1. Top 10 things we do to be consistent in Testing
Know Your Application
Don’t start testing without understanding the requirements. If you test without knowledge of the
requirements, you will not be able to determine if a program is functioning as designed and you
will not be able to tell if required functionality is missing. Clear knowledge of requirements,
before starting testing, is a must for any tester.
Know Your Domain
You should acquire a thorough knowledge of the domain on which you are working. Knowing the
domain will help you suggest good bug solutions. Your test manager will appreciate your
suggestions, if you have valid points to make. Don’t stop by only logging the bug. Provide
solutions as well. Good domain knowledge will also help you to design better test cases with
maximum test coverage.
No Assumptions In Testing
Don’t start testing with the assumption that there will be no errors. As a tester, you should
always be looking for errors.
Learn New Technologies
No doubt, old testing techniques still play a vital role in day-to-day testing, but try to introduce
new testing procedures that work for you. Don’t rely on book knowledge. Be practical. Your new
testing ideas may work amazingly for you.
You Can’t Guarantee a bug Free Application
No matter how much testing you perform, you can’t guarantee a 100% bug free application.
There are some constraints that may force your team to advance a product to the next level,
knowing some common or low priority issues remain. Try to explore as many bugs as you can,
but prioritize your efforts on basic and crucial functions. Put your best efforts doing good work.
Think Like An End User
Don’t think only like a technical guy. Think like customers or end users. Also, always think
beyond your end users. Test your application as an end user. Think how an end user will be
using your application. Technical plus end user thinking will assure that your application is user
friendly and will pass acceptance tests easily. This was the first advice to me from my test
manager when I was a tester.
100% Test Coverage Is Not Possible
Don’t obsess about 100% test coverage. There are millions of inputs and test combinations that
are simply impossible to cover. Use techniques like boundary value analysis and equivalence
partitioning testing to limit your test cases to manageable sizes.

2. Build Good Relations With Developers
As a tester, you communicate with many other team members, especially developers. There are
many situations where tester and developer may not agree on certain points. It will take your
skill to handle such situations without harming a good relationship with the developer. If you are
wrong, admit it. If you are right, be diplomatic. Don’t take it personally. After all, it is a
profession, and you both want a good product.
Learn From Mistakes
If you don’t make mistakes, you are not testing hard enough! You will learn things as you get
experience. Use these mistakes as your learning experience. Try not to repeat the same
mistakes. It hurts when the client files any bug in an application tested by you. It is definitely
an embracing situation for you and cannot be avoided. However, don’t beat yourself up. Find
the root cause of the failure. Try to find out why you didn’t find that bug, and avoid the same
mistake in the future. If required, change some testing procedures you are following.
Don’t Underestimate Yourself if Some of Your bugs Are Not Fixed
Some testers have assumptions that all bugs logged by them should get fixed. It is a good point
to a certain level but you must be flexible according to the situation. All bugs may or may not be
fixed. Management can defer bugs to fix later as some bugs have low priority, low severity or no
time to fix. Over time you will also learn which bugs can be deferred until the next release.