Software Testing Blog

With over 45,000 testers around the world, we’re always looking for fresh and interesting ways for uTesters to network, learn, and have fun.

The uTest nation photo contest was launched as a fun way for testers to show off their creativity and to literally visualize diversity that comprises uTest community. uTesters were challenged to take photos of themselves in interesting places displaying the uTest logo. Creativity was encouraged. The conditions for each entry were that uTesters needed to pose with a provided uTest logo, and must be safe for work. For instance, testers could display the uTest logo while exploring the Parthenon, on holiday at the Eiffel Tower, or even while visiting world’s largest ball of yarn. While some uTesters were able to shoot photos in person on location, others were able to display their Photoshop skills to create some fun photos.

Through the course of the contest we received 21 submissions from all around the world, and the winners were completely chosen by the community through a weighted average voting system. Once votes were tallied, our team evaluated each photo to make sure entry rules were adhered to and then calculated the winners.

Existing forum members can visit the photo contest topic to see all the entries. If you’re a uTester and haven’t registered for a forum account yet, be sure to register today so you can check out all of the photos and stay informed of future contests! Click below to see the winning photos and honorable mentions.
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As we get closer to reaching the critical milestone of 40,000 testers in the uTest community (any day now!), we knew we’d have to find ways to scale our community programs in order to manage, vet and engage our enormous pool of expert testers and QA professionals.

Well, we didn’t have to look very far! The answers were right in front of us — where else but within the uTester community itself. As Matt said, “We found inspiration in seeing the enthusiasm and personal pride that resulted from members advising, supporting and training other members in our tester forums.”

From there, we launched three new initiatives – Sandbox, Crash Courses, and Test Team Lead – which catapulted uTest into the next phase of crowdsourcing, one that is self-sufficient, self-teaching, and self-policing.

One that is “For uTesters, By uTesters.”

For example, the Test Team Lead program gives uTest members the opportunity to earn paid leadership roles, mentoring and helping other testers succeed in their work. Crash Courses provide community-generated training materials to raise the skill level of community members and their eligibility to accept more work. More than 50 Crash Courses have been written to advance tester skills and further their careers.

Check out some early thoughts from the media on TechTarget, Crowdsourcing.org, TheDailyCrowdsource.

Details on each program after the bump!

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While most bugs are frowned upon, the uTest bug has proven to be a great catch this season and the effects are evidently quite contagious. In fact, testers worldwide have gathered in the uTest Forums to discuss the impact and influence uTest has had in their lives. Here are several inspiring quotes:

“I’ve only been a member of uTest for a relatively short time compared to a lot here, and I thought I was a pretty good tester before joining. Since joining, and seeing the very different backgrounds and experiences of other testers here from around the world, I realise that I still have very much to learn. uTest is a great resource for us all to learn from each other, to question our test beliefs, to improve our craft.”

“I was quite short of money, but thanks to uTest and the well developed essence of this site I can get a small salary without going to the office, doing the job I love (I’m one of those “born to test” testers).  So thanks uTest for my new laptop (I have bought a Dell Inspiron for this trip), thanks for my new Motorola Droid, and a huge thanks for letting me enhance my testing skills and work with you all.”

“A few years ago I got laid off and was out of work for a year. Then I finally found something but it was less than what I was making at my old job. Needless to say things got tight. Since I’ve joined uTest I’ve been able to catch up on bills and even was able to make a minor roof repair one month. If it wasn’t for uTest I wouldn’t have been able to make that repair so the problem would have definitely turned into something bigger. I really enjoy what I do hear and hope someday to be able to quit the job I’m at.”

Needless to say, we at uTest are delighted to hear such warm-hearted testimonials. However, we are even more delighted to have witnessed the continued growth and collaborative efforts of the uTest community this year; through community mentoring of newbie testers, challenging one another’s thought processes on software testing, and pushing the envelope of our beloved craft. Thank you to all uTesters for contributing to a passionate and learning environment.

If you have your own uTester quote to share, please share by adding a comment below!

We’re excited to share the details of our second uMeetup event – held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In case you missed the details of our first event, which was held in Cordoba, Argentina, uMeetups are local networking events organized by top testers and sponsored by uTest. Invitations are extended to all software testers in the local vicinity to meet in person, listen to presentations on special software testing topics, and learn more about participating in paid projects with uTest.

