In a recent poll on our forums, we asked our community of software testers, how long after walking into someones house, is it acceptable to ask for their wifi password? As a gadget junkie, my response would naturally be within 5 minutes! I dont know why I assumed that this would be the case among many of our testers, but alas I was surprised to see the broad range of results and responses! It seems that there is a stalemate between ’5 minutes’ and ‘Never’, which I also found interesting.

Although all the answer choices were represented, our sample was divided pretty evenenly into two camps – those like me who are attached to their devices and require constant wifi and those who value privacy and security above all else, even friendships! (just kidding)

“I don’t mind connecting devices, but I would not tell them the password. I would input myself and then ask them to forget the network when they are done. Also, my setup requires me to input the MAC address on the router for all devices before they can connect via MAC address filtering. I also assign static IP’s to devices so I can track them, if needed with my firewall. If they don’t forget the network then I can revoke the MAC address on the router and they cannot get connected.” – Tim F.

“Eurm… Usually if I visit other people it’s not to use their Wifi…? Not sure about you lot here, but isn’t the better question, how soon can you ask for beer, or even better, why have I not been offered a drink yet?” Coen B.

“I would ask for it as soon as my 3G stops working and that happens pretty much every 10 minutes… I don’t think it’s rude or anything, it’s not like you’re gonna download a full 1080p movie at full speed or something hehe” Exequiel Z.

We want to hear your thoughts! Tell us in the comments. Is it acceptable to ask right away? Does it depend on who you are visiting?

We’ve all been there before – you find a highly-impactful defect and attach all the necessary information to your report; screen shots, video captures, log and fiddler files. Days go by and the developer finally gets back to you. But instead of praising you for the great find (maybe that doesn’t ever happen, but one can be hopeful), the report is rejected and marked as “cannot reproduce.” What do you do?

First, you should always attempt to reproduce it again on the exact machine you reported against (actually, you should always try to reproduce it at least once more before submitting your report). If you cannot reproduce it after being confronted by the developer, there’s a good chance that the issue is intermittent. Is it valid? Perhaps, but we cannot be certain unless we have more data points. This particular report should remain marked as “cannot reproduce” and prioritized according to its business impact. If the impact of another occurrence is high, you should keep your eyes and ears peeled for any signs of it resurfacing.

But let’s say that you can reproduce it once more on your machine, but it remains impossible to reproduce on your developer’s machine. Is it valid now? Likely yes, but you need to investigate a bit more. The fact is that there are too many combinations and permutations of hardware and software combinations these days to easily diagnose these types of issues, so you should cast a wider net to get more data points – for example, have your software tested in-the-wild for better coverage and quicker response times. Doing so will allow you to determine commonalities where the issue arises and where it remains dormant. And with more information, the likelihood of getting to the root cause increases dramatically.

Now it’s your turn to share, especially given that many of you have been crippled by these scenarios in the past. What has worked well for your team? Work hasn’t worked that well that you would share with your peers? Drop a comment below and help prevent a fellow tester from getting another gray hair!

With all of the terrific testing content produced on this blog (so modest, we know) it’s easy to forget about the treasure trove of testing-related material on the uTest Forums, a great place to visit if you are:

• Looking to connect and chat with other professional testers from around the world
• Interested in learning about the latest QA tools and tips
• Available for paid testing projects
• Wondering what type of Jurassic Park dinosaur you would be (more on this in a second)

As a preview, I’ve included blurbs to some of the more lively discussions currently going on, including:

How are Automation test cases best written?
What’s the best way approach test automation through Selenium? What about automating existing manual test cases with only multiple data sets? What additional factors need to be considered to create efficient automation test cases? In this thread, experts from the uTest community weigh in with their tips on effective automated testing.

Should testers report every bug they find?
Though written specifically for uTesters, this thread kicked off by Lucas Dargis deals with the subject of bug severity in any type of project. Specifically, what type of bugs really need to be reported. Here’s one of the more interesting responses:

I always tell my Team to never make an assumption.  It’s better to file a defect than let it go.  Let the client make the decision on the value unless specified.  There is a cost involved with fixing defects later in the development cycle and I feel it’s our job to help the clients by reporting all defects, letting them decide on the value, and save them cost upfront. 

Read more…

Those of you who follow uTest closely are well aware that crowdsourcing is an efficient approach, put to use successfully within our in-the-wild software testing services.  As the job creation in the U.S. continues to lag behind other aspects of the recovery, there is increased discussion around crowdsourcing as an under-utilized way to help increase both the skill sets and marketability of individuals while providing flexibility to companies still staggering from the 2008 collapse.

