Quality to me is

"Synergistic phenomena experienced by the user(s) when the product or a service satisfies the requirements, achieves business goals, exceeds expectations, is incredibly usable with real-time servicing & updates, optimal performance and cost effective"

Friday, March 23, 2012

In Bruce Lee's words:
Knowing is not enough, we must apply
Willing is not enough, we must do


When I speak to people from the industry, they invariably use a lot of terms and jargons.
But that has left me to wonder, if they really mean the words that they use.
Specifically, in quality assurance, method, methodology, technique, type, process, model, strategy etc are the word that I hear often.
A slight dig into them, would more often reveal, that they constantly ponder on the right usage at the right place!
So, here Iam, thinking out, in black and white!

Method

Definitions on internet
Scientific method, a series of steps taken to acquire knowledge [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method]
An established, habitual, logical, or prescribed practice or systematic process of achieving certain ends with accuracy and efficiency, usually in an ordered sequence of fixed steps.
Evaluation of structure methods/process, responsibilities, scope, schedule, milestone and future plans to validate/verify a set of requirements is methodology
My View
Collection of sets of steps that could be used in achieving a solution
The problem could be abstract and the method has to be applied appropriately
Example:
I want a tea, the following could result in any one variety of tea.
tea [leaf, powder, bag] + liquid [water, milk] + consistency [thin, thick] + temperature [hot/cold] + taste [strong, light, sweet, bland] + Flavor [ginger, masala] etc

Technique

Definitions on internet
A technique is a procedure used to accomplish a specific activity or task [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technique]
A practical method, skill, or art applied to a particular task
The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.
My View
It could be steps in achieving a solution. The steps can vary resulting in same or fine tuned end result.
There can be a number of techniques to solve a problem or in doing a job.
The problem and the solution could be straight forward
Example:
I want a tea with some personalization.
Prepare tea to suit the order!

Process

Definitions on internet
Unifying principles which operate in many different systemic contexts [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process]
A systematic series of actions or operations conducing to an end
A continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner
A phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result
A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result
A series of operations performed in the making or treatment of a product
My View
It could be Methods and techniques incorporated as a chore that guides through step by step actions in achieving the solution, irrespective of person/place/thing
But when one or more(a right mix) is considered for implementing, it becomes a process which becomes the norm until a gap is identified.
Example:
Follow the steps to get the desired tea with same result (Improved process=>Improved

Strategy - A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a vision [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy]

Model could be representation of any thing, for which methods, techniques, processes, strategy etc could be defined/arrived/derived/etc

Ah! having written the above, at a glance they do really look the same!!.
It would need some reflection to understand the subtle differences.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Bonfire Evaluation

Bonfire is a plugin from Jira, which allows to create sessions, to collaborate between members to perform exploratory testing.

From Administration->Plugin->search and install the plugin.
If you don't have Jira installed, then you can install the standalone version that is available as a 30 day free trial.
Generate license from my atlassian
From Administration->Plugins->Bonfire, paste the license and click add.
administration->Plugins->bonfire settings->Install bonfire for your browser
users would need re-indexing - during this time, Jira will not be accessible

->Test Sessions->Create session
Create a Test session from the desired project. The default assignee will be the user who creates the session.
The current version of bonfire does not support multiple assignees.
Make sure the users who wants to join the session have permission as Assignable User to this project.
Once this is done, download the Bonfire plugin for the browser (currently supports FF, chrome, safari and internet explorer)
Then you are set to go!

