“You missed that scenario!” ever heard client saying that when you showcased your completed work?
In one such situation, the client was upset because they found an issue in production. I tried to convince her by presenting what we did and how we carried out our testing. I also assured that we will take care of such scenarios.
I was curious to know more about the production issue, wondering how I failed to recognize that particular scenario!
According to my client the issue was with a particular record not fetched using search functionality. When I found the pattern then, it was like search query fired with space followed by underscore would not fetch the correct results. I discussed my observation with developer and they informed that “technology” does not allow this kind of combination string in search query. It has technology limitations.
If I would debate whether this is an issue or not, nobody wins, because you can’t deny the fact that end user might use this kind of query to search results and technology has no answer to it.
The point is to convince the client that 100% testing or bug free software is marketing term, in reality this may not be possible. Quality of the product depends on designs, development, time, technology, testing and decisions made against the bugs.
If tester can’t find bugs, it does not mean that there are no bugs or testers are not doing their job or being careless. What I would say is a skilled tester would help you to do good enough testing and help you to release good quality product.
May be we can avoid this kind of situation by
Educating client about testing completely is impossible.
Educating client about time span given to the testing. If you think you may require more time then justify your need in appropriate way.
Showing possible scenarios or combinations to the client with how much time it will take to do testing so they can understand the complexity involved in testing
Ask questions to stakeholders with respect to understand end user expectations and usage of the software
Keep note of every possible tests and your observations. Not everything can be written but definitely everything can be recorded in a tool called mind.
Focus on non-reproducible bugs. Just don’t leave them because you are not able to reproduce.
Catch hold of log files. If you can’t, ask involved stakeholders to provide it.
Last thing – Never feel demoralized. Instead, learn from it and understand your stakeholder’s expectations and keep educating the client.
In one such situation, the client was upset because they found an issue in production. I tried to convince her by presenting what we did and how we carried out our testing. I also assured that we will take care of such scenarios.
I was curious to know more about the production issue, wondering how I failed to recognize that particular scenario!
According to my client the issue was with a particular record not fetched using search functionality. When I found the pattern then, it was like search query fired with space followed by underscore would not fetch the correct results. I discussed my observation with developer and they informed that “technology” does not allow this kind of combination string in search query. It has technology limitations.
If I would debate whether this is an issue or not, nobody wins, because you can’t deny the fact that end user might use this kind of query to search results and technology has no answer to it.
The point is to convince the client that 100% testing or bug free software is marketing term, in reality this may not be possible. Quality of the product depends on designs, development, time, technology, testing and decisions made against the bugs.
If tester can’t find bugs, it does not mean that there are no bugs or testers are not doing their job or being careless. What I would say is a skilled tester would help you to do good enough testing and help you to release good quality product.
May be we can avoid this kind of situation by
Educating client about testing completely is impossible.
Educating client about time span given to the testing. If you think you may require more time then justify your need in appropriate way.
Showing possible scenarios or combinations to the client with how much time it will take to do testing so they can understand the complexity involved in testing
Ask questions to stakeholders with respect to understand end user expectations and usage of the software
Keep note of every possible tests and your observations. Not everything can be written but definitely everything can be recorded in a tool called mind.
Focus on non-reproducible bugs. Just don’t leave them because you are not able to reproduce.
Catch hold of log files. If you can’t, ask involved stakeholders to provide it.
Last thing – Never feel demoralized. Instead, learn from it and understand your stakeholder’s expectations and keep educating the client.
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