In all, 24 participants attended the Saint Petersburg event. Two testers actually traveled from Moscow, which is almost 800 kilometers away! Organizing the event was Roman Tverdokhlebov, a top uTester, who secured a meeting location at the local Yandex office.

Accompanying Roman were several other uTesters well known in the uTest forums,  including Felix, Sergey, and more recently, Lesha. The three-hour meeting was so successful that the group plans to meet up at least once again in the next several months.

I’ve received several personal emails from testers who have expressed their enthusiasm and commitment to software testing and participating in uTest projects. Talk about a passionate group of testers!

Luckily, the fun is just getting started. There are currently several uMeetups in the works – including countries such as Brazil, UK, France, Singapore, China and Australia – so be sure to check out the Forums to find the one nearest you. If you don’t see your country on the list, you can apply for a sponsorship here.

As promised, here are a few pictures from the event:

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I recently came across this article, Personality Traits in Software Engineering, which conducted a research survey assessing the major personality traits of software testers and developers. Turns out — and I’m not at all surprised having met so many testers in our community — software testers rock! Here’s how the scores break down:

According to Anne-Marie Charrett in her blog, Maverick Tester, “On average we [testers] are an agreeable bunch of people, open to experience (see below) with a high cognitive capability. A hearty clap on the back fellow testers, we all knew we were pretty special.”

I couldn’t agree more! So, yes, this is simply a feel-good blog for all those testers out there with a case of the Mondays. Give yourselves a hand. And Happy Monday!

By now, readers of our blog and newsletters are aware of our interest obsession with all species of software bugs. Whether it’s a funny error message, a fatal security flaw, or a glitch that prevents raw sewage from being treated, we’re always happy to hear about the “showstoppers” encountered by everyday users.

With that in mind, we’ve decided to launch a monthly contest titled….wait for it….Bug of the Month! Here are the basics:

• Start date: Mon, Aug 9^th
• End date: Sun, Aug 29^th
• Where: on uTest’s Facebook page
• Prize: a shiny new iPod Touch

And here’s how you play:

• Step One: “Like” uTest on Facebook
• Step Two: Find your favorite bug or error message (funny/scary/annoying) from any piece of software – websites, mobile apps, printers, etc.
• Step Three: Upload your screenshot or video to uTest’s Facebook wall
• Step Four: Tell your friends, family and colleagues to “Like” your bug

Whoever gets the most “Likes” by the end of the month wins the iPod touch. Easy enough?

Remember, this isn’t like the Bug Battle – you DO NOT have to report these bugs through the uTest platform, you DO NOT have to document the type/frequency/severity, and you DO NOT have to be the person who originally discovered the bug.  This is a public contest and the most popular bug wins!

So if you’ve seen a software bug that you feel is worthy of this honor, visit our Facebook page and get started.

Our guest blogger this month is Travis Howell. A member of the uTest community, Travis has over 15 years of project management/analyst experience, including one year at NASA where he served as Deputy Manager of Human Spaceflight for the International Space Station. A father of three (or seven if you include dogs), Travis is an employee by day, a father by night and a uTester by early morning. Sleep would be nice, he said, but he’s adjusted to living on a couple hours.

In this post, Travis (a Gold Tester) outlines the mindset needed for success in the uTest community – including advice on logging bugs, preparation, knowing your limitations and more. Enjoy!

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How fitting to the time of year. It’s summer, it’s hot – for some of us it’s very hot – and a pool looks so inviting. Tell me this: Would you jump into a pool if you didn’t first know how to swim?  My guess is that your answer is NO. This world presents a lot of open invitations – invitations that appeal to our wants and desires and make it easy for us to just jump right in. I have to admit, sometimes it’s nice to be first. After all, we live in a generation that rewards the person that comes in first. 

Testing Is NOT About Being First
It’s not about the first person to find bugs or the first person to complete their work. To test is: to be informed, to understand, to question, to investigate, to identify, and to communicate. In the end, it’s about providing the customer with the ability to deliver a superior product. And once they bring that product to market, who is ultimately the winner?  You, the consumer.