The plugin from the browser allows you to use bonfire effectively.
    - Create issues directly, without switching tabs
    - Start and pause the sessions
    - Direct edits of screenshots
    - Create pre defined templates for issues
    - Create variables that can be used in templates that can capture information like env, browser details etc dynamically
    - Join/unjoin sessions
    - Sharing of templates [To share a template created by another user, you need to set them as favourite. Only then you will be able to use it.]
    - Usage of wiki markup for tags like questions, follow-up items etc and mark them complete once they are done.
    - Filter on tags, sessions, providing consolidation of team work

While there are specific gadgets for greenhopper that you can use to create Dashboards, there are no such gadgets available for Bonfire testsessions.
You'll have to go by the labels that are assigned.
On the whole, it will be a very useful plugin, which can
    - ease the time taken to filing issues
    - coordinate group testing sessions
    - exploratory testing
    - customer beta test sessions

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Workaround for a broken Home button on iPhone or any iOS devices

Assistive Touch:
I use to test a lot on my iPhone.
Recently, I found that couple of my friends have unusable devices like iPods, iPads and iPhones.
There is a workaround for this. Although it will work only upwards of 5.0.

Firstly if your device is lower than 5.0, upgrade your device to 5.0/5.0.1 after taking a backup of the device.

Connect your device to iTunes and when it prompts for upgrade, Press ok.
It might take a couple of hours.

It can be quick, if you have the relevant ipsw file.
If you have one, From iTunes, just press shift + restore(for windows) or options + restore (for mac) and browse the ipsw file and upgrade your device.


Once it is done, from the home screen, go to Settings->General->Accessibility->Assistive Touch->ON
Viola!, there is a soft home button displayed on the home screen, which can be moved around and positioned as you wish!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Jira - Greenhopper Plugin Evaluation


I wanted to try Greenhopper for a very long time. I already have firsthand experience with Jira.
I like the tool a lot and hence I decided to install the standalone version of Jira on my machine and Install Greenhopper on top of it.
So, I went to the Jira website.
I installed a Standalone version of Jira (Trial version, free for 30 days). I wanted to use the sandbox,  but since it asked for the credit card details, I preferred the standalone version! You may need to create an account with Atlassian to get the License keys, one for Jira and another for Greenhopper.
Created the projects
Created issues of various types for different projects
Configured the translations
Created different components
Created different releases.
Created a couple of tickets

The following are the findings:
After upgrading to greenhopper, it will ask for indexing of database, which will migrate all the tickets and during this time, Jira won’t be accessible.

Planning Board:
 Pros: Will be good to use when the project is going to start.
This is mostly for, on the fly issue creation and assigning it to a version.
Affects version, if already created, we cannot create the same version with greenhopper.
Cons: As when the cards grow, it will be a lot tough to use.
Filters cannot be used here!!!
The cards get listed only based on the version/component etc ONLY if the fix version is populated [scheduled]

Rapid Board (Kanban)
Pros: Thank God!, with the Rapid board, filters can be created and used.
This is more flexible and the TO DO are listed in a more organised way(Kanban).
We can set quick filters as buttons [eg: My Issues, Component etc).
There are good charts for trends, burndown charts and timelines...
Cons:It will look a lot more cluttered with the defects coming in.
Categorization of cards is not available
The gist of the project at any given point in time will be difficult to achieve

Rapid Board (Scrum – Coming Soon) :)
Scrum is a method of development where the focus is on planning, committing and delivering time-boxed chunks of work called Sprints.
Presets are:
Story Points as column statistic
Two-week iterations (starting today)
Velocity (evidence-based scheduling)
Standard Quick Filters
Issues ordered by Rank
Columns: To Do, In Progress, Done
Scrum option coming soon

My Opinion:There are good charts for trends, burndown charts and timelines... with the rapid board.
The same can be achieved with the current dashboard functionality along with the desired charts.
I couldn't find a specific usecase, to move towards Greenhopper as the dashboard can be made self-sufficient.
With its amazing defect tracking features, I thought greenhopper would offer more. Looking forward for the Rapid board - SCRUM.

Overall the product has amazing quality. Wow! was the experience in installing and uninstalling Jira. There was not even one hiccup. Since I was accustomed to the features of Jira, figuring out the configuration was easy. But for some one new to Jira, it would be a bit difficult. The features wont be easy in predicting the sequence. Once you get a hang of it, it is a child's play!