In a post on Boston.com’s Global Business Hub Blog, our own Matt Johnston lends his thoughts to this very topic:

“The beauty of crowdsourcing is that, in this economy, no one would think it’s possible,” writes Johnston. “Individuals can actually take their future into their own hands, without worrying about the next round of layoffs, hours being cut, or office politics. For companies weathering the same economic challenges, it’s hard to imagine hiring more full-time employees, regardless of their qualifications.”

Johnston also points out how technology companies have been early adopters of crowdsourcing, using it “for project funding, software testing, IT services, localization and globalization.”

You can hear Johnston talk more about the subject in person tomorrow at the at the Crowdopolis conference in New York City.

To learn more about uTest’s crowdsourced community of professional software testers, follow @uTestcommunity and stay engaged via the community Facebook page.

It’s that time again! The uTest team is thrilled to announce the results of our fourth annual “uTester of the Year” Award.

Each year, we recognize uTesters who have consistently gone above and beyond their call of duty – whether it’s through their participation in uTest projects or their commitment to mentoring fellow testers within the community. This year’s winners were chosen by our community and project management teams, who have the privilege of working closely with top notch talent from all around the world.

Choosing finalists was particularly difficult this time around. The challenge was enlightening, because it reminded us of the tremendous pool of talent and dedication that exists within the uTest community.

We spent hours on end debating amongst ourselves and sifting through a long list of finalists. After comparing both quantitative and qualitative data from internal uTest teams and customers, we are confident we have chosen the best of the best from the uTest community.

As uTest talent continues to grow, so too do our awards. This year, we are thrilled to announce two new categories: Top Onsite Tester and Mentor of the Year.

Without further ado, let’s meet our 2012 winners:

Top honor for the 2012 award goes to Moritz Schoenberg from Germany

Moritz joined uTest in the spring of 2010 and quickly achieved a gold rating in functional testing, as well as a silver rating in usability and localization. He is not only a great software tester, but Moritz goes above and beyond in his Test Team Lead responsibilities. Furthermore, he has since moved on to work on-site at one of our customer’s offices in Germany, handling a wide variety of QA work and planning.

In his own words:

“The last year has been pretty amazing – thanks to all the PMs, TTLs and fellow testers I had the pleasure of working with. Not only did I get on track with TTL-ing, but also started on-site in the summer.

The project has been more than interesting and I’ve learned a lot. Working on-site with a big in-house testing team for one of the biggest companies has been a new experience to me, since I previously worked mainly on smaller-scale projects.

My special thanks goes to uTest and the people directly involved in this project; I couldn’t have done it without you, your professionalism, ability to work on extremely tight schedules and willingness to always go that extra mile!

Receiving this award is a great honor – and I’m looking forward to whatever uTest projects are coming this year.”

Mortiz is joined on the “uTester of the Year” list by many other top-notch testers who continue to go above and beyond in the uTest Community. Here’s a look at the complete list of winners:

Read more…

For those familiar with our Testing the Limits series, you may have noticed that I like to throw in an open-ended, fill-in-the-blank question every once and awhile. So instead of keeping these questions exclusively for our guests, I thought I would open them up for you, our readers.

So if you’re up for it, go ahead and answer these 10 questions for software testers in the comments field below:

1. My favorite part about being a QA professional is ____.
2. If I had to quit my job as a tester, I would become a _____ because _____.
3. The testing subject that I’m interested in learning more about is ____.
4. The worst bug I ever found would have resulted in _____ if it hadn’t been discovered.
5. If there was one thing I wish people would understand about testing, it’s that _____.
6. I’ve never understood why developers _____.
7. I think that tester certifications are _____.
8. My experience with the Agile methodology has generally been  _____.
9. If I had to suggest one testing book to read, it would be ____.
10. When I’m not testing software, you can find me ____.

Thanks for participating. Have a great weekend everyone!

We talk about the importance of software testing all the time. We quote journalists who talk about the importance of software testing all the time. We talk to thought leaders in the field at least once a month. But what do the testers themselves think? The people who are in the trenches battling bugs day in and day out, how do they feel, what issues do they see over and over again, what keeps them doing their job and, ultimately, why is testing so important?

Here are some insights from testers who specialize in sometimes overlooked testing fields.

