š„§ Pie mail - vacation edition
Hi friend!
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Welcome to the another edition of pie mail! It's a bit of a weird one because I've been away on leave for the last couple of weeks. But there's always interesting things going on in the world of testing ;)
Now that I'm back at work and all caught up on things, let's get into it!
āØ Some interesting links āØ
"Alex" demonstrates what can happen when you post your boarding pass on Instagram.
āHere's how a simple photo leaked some personal details of former Australian PM Tony Abbott. It's a long, but entertaining story, worth a read. Lots to learn, too.
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Johanna South's end-to-end guide to Exploratory Testing
One thing I talk to a lot of people about is how to demonstrate exploratory testing skills. Johanna gives some great advice on how to run an exploratory testing session, and more importantly, how to report back on it.
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Cards For Humanity
Idean have produced this neat tool called Cards For Humanity. I think it'll be great for doing some Accessibility Testing. Simply draw two cards, and attempt to test your software while taking on the 'persona' of the cards you've been dealt. I'm going to try it with my team this week!
š This week I learned... š
...the importance of setting expectations!
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I have a terrible and irrational fear of flying.
I went on two flights while I was on holiday - one to Christchurch, and one back to Auckland.
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As we approached the tip of the South Island on the first flight, the pilot announced that we were about to hit some turbulence. Sure enough, the plane started to bump and jump around, and did so for the rest of the journey. It was... unpleasant.
On the return journey, we hit turbulence too. But this set off my anxiety much more acutely than the first flight. I panicked! I gripped the armrest! I even dropped my Kindle!
Why was I so much more anxious with the second bout of turbulence than the first? Because there was no announcement that it was coming.
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The first pilot set my expectations well, I knew what was coming, and could handle it. The second pilot didn't*, and that caused me to freak out!
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It's made me realise how important is to set expectations - it applies in a lot of areas, including testing! As a tester, you might need to think about setting expectations with customers, or other stakeholders within the business.
An example for customers could be a banner message that alerts them that a feature is still in beta. This way, they won't be surprised or disappointed if they find a bug.
Internally, it could be alerting other stakeholders that a feature hasn't been tested thoroughly. Or, that it's a known hotspot for bugs, and to expect more.
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Never be afraid to overcommunicate, because communicating expectations will prevent people panicking later on. Have you ever had a situation where you didn't set expectations well enough? Or, where your expectations weren't met because something wasn't communicated to you?
I want to hear your stories - let me know!
*I don't blame the pilot at all by the way - they may not have known it was coming either, and they did a good job of explaining it after the fact!
š Mental Health Awareness Week š
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week.
It's important to look after yourself, especially in these trying times.
Why not take some time this week to look after your own mental health?
Do an activity you enjoy, go outside, or spend time with family or friends.
You can check out a range of suggestions at mhaw.nz.
š§© Puzzle time š§©
I hit a bug today trying to complete a couriers 'card to call' form. Here's the form as I tried to submit it:
Clicking 'next' does nothing. The page doesn't change, and nothing appears in my browser console.
Can you work out why? It's not really obvious, and relies on you having a bit of experience with forms like this, so here's a couple of hints (highlight the text to see them*):
Hint 1:
- Some of the fields are blue - what does that mean?
Hint 2:
- The problem is with the "Street Address" field specifically.
You can try the form too at: https://posthaste.co.nz/redelivery/cardleft.htmlā
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Reply and let me know what you think, and what you would do to make this form better!
*Assuming your email client has a white background - I'm not sure of a better way to do this :)
šŖ Events coming up šŖ
My friend Meg Kowalew is speaking at Product Tank Auckland on How Cognitive bias impacts your product management decisions. She's a great Product Manager and definitely worth a listen - it's a free online event, so don't miss it!
That's Wednesday September 30, 5:30pm.
š Thanks for reading! š
Because I was away, this came on a Monday instead of a Friday. But I think Mondays might be a better day anyway? Some light reading to kick off your week? As always, let me know your thoughts.
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Cheers,
James a.k.a. JPie š„§
āhttps://jpie.nzā
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