Single Fastest Form of Manual Testing

The title of this post promises big things, and I assure the reader that I am not blowing smoke when I boast of possessing the secret to the fastest form of manual testing under the sun.

Well we're use to the model of the time elapsed since code was created vs the cost of fixing a bug. It's extremely relevant to what I'm talking about so here it is again.

 

Cost of fixing a bug

Well enough of the theory, on to the massive time-saving secret.

It's simple actually.

All it is is sitting down next to a developer for 5-10 minutes before they commit code and have a play with it.



This Over the Shoulder test approach was used with at my last company with great success. The benefits include:


• Bugs will be found while sitting there, even if the developer 'tested it'. Testers will look with more tenacity than most developers, I suspect this is largely because a developer's primary goal is to create, a tester's, to break
• Bugs found at this stage are cheap to fix. Undoubtedly cheaper than if they'd been found a few hours later
• Frustration felt by the developer can be vented in a healthy fashion (I've heard some interesting expletives relating to requirements and time pressures whilst doing this exercise...)
• Feedback to developer is almost instantaneous / issues which would have undoubtedly arisen incur no context switching penalty for the developer
• A subtle benefit, there is no bug-process for a developer to get used to placing work in and out of when the feedback is this quick; it's reinforcing a sense of accountability
• Conversation on dubious behavior is brought to light quickly
• The developer is educated to what they missed without it being a big deal
• No one needs to go through bug reports
• The developer and tester have a chance to talk about what's been done - this simple chat can trigger all kinds of 'ohh, I didn't think about that' type statements, from either party
• The developer/tester relationship is strengthened just that little bit extra by talking (unless they fought, which is good to get out of the system)

The representative graph of cost to fix over time becomes:

Cost of fixing a bug with Over the Shoulder moment added