Track Talk

Who are we? What are we doing? How are we doing it?

Isabel Evans

12:00-12:30 CEST Wednesday 29th September

After years as a software tester, I decided to expand my horizon by becoming a student and conducting research into testing, into testers’ experiences with the tools and automation they use. My research so far has provided some interesting insights into tool use and raised more questions which I am starting to investigate.

My findings so far provide an insight into the usability and human issues that impede success with tools and automation, and also show the large range of people’s backgrounds before they come into testing. These findings, along with the complexity of testers’ multi-tasking roles means that designing tools for testers, automation for testers, and approaches for testers to use, is not easy.

I’m embarking on the next stages of my research. I’m asking some deceptively simple questions: Who are we testers? Where do we come from? What are we doing? And how are we doing it? The answers are not as straightforward as we might think. But they should feed into development of personas and other models that could inform better tool design, with a better UX for the testers. They also feed into a better understanding of each other, of the diversity in our community of testers, and help us engage with each other – because not everyone doing testing is a tester, and not everyone working in IT is an engineer.

At EuroSTAR 2021, I will share my results so far, and also to give you an opportunity to be part of my research.