Oct-Nov-Dec: Qapitol QA, API Testing, Workshop at Hyderabad & much more

The last few months have been fully packed with both professional and personal work. Right from a photo shoot of my son to learning about APIs in depth to interacting with testers at Qapitol and learning to play PUBG, it has been a memorable two months. Let me give a sneak preview of the activities I am involved in for the past few months.

Stickyminds: 3 Methods for Better Communication and More Effective Testing
Successful delivery of software requires the entire team, so it’s imperative that everyone choose their words carefully so they convey what they really mean, are sensitive to others’ feelings, and consider all aspects of a problem. Here are three questions to remember when communicating about your software testing projects to ensure you’re considering the power of words.

Check out the article to know my thoughts on how communication plays a very important role in any project. It can make or break the project. 

Ministry of Testing: 30 Days of API Testing
MOT announced a 30 days challenge on API testing. It piqued my interest and I started to learn from scratch on my own syllabus. I started with https://zapier.com/learn/apis/ and slowly moved to http://toolsqa.com/postman/api-testing-with-postman/. I am enjoying the journey and have plans to learn about API performance, API security (Troy Hunt's course on Pluralsight) and finally API automation using different tools. To challenge myself, I found a partner who is willing to learn and my task is to take a session every day on something I learned about APIs. By focusing on one topic - API testing, it also helps me not worry about the hundred things I want to learn.

Qapitol QA is hiring again

We are looking for Software Test Engineer 2-4 years in following skill sets in REST API, API Automation, Core Java / Python, Web and Mobile Automation (Android & iOS ). We are growing and would love to work with smart folks in the industry. One can expect an environment of learning, freedom and an opportunity to work on the challenges in the testing industry.
Apply here: bit.ly/QQAishiring

PUBG and testing - Multiple factors at play:

I got a phone with 128GB compared to the 16GB I had before. So, I started installing all the apps I wanted to and PUBG also found its way. I couldn't help realize the similarities between a test strategy and a winning strategy at PUBG. 

PUBG: A total of 100 players are in the same game.
Testing: There are so many quality criteria to focus on.

PUBG: The playing area is continuously shrinking.
Testing: The risks of time and money running out.

PUBG: Collect resources before attacking
Testing: No point jumping into test execution before you have the right resources (configuration, test data, tools)

PUBG: Use the compass to gauge the direction.
Testing: Use the right tools to get the best in testing.

MLDS Day conducted by Agile Testing AllianceI attended the MLDS day conducted by Anand Vyas and organized by Agile Testing Alliance. It started with the difference between Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning and how Data Science plays a role in everything. In the session, I used Evernote and made notes for two hours before I realised that I have lost more than half of my notes. I got back to pen and paper. 

Some links from my notes:

https://www.kaggle.com/

https://darshanhegde.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/learn-machine-learning-the-hard-way/

https://in.udacity.com/course/intro-to-machine-learning--ud120-india 

https://titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list/

Workshop at Hyderabad 50+ Tools: Know, Learn and Apply in your Testing

Organized by Verity Software, I am conducting a full day workshop at Hyderabad on different tools. 

Great engineers choose a tool based on the type of the problem. They have a strong arsenal of multiple tools and attack any problem with the right tool. Software testers are no different. They face multiple scenarios in their testing cycles and they need to keep their toolkit updated with multiple tools - be it open source, paid, browser add-ons, standalone, nifty scripts or a combination of tools. In this hands-on workshop, we will survey multiple tools spread across different domains and stages of testing cycle. Be ready to try some tools, test some, know some more and finally walk away with a strong and customized tool kit after the workshop

Register here: Link

Let us learn more and in depth in Dec and finish the year on a high!

Leia Mais…

September was fun with workshops, book and conference

Mobile Testing Workshop | The Test Tribe | Bangalore

September started with a full house workshop for The Test Tribe community on Mobile Testing. There were two mobile app developers also present in the audience. The audience seems to have liked the content and a few testers had never tested a mobile app. Thanks to Mahesh and team for organizing it from start to end and taking care of all the arrangements.

If you are interested in having this workshop conducted for your teams, feel free to email me at ajay184f@gmail.com

Testers worked on hands-on exercises from the mobile testing workbook. They were introduced to the mobile terminology, testing models, common bugs, techniques, and tours, tools and finally they tested a mobile app and reported the bugs.

Mobile Testing Workshop Participants

Accessibility Testing Workshop | ManuMantra | Bangalore

The next workshop was on Accessibility Testing with Jyothi Rangaiah and ManuMantra. It is a niche topic and participants were surprised at the complexity and significance of accessibility testing. Did you know that at least 15 million Indians are visually impaired?

