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Track Talk F10

How Aware Are We of Our Biases in Testing?

Alexandru Cusmaru

Eduard Enoiu

10:00-10:45 CEST Friday 10th June

Testers often struggle, not only with the technical challenges of the test environment but also with more abstract questions like: “Why did I not find that bug earlier?”, “Why did I not think of it?” or “Why do I do not find the important bugs?”. Answers to these questions can be single or multiple, simple or complex.

One of the answers can be: “Your testing is biased!”. And yes, bias is inevitable in all of us and yes, it is OK!

Unconscious biases are hard-wired behaviors that influence testers and can set them on an incorrect course of action. If we understand how these biases affect testers’ everyday behavior, we can attempt to mitigate them, then develop more effective tools and strategies to help testers avoid the pitfalls of cognitive biases. But to what extent are testers aware that cognitive biases influence their work? This was the primary question we sought to answer in our research. We developed a questionnaire survey, designed to reveal the extent of software testers’ knowledge about cognitive biases, plus their awareness of the influence biases have on testing. We reached out to software professionals working in different environments and gathered valid data from approximately 60 practitioners.

Our results suggest that professionals are indeed aware of biases. Specifically, they are aware of preconceptions such as confirmation bias, fixation, and convenience. In addition, optimism, ownership, and blissful ignorance were other common biases. In common with other research, we observed that people tend to identify more cognitive biases in others than in their own judgments and actions, indicating a vulnerability to bias blind spot.

In our session we will present our results, then involve the audience in a discussion of the interpretation of those results. Specifically:

  • Our reasoning behind the questions
  • Demographic data of the participants
  • Helpful practices when confronted with biases
  • The results and potential conclusions
  • If the question of awareness has been answered or not?
  • Next steps for our research

What you will learn

  1. An elevated awareness that biases pose a significant threat to the productive environment (and perhaps these are more pervasive than we realize)
  2. A glimpse of how other professionals deal with their biases and what methods are they using
  3. The chance to give input and to shape the next steps with their own experience.

Session Details

  • Intermediate
  • 45 Minutes
  • Includes 15mins Q&A
  • Coaching & Skills Development
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Watch this video from Alexandru Cusmaru and Eduard Enoiu to learn more about their talk, ‘How Aware are we of our Biases in Testing?’

We look forward to welcoming you to EuroSTAR 2022.

Session Speakers

Alexandru Cusmaru EuroSTAR 2022 speaker

Alexandru Cusmaru

Test Lead – Siemens Mobility, Germany

Alexandru Cusmaru is a passionate tester with more than 12 years experience in testing, integrating, and validating safety-related railway software and systems. In the past, he was the responsible integrator for the ETCS (European Train Control System) Project in Belgium. Currently, he leads a team of testers for Siemens Mobility in Braunschweig and is constantly looking for new ways to improve their test activities. In his spare time, Alexis also a crowd tester, an American football fan and always looking for a new hoppy IPA to “test”.

Session Co-Speaker

Eduard Enoiu EuroSTAR 2022 speaker

Eduard Enoiu

Senior Lecturer – Mälardalen University, Sweden

Eduard Enoiu is a senior lecturer at Mälardalen University in Sweden and a researcher at the Software Testing Laboratory. A native of Bucharest, he earned an Engineer’s degree from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest in 2009 and a PhD in software testing from Mälardalen University in 2016. His interests span software engineering and empirical research, especially testing, maintaining, evolving, and assuring industrial software. He is currently doing research on a diverse array of topics, including the ethical and human aspects of software testing, the role of test automation in industrial practice, and the nature of creating efficient and effective tests.

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