Inge De Bleecker – Usability Expert
Inge has been working in the user experience field for 20 years. She started working with mobile device user interfaces in 2000.

Why is usability testing important?
In usability testing we evaluate whether test participants were able to complete tasks and how easy or hard it was. We gather feedback on any aspects of the user’s experience that are troublesome or could use improvement. Usability testing is important because it allows a company to verify the usability of their interface and fix issues before they release their product.

What does a UX expert do and how is it different from other types of testing?
A UX expert is a user experience professional; someone who defines the usability testing tasks and questions. Once all participants have completed their tasks and answered all questions, the UX expert analyzes the data and writes a results report. The expert also investigates the interface for any usability issues based on best practices and industry standards.

What benefit does a UX expert provide to customers?
If the customer doesn’t have a resident UX professional, the expert’s background and experience in user experience and writing of tasks and questions will benefit the customer. Customers who do have in-house UX teams benefit from engaging an outside professional who can look at the interface in an unbiased way.

Alex Waldmann – Security Expert
Alex has a background in web development and began focusing on web security testing in 2005.

What extra benefits does a security expert provide over a typical tester?
Security testing needs a lot of expertise (more than can be given by coaching regular functional testers in an acceptable amount of time), otherwise it is just checklist-testing. Experts in the security testing field are able to find system-specific exploits that require thinking out of the box and first gathering an understanding of the business logic. Manual penetration testing requires the will to break into a system and destroy things to show the developers they can’t keep an attacker out. Security testing requires knowledge about the art (and downfall) of programming, ideally by having programming experience, so most security experts are also fit when it comes to functional testing.

Read more…

At this point, many of you are likely tired of reading the countless ‘year-in-review’ retrospective posts about what made 2012 so great – so I will spare you the nostalgic recap of 2012 highlights from the uTest Community. I won’t mention that we reached a major milestone of 70,000+ professional testers, nor will I share that we witnessed record-breaking payouts and launched the new HTML Platform (sorry, I couldn’t help myself). Instead, the Community Management Team is looking onward at the exciting improvements our community of testers can expect in 2013. Here are several highlights:

Learning

In past years, uTest has been known to testers as a place to get vetted and, if qualified, get invited to test the latest and greatest apps. We also recognize that becoming ‘vetted’ is never an end state, but rather a process. In the past year, there has been a great deal of knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer training and mentoring within the community. Moving into 2013, we will be building upon this momentum by developing a training curriculum that allows testers to further hone their skills. In addition, we will be offering a variety of advanced ‘sandbox programs’ to vet testers in specific segments and sub-segments of testing, as well as different roles that are available to qualified testers and team leads. These new programs will offer opportunities for testers to become more knowledgeable and offer them various paths that will benefit their career – both within and outside of uTest.

Platform

As I may have mentioned above, uTest wrapped up 2012 with the launch of an entirely new HTML platform for our testers. What I didn’t mention is that this launch is only the beginning! This year, we will be rolling out new features that enhance your testing experience, including enhancements to support additional testing types and workflows. There will also be a major update to the tester profile, which will enable us to better match testers with the right projects and training opportunities – all of which will help you learn and earn more than you did in past years.

Engagement

I’ll be the first to admit: the uTest Community Management Team loves to engage with testers from all around the world. As such, the uTest Forums have been a great environment for testers to engage with fellow members of the uTest Community. While the uTest Forums is not going away any time soon, we want testers to be able to connect in even more ways, fitting with their preferences. Moving forward, we plan to branch out and expand tester engagements to a variety of social platforms. We encourage you to make it your New Year’s resolution to Follow, Like, Link, Circle, and Subscribe to uTest Community. Doing so will enable you stay up to date on everything related to the uTest Community, including upcoming uMeetups around the globe, contests, awards, recognition programs, and training opportunities.

As you can see, there are big things in the horizon for the uTest Community this year, and to be honest, this is only the tip of the iceberg. While we could divulge more information about other programs, we want you to stay connected to hear more about upcoming announcements. Until then, Happy New Year and Happy Testing uTesters!

Around this time last year we took a moment to reflect on how far the uTest Community of testers had come.  We ended 2011 with 50,000 testers and countless stories about the opportunities uTest has provided our tester with. As we end this fantastic year – with over 70,000 testers, a new HTML platform and additions to our community management team – we turn to our testers again and ask them to share their 2012 experience with us.

