Better Software - December 2008 - (Page 33)

Figure 3 emphasis on cost and repeatable standards • The quality school—emphasizes process, policing developers, and acting as the gatekeeper • The context-driven school—emphasizes people, seeking bugs that stakeholders care about • The agile (or test-driven) school— uses testing to prove that development is complete; emphasizes automated testing Sticking to a single school is risky and may limit the effectiveness and productiveness of testing. I use Pettichord’s schools to help me consider my testing from various perspectives—to reduce the chances of missing things. By using the six thinking hats, we can review each of the schools in order to pick ideas and concepts that should improve the quality and effectiveness of our testing. For example, from the analytical school, I may select several test-case-design techniques to use. These various ideas seem to map to particular testing hats, which combine the concepts proposed by de Bono with some of these ideas from the software testing community, as shown in figure 2. The goal is to help us improve the ways we test software by giving us at least six different ways to approach testing. Figure 3 maps some additional approaches to testing with the six thinking hats. Using these tables, which map the various testing ideas to the colors of the hats used by de Bono, we can now reassess our software testing and hopefully find additional ways to look for bugs that may have hidden from us in the past. You can even use the six thinking hats to explore the application of each of the approaches mentioned in this section— for instance, what are the advantages and risks of using test-driven development? By applying each of the hats in turn, you may decide that the effort in applying one or more of the schools is worthwhile. Now, It’s Your Turn Now that you’ve read about how the six thinking hats worked for me, I’d like you to try them out in some of your work. Pick a current issue, big or small, related to your work. Use a copy of the template in figure 2 and take thirty minutes for the activity. Start with the blue hat and jot down what you’d like to achieve from this activity—are you more interested in learning how to use the hats or in solving a technical problem? Then spend a few minutes (two to four) “wearing” each of the thinking hats in turn; record ideas that come to you. If you think of an idea that belongs with another hat, write it down quickly under the hat that seems most suitable and then return to the current hat until you’ve finished the allotted time. Once you’ve used each hat once, return to the blue hat and decide what to do next. Would you like to use each hat again, think of ideas (using the green hat), or concentrate on deciding what to www.StickyMinds.com do next (remaining with the blue hat)? Just before you finish the exercise, record your experiences with using the hats. Were they useful? Would you pick a different hat order next time? How can you improve the effectiveness of using the hats? Don’t be constrained by the mapping presented here; you may want to adapt the model to suit your needs and interpretation. What’s more important than picking a particular hat (or hats) is for you to gain fresh insights and perspectives on how to test effectively and efficiently. Like any skill, applying the six thinking hats is something that improves with practice. Thankfully, the learning curve is gentle and short, and you should be able to make tangible improvements in your testing within a few hours. {end} reFerenceS: [1] De Bono, Edward. Six Thinking Hats. Back Bay Books, 1999. [2] Pettichord, Bret. “Schools of Software Testing.” 2007. www.io.com/%7Ewazmo/papers/ four_schools.pdf Sticky Notes For more on the following topic go to www.StickyMinds.com/bettersoftware. n Further reading DECEMBER 2008 BETTER SOFTWARE 33 http://www.io.com/%7Ewazmo/papers/four_schools.pdf http://www.io.com/%7Ewazmo/papers/four_schools.pdf http://www.StickyMinds.com/bettersoftware http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - December 2008

Better Software - December 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors eLightenment Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles What's a Manager to Do? Six Thinking Hats for Testers The Key to Good Interviewing 2008 Salary Survey Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About … The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - December 2008

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