The Importance of Perception in Software Testing
In software testing, perception can impact both the quality of work and the outcomes of testing, affecting how others interpret test results and your credibility in the workplace.
Today at work I had two interesting conversations with my colleagues regarding how important perception is with regards to software testing.
And of course it got me thinking.
I feel that there is a mistaken view that software testing will reflect the quality of the Software Under Test. But that won’t necessarily be the case.
Software Testing is Fallible
Software testing is an activity that seeks to show what the quality of the SUT.
A key part to highlight here is: seeks.
Technically, software testing can be done very poorly that you can find yourself in the situation where all of the tests you have performed have passed and you haven’t found any problems, but then the SUT has poor quality.
Now you may be wondering, how can that be?
Chances are, your test design was poor. You were looking at the wrong areas and/or you were affected by confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.
If you are testing an area of the product that hasn’t had problems before, your testing may be affected because you are expecting it to work.
Another cognitive bias that could affect your testing is inattentional blindness.
Inattentional Blindness occurs when we fail to perceive unexpected results that are right in front of us.
Check out this video to see an example of inattentional blindness in action.
If your approach to testing the SUT was that you would be checking that it works and that the requirements were met, then you were probably asking yourself the wrong questions and you probably missed out on issues that weren’t very specifically addressed in the areas you were looking in.
This is because your approach is probably going to be “making sure things work”, instead of seeing how does this work? Why does this happen when I do this? And so on.
Managing How You Are Perceived
I could write a whole another blog post on this topic but I’ll focus on how this is related to software testing - more importantly your work as a software tester.
If you want to be taken seriously as a software tester, you need to think about how you are perceived.
Let me explain.
Your effectiveness as a software tester is partially affected by how well you well you can influence others.
There are many times where you may need to influence others as a software tester:
- Ask for a different test environment setup
- Negotiate for more time to test a SUT
- Convince others to address a bug
- Convince others to invite you to a meeting (maybe you are in a project where they don’t think testing would add value in such an early stage.)
If you are perceived to be as someone who isn’t good at testing, doesn’t take initiative and has a tendency to make a mountain over a mole hill (so to speak.) then chances are when you try to influence others to do one of the bullet points above you will fail.
But if you make sure to behave in a way, that people find you to be a skilled tester who takes initiative and only makes a big deal out of something if there is actually a big problem - then you’ll go along a way.
You would have managed how you are perceived.
To build and manage your influence, you can look into the following:
- Use Data to Back Up Your Insights: Track coverage, the severity of bugs, and risk areas to quantify your findings. This makes your recommendations harder to ignore.
- Communicate in a transparent manner: Regularly update your stakeholders on how testing is going including your findings and any blockers you are facing. Being open builds trust.
- Learn to adapt your approach when needed: Show that you’re willing to learn and grow to address new challenges.
By combining your testing expertise with a thoughtful approach to perception, you can ensure your voice is heard and your work is valued.