Every year we are touched, excited and motivated by the way uTest impacts the lives of our testers, and we believe that their experiences are enlightening to other readers as well. Here is a look at some of our top tester stories from 2012:

uTest and I found each other in early 2012. At the time I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue my career as a tester. Up until then, I worked with the same product for months or years on end. Sometimes that could be a bit monotonous. uTest gave me the opportunity to test something new every week. Suddenly I found myself having fun again. uTest helped rekindle my love for testing because I constantly had a new challenge to overcome or a new product or technique to learn. I have never enjoyed what I do or learned as much as I have in these last 9 months. Thanks uTest. Here’s to a fantastic 2013!

-Lucas Dargis

Well for me 2012 was in one word, amazing! I received my first project invitation in January and a whole new world opened for me since then. I came into uTest without knowing anything about testing. I registered because I wanted to try something new, since I was always into technology. My daily job (running a construction company as a Civil Engineer/Owner) was very time consuming since I worked almost all day. So the time I had left for uTest was working at night. Project after project I became so hooked up that uTest became part of my life. uTest was the ticket to an amazing new world that I never thought it existed. So by working hard every night, reading the help topics again and again, following the forums, asking questions, taking notes in every test cycle and observing the other testers, I managed to find my way into uTest. uTest has really changed my life. I love working for uTest. Everything I learned about software testing I owe it to uTest. Through uTest I had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest companies in the world and try so many amazing products. Of course I’ve met some wonderful people from all around the world.

For me uTest is like a dream come true. Thank you, uTest, for everything!

-Georgios Boletis

I have learned a lot about being a uTester, and about testing in general. I was a tester for AAA video games before coming here (mostly Xbox, but also PC and Windows Phone), so this was my first real entry into non-game testing. In ways the testing is VERY different, but software testing is software testing. The basics of bug investigation and bug reporting are the same.

I also was able to learn new platforms. I am now, in my opinion, an expert iOS tester and a pretty decent Android tester. What I really look forward to next year is digging into some of the uMentor training on automation testing, security testing and other testing types I have not really done before.

-Allyson Burk

At the start of 2012 I was jobless and on the verge of becoming homeless, until I found uTest. Since then I have risen to the top ranks here at uTest and a respected member of the community. Along the way I have been able to learn and grow, and make plenty of friends from all around the world. I love the feeling I get when I can go about daily life and say “I tested that” or “I got to see that before anyone else did” or “I helped to make that product better”. I wear my uTest badge proudly. The only thing I can say, if 2012 was this great I can’t wait to see what next year has to bring.

-Dylan Foster

Read more…

Like Douglas Adams’ universe, the software testing space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. All over the globe, hundreds of thousands of testers are solving problems, finding bugs and working to improve the quality of countless applications.

But how did they get there? Where did they come from? More importantly, where will the next wave of testers come from? Though not in those exact words, these are questions that I hear all the time at conferences, in articles and on various software testing blogs. I felt it was time to (attempt anyway) giving our readers a comprehensive answer to that question.

A big part of what we do here at uTest is community building. Over the course of 5+ years, we’ve attracted testers from every conceivable background and skill-set. In doing so, we’ve noticed the only thing testers had in common was that they had almost nothing common. That is to say they all had much different stories as to how they became a tester.

So with that in mind, I wanted to take an in-depth look at the various ways in which people arrive at this great profession. As I mentioned before – and will mention again – there is no set path. It’s not like becoming a lawyer or a doctor; occupations with specific requirements (degrees, exams, etc.) that must be met in order to advance. There are, however, at least a few common avenues that one can take in order to become a software testing professional.

In this post, I’m going to take a look at the major ones – examine their strengths and weaknesses – and provide you with some insights from the testing experts. In doing so, I hope to help two distinct groups of people:

1. Those who are thinking about becoming a tester
2. Those who are looking for testers to hire

Let’s get started….

From Certification Organizations
A sizeable percentage of QA professionals emerge from one of the many software testing certification bodies, the most prominent of which is the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB). Organizations like this aim to ensure that testers receive the necessary education (or at least a solid foundation) for a career in testing.

Whether they accomplish that or not is a matter of great debate within the testing space. Rather than delve too deep into the arguments, I’m going to provide you with what I feel are two of the best arguments for and against certifications. On the “pro cert” side we have this quote from Rex Black, who once served as the president of the ISTQB. Here is what he had to say in a Testing the Limits interview back in 2010:

Read more…