Category Archives: Psychology

Communication, Performance techie, Psychology

Non Violent performance testing

A colleague once told about a strange request. Now let me imagine the whole situation.

“Could you perform a performance test tomorrow?”
“If this is an unknown web site it takes 4 weeks: 1 week for test planning, 1 week for scripting, 1 week for execution of the scripts, and 1 week for test rest reporting.
If there are a few minor changes, it takes 2 weeks. If the test scripts and test data do not have to be changed, it will be one week.”

Now imagine the face of the project leader. Poor fellow.

Now I change the request of the project leader.
“I have a web site which must be tested on performance. I am exasperated.
I have a need for participation.
Would you please perform a performance test on my web site tomorrow?”

I used all the elements of the model of Non Violent Communication as described in my previous blog post.

I could add a little more detail.
“The web host provider needs a test report of the web site, that the performance is good. Within 3 days the web site must go live.”

This is a decent request and it is almost impossible to say: No.
Really? I have to fit at least a week of testing in 1 day. It is fair to say that this is not possible. It is not a reasonable request, so it is better to decline.

Then the dance can start. Let me first focus on the need of the project leader.
“I notice that you do not like my answer. Am I right?”
“Yes, you are right.”
“And you have now a need for clarity?”
[after a slow nod]
“I have a need for cooperation.
I am willing to cooperate, but a test plan takes one week.”

Now the dance is focused on the performance tester. It is her or his turn to explain. Almost.

“You extended a cinema web site with an option to order drinks and snacks in advance. It is just one page.”
“Can you not have the computer just click on the page to see what happens? That’s what computers are good at.”

“Would you please let me explain?”
“Yes. Sure.”
“If I would go with 2 friends I would buy three drinks and 3 snacks. Unless it is Monsters Unlimited with the desert scene.
It takes at most 15 clicks for 1 visit.
But there more than 3 visitors for the movie.

Now many people can look to the movie?”
“180. “
“What is the average number of tickets in 1 order?”
“I do not know.”
“Let’s assume it is 2. Then 90 different people will go to the drinks and snack page. So I have 90 sessions for ordering.“

“I can check with marketing and we can go.”
“But those 90 orders are not placed on the same moment.”

At that moment the project leader would look for another performance tester willing to help him.

My colleague had lost a customer. In this case there is no problem.

What happened?

A lot of talking.
“Would you please be more specific?”
“Sure.”

There were needs and feelings mentioned. The performance test coordinator focused on the project leader. And he explained a lot. A lot of talking. But no project though.

It is also possible to focus first on the test coordinator instead of the project leader.

Ready? Set. Speak.

“How can I help you?”
“I talked to my customer. She agreed to postpone the go live date of drink and snack page in the cinema web site.”
“The last time I had not enough time to explain why a performance test takes this long.
I was disgruntled.
I have a need to be understood.
Would you please let me explain, why the performance test takes time?”

More than 5 years ago in my real life I talked with my boss about a performance test. I had calculated that the investment in a performance would be earned back in 3 months. According to some financial standards this is quite good. But budget was too tight. My boss just asked, whether I had signed anything. This was not the case, so he advised to stop.

Other things that happened

A week ago a fellow TestBash speaker wrote a personal story about her needs which were not fulfilled. Poor fellow. There was a lot of emotion in the post. So she quit. And found joy back in little things.

Now you might doubt whether people would really read this story. But there were. Reactions came in. People who were touched by her story. Feelings and needs can be a big + or PLUS in communication.

For the people who are really struggling:

  • Describe the situation in an objective way.
  • Go to the feelings inventory.
    And determine your feeling (watch the flags for other languages available)
  • Go to the needs inventory.
    And determine your need. ([Other languages …] Chinese any one?)
  • Now formulate your request and make it reasonable.

There are other ways to handle difficult situations. One of my most read blog posts last year was about being fired. I unconsciously used stoicism. My need was clear: a need for support my family. But I had no bad feelings on that moment. I neglected the negative ones.

Communication, Psychology

No violence intended

A few weeks ago I talked about a locker problem with a woman of my sport school.
“I put my stuff in locker 8, but the door came loose.”
She smiled:
“Thank you for reporting. We’ll pick this and ..”

“then I moved all my stuff to locker 6.”, I continued at the same pace.
The woman halted. Wrinkles of concern appeared on her face.
“I could not close the door, because there was no current. Then I moved all my stuff to locker 4.”

I waited for a moment.
The woman could not wait any longer:
“What went wrong this time?”
“This one was all right.”
The apologising smile was back on full strength.
I got another set of apologies and a promise to fix.

Incoming heading

What about the rest?

It is not my purpose to leave a trail of bug reports behind. I just noticed something and I shared this with someone who was really interested.

I did not use any violence to break the door off. The hinges had been clicked to the locker. They just unclicked and the woman rememberedthis within milliseconds. I was also Non Violent. I used an element of Non Violent Communication.

What I did, was to tell my observation in an objective way. I did not use any upsetting adjectives like stupid or dumb. It was just a door.

I did not have to use the other parts of model, the feeling the need, and the request. The woman had enough information to fix.

In my previous blog post I already mentioned Non Violent Communication. I realised that I did not write enough about the non violent part. So this is my rebound blog post.