What’s This — A New Test Cycle In My Inbox?
A new test cycle is an open invitation for everyone to jump in the pool. I know how inviting that test cycle invitation is, and I can guess what’s going through your mind. “What do I have here, a new test cycle. Looks like I’m the first participant, the world is my oyster. I’ll get in, look around, get a jump on everyone, score a few bugs, rack up some dollars, and out I go.”  Easy money right?  Maybe, maybe not.

Let me take you back to my first question, would you jump into a pool if you didn’t first know how to swim? Now, let me re-phrase it as it relates to testing. Would you enter a new test cycle without first knowing what the expectation of the customer is and what is expected of you to test? The correct answer is NO, but the lure of ‘easy money’ is there and provides the temptation to push a few in the pool. As an example, I have seen a large number of bugs logged to a test cycle where it is clearly identified within the objectives that testing is not to begin until a future date. We’re all guilty of moving too quickly sometimes. But don’t forget one thing, what you don’t know could come back to bite you.

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“Certifications are a farce – they simply test your ability to cram for an exam,” cries one tester in a recent uTest forums exchange. “No way – certifications are extremely valuable and establish credibility to the testing world,” replies another tester.

And it goes on and on… As a witness to the ongoing debate, it’s clear that there may never be a meeting of the minds when it comes to certifications. It’s certainly been thought-provoking and entertaining to read through the vicious cycle of pros and cons supporting both camps. Here are several to spark more debate!

Pro-Certifications Camp:

• They provide a base level of knowledge for those interested in the field, including terminology, processes, etc.
• They help testing newbies get their foot in the door of the testing world
• Certain organizations prefer to (or only) hire certified testers
• Passing a certification means that one is serious about testing
• Having a certification differentiates you from the crowd of software testers

Anti-Certifications Camp:

• Certifications bodies take in top money to create certs that simply test your ability to cram for an exam and at best possess knowledge – as opposed to your problem solving skills and how to test
• Passing such exams does not prove anything about testing skills & should not get your foot in the door for a job
• Organizations that prefer certified testers are simply lazy about their interviewing process – looking for a piece of paper or label on the resume vs. looking at the candidates skill set
• Passing a certification simply indicates that you are willing to take the time and money to complete a task
• There are so many certified testers – so what differentiates one from another? More advanced certs? Where’s the limit?

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Today I read a story about a woman who, while following Google Maps’ directions, was run over and is now suing Google for damages. So, my question to you is: Who are you following — and why?

At uTest, we’re just scratching the surface of  what’s possible in our “social media” efforts, but we’re excited that this past weekend we passed 1,000 Twitter Followers and 500 Facebook Likes!

So this post is simply to ask YOU — our terrific community, friends and readers — a few questions about what makes a company worth following or more interesting to you in the realm of social media:

1. What type of content do you like most? Is it breaking news; thoughts from industry gurus; inside info from the company; jokes and funny stories; special promotions; or other?
2. What makes you want to follow or “like” a company — particularly a B2B brand?
3. Are there other B2B or SaaS companies who are doing cool stuff and making all the right moves?  Give ‘em some love and tell the world about them in the comments!

We would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and insights around this topic. And if you have a moment, please follow us (we promise we won’t run you over!).

Where are you going, where have you been? Yes it’s the title of a creepy short story, but it also happens to characterize the  fastest-growing segment of consumer applications.

Location-based apps like Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite – apps that let you check in, find hot spots and get rewarded with prizes & accolades – are attracting thousands of new users every day. Just how popular have they become? They’re sooo popular, even uTest CEO and co-founder Doron Reuveni has attained ‘Mayor’ status (see if you can guess where).

Why am I telling you all this? Because these  geo-based apps are the subject of our latest uTest Bug Battle. We figured that since Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite are all global in scope, that they would provide our global tester community with a challenge unlike any of our previous bug-hunting competitions.

The Bug Battle gets started this Friday, May 14 at Noon (ET). Testers will be given ten days to search these applications (both web and mobile) for the most compelling bugs, and to report them through our online platform. We’ll be dishing out nearly $4,000 in prize money for Top Tester, Best Bug, Best Survey Feedback, Best Mobile Bug and a bunch of other categories.

More details on this Bug Battle – as well the rules, prizes and deadlines –can be found in this uTest Forums thread. Of course, we’ll be providing frequent updates via our blog, forums and newsletters.

Special note: This competition is available ONLY to members of the uTest community. Not a member yet? Find out more about the benefits of joining uTest.