I tweeted this out the other day in response to watching a project manager get abused by a “senior IT director” over defects being found by clients that they clearly felt should have been “caught by QA”. Apparently this resonated with the testing community as the reactions have been overwhelmingly in support of the sentiment and anti-bullying position.

Very happy to dusting off the QR Podcast with my pals Fiona Charles, Dan Billing, Ash Coleman, and our returning champion Michael Bolton to discuss ethics in technology, the responsibilities of software testers, and all that “big brother” noise lately about contact tracing apps in the age of COVID-19. Check it out HERE… Enjoy!

Citations

Barnes, Austin. “White House Expected to Endorse KC-Built COVID-19 Exposure Tracking App.” Startland News (blog), March 19, 2020.

“Pandemic Data Could Be Deadly for the Old.” Bloomberg.Com, April 21, 2020.

“The Covid-19 Tracking App Won’t Work.” Bloomberg.Com, April 15, 2020.

Gizmodo. “Trump Admin Gives Coronavirus Tracking Contract to Peter Thiel’s Palantir: Report.” Accessed April 22, 2020.

Recently I saw a Twitter thread asking the software testing community for volunteers to work on the SafePaths “contact tracing” app being developed by MIT. This project is made of up ex-Facebook execs, companies with questionable ethical pasts, and vague statements like “a number of leaders and personnel” and “experts from government agencies”. I’m sorry but that isn’t even remotely good enough for a project of this depth and scale.  

Very excited to be back at Tricentis Accelerate San Francisco 2020 – watch this space!

In my travels as a management consultant focusing on testing and quality in the enterprise, I see a lot of well-intended “symptom treating” in agile/CICD/devops transitions. Recently I’ve been advising one of the biggest mergers in the industry on combining their testing operations and how to “transform” into a leaner model. I haven’t blogged in while, but people have been asking me about some of the workshops I’ve been taking them through with a particular interest in metrics (as usual), so I figured this was as good a topic as any to start writing again.

I had a great time catching up with old friends and talking about new ways to visualize software quality at Tricentis Accelerate in San Francisco. Aside from hanging out and talking testing with Paul Grizzaffi on his continuing hunt for Sasquatch, and my partner at Prestige Worldwide, Martin Hynie, I also got a front row seat for Ash Colemans fantastic talk, “When You Say Context, Does That Include Me?”

Hey everyone! I’ll be giving a talk this year at the Tricentis Accelerate SF conference on May 22nd – hope to see you there!

Who are you going to believe – me or your own eyes? (Rethinking data visualization in testing)

Perception is reality. How we “see” things, influences our feelings about them and guides our decision-making process whether we realize it or not. Matching perception with reality should be a primary objective of the information produced from testing software – but frequently, our tools and methods and have let us down, and often astray. Traditional test reporting can drive dysfunctional practices, introduce fragility, and distract us from business risk. Through this talk, Keith will discuss different models of “seeing” systems and quality, and how advancements in modeling and machine learning may soon be helping us bridge the gap between our perception and reality.

I’m doing a series of talks with QASymphony this fall…here’s the video and abstract  – Enjoy!

All Your QA Is Hate You: Software Quality Anti-Patterns in Testing

From metrics-based micromanagement to the law of triviality, software testing has been subjected to a standard set of responses to testing’s ambiguous, unchartered journey into a sea of bias and experimentation. There are many anti-patterns associated with managing software testing and their effect on quality, from how you organize and fund testing, to the tools you use to automated and manage the process. Through this talk, Keith will explore common solutions to problems regularly encountered by software testing efforts and the unintended consequences, dysfunction, and risks they introduce to your organization.

Had a great time talking testing with Johan Steyn at The Business of Software Testing podcast. Enjoy!

I never got to meet Jerry, but I did get to spend a few wonderful hours with him for the QR Podcast. The shadow that he cast over the testing industry and all of technology is impossible to fathom, so in honor of his recent passing, I’m reposting our discussion. Thanks – KK

QR Podcast – Jerry Weinberg

What more can I say about Jerry Weinberg than hasn’t already been said? He’s been consulting and writing for over 50 years, including seminal works like The Psychology of Computer Programming, Perfect Software, and The Secrets of Consulting. In the business of software testing, he has influenced ways of thinking about quality, value, and the role of testing in software development. Check us out (and Jerry’s ringing phone!) HERE discussing leadership, diversity, the state of software testing, and how to remain relevant after 60 years in the business. Enjoy!

I could not have asked for a nicer group of people to talk testing with at QASymphony’s QualityJam 2018. Enjoy!

What an honor to share the stage with Ash Coleman at Agile Testing Days! Enjoy!

Check out this awesome panel discussion I’m moderating on “Software Testing in the Real World” at QASymphony‘s QualityJam 2018 in Atlanta with Paul Merrill, Ashley Hunsberger, and Clint Sprauve! Hope to see you there!

Looking back on 2017, it’s impossible to list all the wonderful experiences and changes that happened throughout the year. Aside from continuing to build the SQM business with Tekmark and spending time with the good people at TestBash Brighton and Philly, I got to travel to some new places. I was honored to keynote at Romanian Testing Conference and Copenhagen Context, and I would highly recommend both of them for future visits. It might be due to a little burnout, but I am increasingly skeptical of the software testing conference circuit, but RTC and CPC are a breath of fresh air in a crowded field. The community, attendees, and passion of the organizers shine through and I hope to be back some day.

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