Programmers testing their own code is not a new phenomenon, but with the emergence of agile development practices and code craftsmanship, there has been a move towards Programmers visibly taking more accountability for the code they write. This is great news for those Testers used to being the gatekeepers to quality and answering the “why wasn’t this found in test?” question. Programmers and Testers are now helping to improve the quality of code, but there is still one anti-pattern I have observed in teams in which both Programmers and Testers are testing the code – they are not actually working with each other when establishing a unified testing strategy. This results in gaps in test coverage and / or unnecessarily duplicated testing. This slide deck is from my Agile North presentation.where I presented my ICEBERG model for helping Programmers & Testers work more collaboratively. I also introduced another model I use for helping teams work together - Virginia Satir's Interaction Model.

1. The ICEBERG in
Testing
What’s going on beneath
the surface?

2. A tale of 2 Icebergs
My ICEBERG Model -
Satir Interaction Model -
Open Season -

3. All Models are wrong
but some are useful
George E.P. Box

4. Individuals and interactions
over processes and tools
Working software
over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration
over contract negotiation
Responding to change
over following a plan
Individuals
and
Interactions

5. Manual
Image courtesy of Martin Fowler

6. Manual
Testing / tasks not observed
by Programmers
Image courtesy of Martin Fowler

7. Manual
Testing / tasks not observed
by Testers
The tip of the
….
Image courtesy of Martin Fowler

9. Image courtesy of Martin Fowler
TestApproach
Manual

10. Information
Conversation
Early on
Engagement
Bake quality in
Rapport
Guts

11. Examples
Automation taxi -
Release notes -

12. I’m glad it’s not my
side of the ship that’s
sinking!

13. Satir Interaction
Model
Virginia Satir

14. Individuals
and
Interactions

16. Why
found in
wasn’t
that
test?
bug

17. “Why wasn’t that bug
found in test?”
I was getting the blame for
a bug found in production
I felt the blame was
unjustified so I was angry
I said “We couldn’t have
found that bug in test”

18. Intake
We receive the
wrong message
I heard […] is that
what you said?

19. We interpret the
message incorrectly
Meaning
My interpretation is […]
that what you meant?

20. Baggage & non-
acceptance
Is my feeling
justified?
Significance

21. We are not OK with
our feelings
Check feelings
before responding
Response

22. “Why wasn’t that bug
found in test?”
I was getting the blame for
a bug found in production
I felt the blame was
unjustified so I was angry
I said “We couldn’t have
found that bug in test”

23. “Why wasn’t that bug
found in test?”
3 interpretations
Check my own feelings
“How could we have
caught that bug sooner?”

24. • Ask questions to
improve your
assumptions
• 3 interpretations
• Debugging here is
tough
• Don’t respond if not
OK with feelings

26. An example for you to take away…

27. Done
Finished Fini
Terminado
The End

28. Resources
• ieee-stc.org/proceedings/2008/pdfs/JB1978b.pdf
• stevenmsmith.com/AONW/Satir%20Interaction%20Model.pdf
• dhemery.com/articles/untangling_communication/
• Practical Tools For Playing Well With Others : https://vimeo.com/78917211
• The Satir Model - Family Therapy & Beyond (book)
• Managing Yourself & Others - Weinberg (book)
• Becoming a Technical Leader - Weinberg (book)