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EuroSTAR Conference

Europe's Largest Software Testing Conference

Tutorial G

Measurement, Metrics, and Magic Numbers

Michael Bolton

* FULLY BOOKED *
09:00-12:30 CEST Tuesday 13th June
  • Bugs that could have been found in requirements gathering cost 1000 times more when found in production.
  • Testing costs 40% of the total development effort.
  • When the fix rate trendline crosses the failure rate trendline, it’s time to release the product.
  • The ROI of testing can be calculated by a straightforward formula.
  • Risk = Probability x Impact
  • Defect Removal Efficiency is a good way to evaluate the quality of testing.
  • You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

 

If you’re a tester or test manager, you’ve probably seen someone pull numbers out of a hat. As part of the trick, skepticism often vanishes into thin air.

Numbers can have magical powers. In the right hands, numbers can reveal remarkable things that might otherwise be invisible. Yet numbers may also have enormous power to dazzle, distract, and deceive. How do you know that what you seem to be seeing is real, and not just an illusion?

Since software development is real, and not magical, we must apply critical thinking – thinking about thinking to avoid being fooled. This half day tutorial, presented by Michael Bolton, is designed to help you learn strategies and skills – including questioning, modeling, analysis, and systems thinking, to help you think critically, confidently and thoughtfully about numbers.

In the tutorial, we’ll learn about reliability and validity in measurement and metrics. To get started, we’ll examine some claims from tool vendors and measurement magicians. We’ll analyze some common testing metrics, and learn how to recognize when they’re dangerous, based on smoke and mirrors. We’ll consider circumstances in which we might apply numbers appropriately. Finally, we’ll develop ways to provide reasonable, helpful, answers when people ask for metrics, KPIs, or estimates.

**NB** Participants are encouraged to bring a Windows-based laptop computer to the workshop.

What you will learn

  1. Skills including questioning, modeling, analysis, and systems thinking — to help you think critically, confidently and thoughtfully about numbers
  2. Learn how to recognize when metrics are dangerous
  3. Develop ways to provide reasonable, helpful, answers when people ask for metrics, KPIs, or estimates

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
Critical Thinking Skills for Testers

13:30-17:00 Tuesday 13th June

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