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The Ultimate Tester: Wrap-Up

21 Jul, 2016
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To everyone who has read all or some of the past blog posts in this series: thank you so much for reading. I hope I have given you some food for thought on where you can improve as a tester (or developer who tests!). 

In four blog posts, we explored what it takes to become the ultimate tester. First and foremost, we should strive to add value from the start. This is what separates a ‘tester 3.0’ from and old-school tester. Next, we looked at the unique curiosity that is needed to be an effective tester. At its core, testing hasn’t changed: it is a risk driven activity, with the goal to inform people about the quality of the product. Thinking about the most valuable tests is a creative activity that starts with being curious. Then, we moved on to the topic of building quality in; the technical side of testing. The focus of this blog post is on the fast feedback loop that automated tests can provide. Implementing automated tests on the appropriate levels can give you confidence about the technical and functional quality of your application. It is a very important part of agile software development. After this, the next blog post was about sharing knowledge. There are so many testers doing awesome work that the rest of the world could learn from. In the end, no one is the ultimate tester, but we all should enjoy the journey of trying to become one!

To grow your testing skills, doing some introspection can be a great tool. Look back at the four blog posts and see where your strong and weak points are. List your strong and weak points and try to think of actions you can take to improve (some of) them. Breaking down large goals into smaller actionable points is a good tactic of slowly improving yourself.

For now, this Ultimate Tester series is finished with a few concluding remarks.

If you happen to live in the Netherlands, I would like to draw your attention to our Test Masters meetup series. These events are always free and you will learn lots by doing hands-on exercises. It’s a great way to socialise with your peers. Come say hi to us and share your knowledge! 

We are also busy organising the second edition of TestWorks Conf, with the theme ‘full stack test automation’. The early bird is still valid, so grab a ticket and come join the fun early October in Amsterdam. This conference is of course geared towards people from other countries as well, so consider going.

For now: Test long and prosper!

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Maaike Brinkhof
Agile Test Consultant @Xebia. Automate sensibly, let humans do the sapient testing.
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