Psychologists have coined the term “Negative Bias” to describe the tendency we all humans have to focus on negative experiences, feelings, and thoughts rather than good and positive ones. This bias applies to every aspect of our life. Whether we are aware of this or not, this influences our thoughts, decisions, and behavior.
Our work environment is also influenced by negative bias. Tasks that are not explicitly related to our job can easily be categorized as unpleasant, unwanted, and a burden. Software Testing is commonly trapped in this category of “disliked” tasks among technical and business users. There are several reasons why users don’t like testing. For example, testing tasks can include strict time deadlines, more responsibility, lack of interest/boredom due to repetitive tasks, lack of guidance on testing focus, multiple communication channels, the use of multiple tools, and how much manual work is involved during the process. Of course, this sounds like a project you want to avoid or get out of as soon as possible.
The good news is that although we cannot change human nature, we can facilitate the unavoidable testing process amongst different user groups. For many people, usability testing feels like a step into the unknown. To overcome their fears, here are some ideas we can use to make our users start loving testing:
- Get them involved from the beginning -Having the testers engaged from the beginning of a project gives them the full picture of their task’s importance and the impact their participation will have on the project’s success.
- Design testing scenarios along with the key users – Letting the key users see their input as a critical part of the testing scenario will show them the impact they have firsthand.
- Allow users to run the tests anywhere, anytime- It may sound idealistic, but although you are defining a timeframe for a testing phase, users want to be able to decide when and where to run the tests.
- Help testers streamline the testing process-Have a common tool and format to run different test types that are easy to learn. This will facilitate the process and increase engagement in tasks.
- Promote a cooperative environment among the testers and developers-Having a common interactive platform facilitates communication regarding follow-up on tasks and defects found. This helps people become more engaged and productive.
- Create easy-to-read dashboards – These dashboards show everybody involved at all stages of the process and help everybody stay on track with their assigned tasks.
Panaya Test Dynamix Smart Testing Platform includes features like test notifications, collaborative communications, automated documentation, simple defect reporting to create real-time visibility into each test cycle for targeted fixes, a proven increase in efficiency, and zero risk at go-live.
Testing does not need to be boring and seen as an inevitable burden. The better we understand and anticipate the perceived unpleasantness of testing, the easier it will be to overcome this perception. As a result, testers will be more willing to participate and may even learn to love the testing cycles.