Articles

Six sigma distribution Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side of the Fence?

We may be creatures of habit—adhering to and promoting processes we know well—but we also habitually look to other work environments that appear capable of nurturing our ideas once an old environment becomes depleted. Ed Weller believes that searching for greener pastures is unnecessary. You just need to learn how to cultivate your managers in order to create an environment that will harbor your ideas. Ed explains why you'll end up grazing fruitlessly if you can't plant your ideas with management.
Ed Weller's picture Ed Weller
August 31, 2005
Information Gathering

If your customer interview questions focus too narrowly on a problem that must be solved, you run the risk of missing information that could be critical to a successful outcome. In this column, Naomi Karten says playing detective improves your ability to gather information. To improve the odds of success, it's important to ask questions from multiple perspectives—and to pay attention not only to the customers' response, but to how they say it as well.
Naomi Karten's picture Naomi Karten
July 19, 2005
The Tale of the Too-Talented Techie

Every manager has a story to tell. Find out how one management professional tackles a fictional dilemma. The story may be made up, but the solutions are tried and true. In this installment, Peter Clark spins a yarn of what can happen when a team member's talent goes to his head.
Peter Clark
July 18, 2005
Trust in Project Management Openness, Trust, and Healthy Paranoia

Trust must be earned in any relationship; it is not automatic nor can it be assumed. You only learn how much you can trust someone over a period of time. The same principle rings true in project management. In this week's column, Peter Clark shares a valuable lesson for project managers and other management professionals, demonstrating that a healthy level of paranoia must precede openness. If openness is premature, one's trust could prove to be unfounded in the end.
Peter Clark
July 15, 2005
Not-to-Do List What's on Your Not-to-Do List?

Drawing up a to-do list sounds like a logical starting point when you want to prioritize your workload. But if you have an extra-long list of tasks, the list you should start with is the not-to-do list. Doing so forces you to take an extra hard look at what you're doing and if you should be doing it. Learn more about Johanna Rothman's not-to-do list, how it helps you stay focused on the most important tasks, and how it inevitably helps you maintain your value to the organization.
Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
June 29, 2005
The Test Strategist's Toolbox

As a decision-making framework, a test strategy outlines the vision and values that drive the project and keeps you on a clear path in times of change or uncertainty. A good test strategy makes you more resilient to inevitable changes as the project progresses. However, each test
project needs its own strategy depending on the business and risk profiles of the applications, technology in use, development methods, and even the experience and culture of the test group. In this interactive session with James Lyndsay, you will learn about a wide range of test strategy
James Lyndsay, Workroom Productions
Navigating the Minefield of Open Source Test Tools

Each year more and more open source development tools, including test tools, are available. By choosing to use open source test tools, companies expect to save money and take advantage of the community of shared development. Recently, there seems to be an abundance of open source testing tools being released, including tools for automated regression, load testing, test management, and defect tracking. But how do you know which tools are right for you? Based on his real-world experiences using such tools, Jeff Jewell covers the issues that you are likely to encounter as you evaluate open source testing tools. Learn where to find open source test tools, the challenges you
face in choosing these tools, and what you will need to do once you find the right tools. Find out if your organization is ready to use open source tools and how to find the right tools for you.
Jeff Jewell, ProtoTest LLC
Testing Inside the Box

These days, we hear a lot about unit testing, testing for programmers, test-first programming, and the like. Design techniques for such tests and for improving system testing are often called white box test designs. Join Rex Black as he explains the basics of white box testing and compares
white box with other types of testing. Find out how the metaphor of "boxes" can inform-and confuse-us. Rex discusses the basis path tests, including cyclomatic number as a measure of complexity and a way to determine the number of tests necessary to cover all paths. He walks
Rex Black, Rex Black Consulting
Can You Find Bugs in Your Pajamas? Becoming an Effective Telecommuting Tester

Distributed development teams, including test engineers, are becoming more the norm than the
exception. Many individual testers and test managers perform some of their job duties from
home. Test engineer Andy Roth is an extreme example of this situation-telecommuting from his
Maryland home 300 miles from his company’s office. As a “tele-tester” Andy has become a
manager in addition to his testing duties, managing his personal test lab, his time, his peer
relationships, and even managing his manager. If you are considering becoming a tele-tester,
already are one, or manage tele-testers, join Andy for a discussion of what it takes to survive and
flourish in this environment. Find out the necessary prerequisites and qualities of successful teletesters
and the tools of the trade that make life easier and most productive.

  • The case for tele-testing and its limitations
Andy Roth, IBM Rational Software
Applying Use Case-Driven Testing in Agile Development

Use Cases provide a user-focused sequence of events that also can serve as a template for functional testing activity. In an agile environment, use case-based testing brings testing earlier into the process and helps teams more quickly deliver higher levels of functionality to their customers. Testing with use cases also provides early peer review for the logic of intended functions. Involving testers in use case development and harvesting use case scenarios for test case development has shown great practical benefit in numerous application development projects. Dean Leffingwell describes the use case-based testing method and highlights practical tips for applying the technique. Learn to employ use cases to express functional requirements and how use case scenarios can serve as templates for testing activities.

  • An overview of use case development practices
  • Accelerating test development with use cases
Dean Leffingwell, Consultant

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