Feeling

After the observation I could tell about my feeling. “I felt annoyed. ”
Wait a sec. Annoyed reads very offensive. It is a feeling that I had at that moment. I am writing for myself. It is not targeted at a person. I just had an experience and I was annoyed about it.

I know there are people who would consider this as an attack. This should not be the case. That is the responsibility of the person who hears my story.

Need

That’s a proper heading.

I had a need for perfection. As a tester I am aware that this is not always possible. But the opening and closing of the lockers can easily be arranged. Common technology I would write.

My need is personal. Some people might whine about it or like it. That is their responsibility. I am the boss of my own feelings and needs. Of course you can help me to determine them, but I can tell which are appropriate. To me.

Request

My request would be like:
“Would you please repair lockers 8 and 6?”

Please notice “Please”. This is a request. It is also used in other languages: bitte, s’il vous plaît, or alstublieft. It actually means: if it pleases you. So it is completely fair to disregard this request.

I just stress it again: it is no order. I am a customer and not a boss. The action would help me, who asks for this action. My bad feeling will go away and my need be fulfilled. That is rather pleasing. For me.

My sport school could do nothing with my request. Depending on previous requests from my side I could stop my subscription.

So I am heading to …

The closing section

Once I read a tweet of some one. I interpreted that this person had enough of a situation. I tweeted:
” I would determine my need and make a reasonable request.”

In my next blog post I will write about being Non Violent in the testing field.

Psychology, You've got a nerd in me

DUMB heuristic

During the Rapid Software Testing course James Bach advised to name things. If I cannot tell, what I am doing, my boss would think: “What the < beep > is he doing?”
So after the course I came up with the DUMB heuristic. This heuristic I use frequently during my testing.

Suppose my boss asks me how the testing goes. My answer could be: “I do uh my best.” A busy tester is always good, but if I am too busy things might go wrong. All my energy and brain power are focused on the work at hand. I forget to think. That’s DUMB.

When I figured out my heuristic, I had to find some smart explanation for this abbreviation. It became Do Uh My Best. Most heuristics are acronyms or lists of words. In turn every word is explained in detail. You know: turned upside down and shaken. But I just stick to the abbreviation.

Some readers have a good reason to ask. So hold on. The emphasis of the heuristic is on Uh. This is an alarm bell. Hesitation is a sign, that too much is going on in my head. I might forget to pay the deserved attention to the real problem.

This following discussion I had several times with my scrum master:
“I am writing test cases.”
“Why do you make test cases?
How often will the tests be executed? Who will maintain the test cases?”
So I was doing my best. And my scrum master got an Uh out of me.
He let me reflect on my work. What was I doing? And why?

Many test heuristics I know are acronyms. Some I do use. The S in SFDIPOT stands for Structure, how is the application under test built? So which components do I have to test? Etcetera.

If I apply this to DUMB then I would get things like: Do is the activity I am involved at that moment. It can be taking notes in my test charter or just thinking. Etc. Etc. The only thing I need on that moment is a short reminder to reflect on my work. DUMB. One syllable. Keep it sweet and short.

When do I use this heuristic? If there is a lot of work to do. When I have hours of straight testing ahead, I can go in my little cocoon and do something testy and something nice comes out. Tadah.

What about the focus and defocus stuff? Most of the time I use this when I got stuck. What can I do now? Let’s take a step back. Now I see the big picture. I figure out at a high level. Let me zoom in.

The point is, that doing my best is equal to doing stuff which is in front of my nose. I just pick it up and start running. Maybe I get it done today or this morning. Completely forgetting to ask for the reason. And that is DUMB. NOK?

When I was writing this blog, something hit me in the face. That was my imaginary hand palm. This so called heuristic is maybe already known under another name or in another way. Like a proverb.

And yes Madam within a few minutes the following proverbs came in my mind:
Eile mit Weile
Dépechez lentement
Easy does it

A day later followed by
Haastige spoed is zelden goed.

So why am I not using proverbs to keep my testing right? It is too long. Maybe a short heuristic could be useful.

“My scrum master would say something like Does it help?

This is really STUPID which stands for Some Thing …. I Do. UP are two words, so ….

Do I have to figure this out? WHY?”
“We Hear Yes.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“GIRLS”
“Good In Real Life Software”

 

 

“GUYS”
“Graphic Userinterface You See”

 

 

“PLEASE”
“People Lik E A Software Errooor”

“CHEERS”
“Co Herent Entertaining Erroneous Random Synthesis”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you are a mindful reader. Congrats. Here is the bonus.

Why did I not throw this blog post in the waste bin? People already thought about it and distilled their experiences to proverbs.

It is about my thought process. I do not want to stop thinking. Once in a while I discover that other people already have figured it out. Sometimes I find something new. But apart of discovery of new thingies it is about thinking thingies through. Getting better to verbalise my thoughts and explain them to you the reader.

That was what I forget a while ago. Thanks for the attention.

Optional reading Also Known As scientific stuff for nerds like me
When I Do Uh My Best, System 1 is operating. More information about System 1 can be found in this blog post.

WYSIATE stands for What You See Is All There Is. If I am too busy, I forget to look for other relevant information as mentioned in Thinking Fast and Slow.

The Lindy effect is about using knowledge especially from books. Thinking Fast and Slow is quoted for years by some testers. If a book is relevant for 5 years, it will probably remain relevant for another 5 years.