What do testers look for when performing tests?

Tram Ho

Recently, while conducting tests at eBay, I noticed that we needed a more detailed report of what a tester looked for when conducting product testing. It is not simply a fault finding. Consider the list below:

1. Testers find software errors

In other words, testers look for anything that threatens the product. Some people think that testers simply find fault. This is basically true, but I avoid saying it in such a trend. Testers in addition to finding faults also do other tasks such as evaluating products, constructing ideas that can make programmers feel uncomfortable, and testers also encounter all problems.

2. Testers find a risk

Testers are able to identify situations that can create errors. They find the product behavior to be misleading in a way that they think is important, even if they have never seen it happen. For example: A web form is using a deprecated HTML tag, it works fine in current browsers, but may stop working in future browsers. This shows that they should perform the test meticulously and carefully. Maybe besides this HTML form, there are still the same things on the web.

3. Testers find problems

It is a kind of problem, but it has outstanding value. Testers should point out aspects of the product that make it difficult to observe and control. There may be little things that developers can do (for example, add interfaces and save values ​​files) to improve testing. And if you don’t require testing, it is your fault. Example: You stare at a metric that changes every five times a second, wondering how to know if this number is correct. To be sure, you need a file that stores the values ​​from the developer.

4. Testers also found an interesting interesting stumble

Also a kind of problem, but worth highlighting. Sometimes we see a problem on a product and think it is an error, but actually it is simply a display during testing, not an error.

For example, sometimes we get a Certificate Error error on a website, but it’s actually the interaction between the website and Burp Proxy, a tester’s recording tool.

5. Testers find curiosity

Testers can find the surprising and interesting things about their products, not only can not threaten the value of the product, but can also suggest features hidden under software or usage. The product is completely different from the original plan. Some of them may represent features that are not expected by the developers themselves. They can also suggest new ways to test. For example: I notice that a lot of complex content is stored in Iframes on eBay. Maybe I will scan Iframes and systematically explore the important scripts that I need to test, to explore another use of this software.

* There may be other things you think should be added to this list. The problem is that the test results can be quite varied. Always keep your eyes and an open head when performing software testing. *

Source: https://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/572

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