EuroSTAR Conference

Europe's Best Software Testing Conference

Tutorial K

Critical Thinking Skills for Testers

Michael Bolton

* FULLY BOOKED *
13:30-17:00 CEST Tuesday 13th June

Critical thinking isn’t just “good thinking”. It’s the kind of thinking that specifically looks for problems and mistakes. Regular people don’t do a lot of that, but to be a great tester, you need to be a great critical thinker. Critically-thinking testers help to save projects from dangerous assumptions and hidden problems, and ultimately from disasters.

The good news is that critical thinking is not just innate intelligence or a talent—it’s a learnable and improvable skill you can master. Critical thinking begins with five questions—Huh? Ready? Really? And? So?—that kick-start your brain. Those questions prepare you to analyse specifications, risks, causes, effects, project plans, and anything else that could puzzle, confound, or fool you, your colleagues, or your clients.

In this interactive, hands-on and minds-on workshop, Michael Bolton shares specific techniques and heuristics of critical thinking that can help testers deal confidently and thoughtfully with difficult testing situations. We’ll deal with realistic testing puzzles that help you practice and sharpen your thinking skills. We’ll study and analyse product behaviours, and learn new ways to identify, isolate, and characterize bugs. Finally, we’ll learn ways to think and speak carefully about testing work.

What you will learn

  1. Specific techniques and heuristics of critical thinking to help you deal confidently with difficult testing situations
  2. Practice and sharpen your thinking skills
  3. Learn new ways to identify, isolate, and characterize bugs

Session Details

  • Intermediate
  • 3.5 Hours
  • Interactive Tutorial
  • Software Testing
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Session Speaker

Michael Bolton

Consulting Software Tester – DevelopSense, Canada

Michael Bolton is a consulting software tester and testing teacher who helps people to solve testing problems that they didn’t realize they could solve. In 2006, he became co-author (with James Bach) of Rapid Software Testing (RST), a methodology and mindset for testing software expertly and credibly in uncertain conditions and under extreme time pressure. Since then, he has flown over a million miles to teach RST in 35 countries on six continents.

Michael has over 30 years of experience testing, developing, managing, and writing about software. For over 20 years, he has led DevelopSense, a Toronto-based testing and development consultancy. Prior to that, he was with Quarterdeck Corporation for eight years, during which he managed the company’s flagship products and directed project and testing teams both in-house and around the world.

Contact Michael at [email protected], on Twitter @michaelbolton, or through his Web site, http://www.developsense.com.

More sessions from this speaker
EuroSTAR 2023 Half Day Tutorial
Measurement, Metrics, and Magic Numbers

09:00-12:30 Tuesday 13th June

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