customer.

I asked a question about whether we could use Bob 'The Lab Rat' and what was really great was that a fellow tester knew the answer to my question - Thomas Ponnet and replied...How kool! Collaboration? on a challenge on a blog....ace!

So what am I trying to say out of all this, well In this exercise I tried not to assume to too much, I was almost thinking like a kid who was trying to figure something out. Can we call that the 'What's that Dad/Mum heuristic'?. (I do use this heuristic, because I've been 'caught' a few times on assumptions - mostly recently with test environments - like spell it out to me)..does that make sense?...You know what I mean though right? ...sometimes when you have a conversation with kids they say What is that? what does that mean? why? or why does it do that? I think I was trying to strip back my assumptions...

I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but do you you remember James Bach's diagram at ACCU2010?

So when all the testers were doing the challenge which parts were they trying to find issues with? Was I looking more at the imagined bit?...not sure...

Anyway I learned a lot from the challenge, from other testers, and about the stuff I did...(especially skimming and scanning which requires another blog post)

Are you doing a testing challenge?
What are you thinking about when you're doing it?
What did you learn?