Sometimes while I'm testing a new application, I struggle to get started. To help me focus and better understand my testing, I use application tours to support my testing. One the tours that I use is the feature tour.

In the feature tour, you simply move through the application, getting familiar with all the controls and features you come across. You ask simple questions like, “What’s this and what does it do?” and “How would I know if this feature is working?” You look for interactions, calculations, transformations, multimedia, and error handling. When taking a feature tour, it can be helpful to look at one factor at a time.

For a more descriptive look at using application tours, see an article I did for Software Test and Performance a few years ago. (It starts on page 20.)

This tip comes from Julian Harty, and is based on the work of Edward de Bono. Julian uses the metaphor of six thinking hat to provide six different and distinct viewpoints for software testers. When you wear your yellow hat, you are positive and speculative. What's the best possible outcome? What advantages to we have?

Yellow represents sunshine, optimism. The yellow hat challenges us to find benefits, and to see whether it’s possible to put an idea into practice. According to De Bono people sometimes struggle to recognize the benefits in their own ideas, so the group may need to help to nurture other people’s ideas when using the yellow hat.

The yellow hat is deliberately positive. It’s about actively seeking positive benefits. It may be very effective at shaping ideas spawned when using the green hat e.g. we use the yellow hat to answer the question: “Which of these creative ideas can we apply, and what would the benefits be?”

You can see Julian present the topic at STARWEST here.

This tip comes from Julian Harty, and is based on the work of Edward de Bono. Julian uses the metaphor of six thinking hat to provide six different and distinct viewpoints for software testers. When you wear your white hat, you focus on the facts. What facts do you need? How can you get those facts?

White represents a sheet of paper, perhaps a computer printout. The white hat is about information. The information can range from hard facts and figures to things we believe but don’t yet know. The information may include stating second-hand facts e.g. “The CEO of our competition claims their product can sort widgets by color and texture”, or stating other people’s beliefs or feelings e.g. “Jack is angry with the project team and blames the testers for holding up the launch”. Sometimes the information may be contradictory, if so we record everything, and only decide later, if and when we need to make a choice.

The white hat is neutral, and reports on the world as we find it. With the white hats we ask questions such as:
• What information do we have?
• What information do we need?
• What information is missing and what questions do we need to ask to get the information we need?

We should question ‘facts’ because beliefs and opinions may masquerade as facts unless they are challenged and double-checked. Using the white hat we try to qualify facts to determine our degree of confidence in the information presented. For instance we may use a scale of: Certain, Fairly confident, 50/50, Uncertain, No chance! – pick a scale to suit your project and circumstances.

You can see Julian present the topic at STARWEST here.

This tip comes from Julian Harty, and is based on the work of Edward de Bono. Julian uses the metaphor of six thinking hat to provide six different and distinct viewpoints for software testers. When you wear your black hat, you are cautious and careful. What are the risks and problems with your project? What are the worst case scenarios?

Black represents darkness, and allows us to be careful and cautious (without being overly negative). The black hat helps us to identify things that might be incorrect, stuff that might go wrong, etc. It provides a natural caution, which is particularly useful in software testing. The black hat taps into our natural ‘fears’ about safety and security and helps us to voice our concerns without them being viewed as ‘negative’ or ‘unhelpful’.

You can see Julian present the topic at STARWEST here.

This tip comes from Julian Harty, and is based on the work of Edward de Bono. Julian uses the metaphor of six thinking hat to provide six different and distinct viewpoints for software testers. When you wear your green hat, you focus on creative thinking. Can you come up with a creative approach and what fresh new ideas do you have?

Green represents fertility, new growth. With the green hat we seek new ideas, alternatives, and fresh inputs. We may use lateral thinking (another term coined by Edward De Bono) to gain fresh insights to a current issue or problem. When wearing the green hat we may use brainstorming to come up with new ideas. These ideas should not be criticized when wearing the green hat.

You can see Julian present the topic at STARWEST here.