Accessibility Testing Workshop Participants

Global Testing Retreat | Agile Testing Alliance | Pune

Then it was time for Global Testing Retreat at Pune organized by Agile Testing Alliance. It was a 6 track packed conference filled in a single day and multiple lab sessions. The diversity of topics was mind-boggling and one had a tough time picking which sessions to attend. There were two fun skits and a good panel discussion as well.

Posing a question to the panel

Book Release: 50+ mistakes of my software testing career | Leanpub | Online

My session was on "A dozen mistakes of my software testing career" which turned into a book - "50+ mistakes of my software testing career". I published at www.leanpub.com/50mistakes. This was a tough one for me and I feel at peace after publishing this book. I feel that I can start afresh, make different mistakes and learn more in my career.

My book on Leanpub

Problem Solving workshop for the new Leaders/Managers
Agile Testing Alliance | Pune

I enjoyed conducting this workshop. There were two students who had pestered their professor for permission to attend the workshop. I am happy that they attended. They brought a very useful perspective to the whole workshop. I would love to conduct this workshop at future conferences and organizations by tailoring content to suit their problems.

Problem Solving Workshop Participants

And guess what?

Qapitol QA (www.qapitol.com) is hiring. Fill in your details if interested:
bit.ly/QQAishiring

It is October 2nd today. Let us see what October has in store for all of us!

Leia Mais…

Experience Report: Problem Solving: A Hands-On Workshop

Participants of the first Problem Solving: A Hands-On Workshop
LtoR: Sivabalan, Dinesh, Vinod, Sandeep, Aneesh, Ajay, Jyothi, Parmesh, Sagar.
Deepti had left early.

I don't remember when I asked Jyothi if she would be interested in doing a workshop together, but I am happy that I asked. It was in the second week of July and we decided that we will have the workshop on Aug 15th. There were multiple Skype calls, lots of comments exchanged on Trello, multiple files shared on Google Drive and we met on the day of workshop - thanks to internet!

So, we were the trainers and we had partnered with ManuMantra.com

Few things I learned/relearned from this workshop:

Never Give Up
Our first call did not happen as scheduled. The Trello board was inactive for a week. There was just one registered participant till a week before the workshop date. We had not yet finalised the slides and exercises for the workshop. Few days before the workshop, we got to know about Jerry's demise. I was in my last week of my notice period. There were multiple things going on at the same time. Some drastic measures were taken and the workshop was successfully conducted! This entire workshop experience will be one of the reminders for me that if we persist hard enough, impossible will become possible.

Differences can be resolved if we have the right attitude
Jyothi and I seem to have contrasting styles in how we prepare for a workshop and how we present. I am someone who mostly flows with the flow and waits for the last minute till I get that one brilliant idea. Jyothi seems to be someone who is more organised than me, likes to rehearse every detail and be prepared. Every word on her slide was powerful and my slides had more images than words. If someone had looked at our slides, they would have thought that we were preparing for two different workshops. We did not have many arguments - our goal was to create a good experience for the audience. We did not hesitate to let go of our work and vote for each other's work.

Partnership based on trust is beautiful
Each one of us (Jyothi, myself and ManuMantra) trusted each other and result was just brilliant. All the pieces just fit the overall workshop puzzle so well that I myself was surprised on some occasions. Certificates not yet ready - no problem - ready on time. Handout not ready - let us use the lunch break and finalise - Projector showing a blue tint, use cello tape and fix it.

What audience learned
To be honest, I did not anticipate what would the audience learn. Whenever I talk about problem solving, I go into a peaceful mode. Maybe, I start thinking about Jerry Weinberg and the whole class where we talked, argued, learned, observed problems and their solutions. So, towards the end of the workshop - when we asked the audience to share what they learned, we were surprised to know that some of them got solutions to their problems and some got confidence to solve their problems. Nothing gives the workshop instructors more happiness than seeing participants leave the workshop, satisfied and energetic to apply the lessons.

And it was a good start. Time for more workshops.

The next one is bit.ly/mobtestworkshop - Mobile Testing Workshop at Bangalore

followed by http://gtr.agiletestingalliance.org/workshop.html#workshop3 - Problem Solving Techniques for the New Leaders/Managers at Pune

Leia Mais…

Agile Testing Days - Vote for Ramit's talk - "Just Pass is not Quality"

One of our friends - Ramit Kaul needs our help to get his talk selected for Agile Testing Days 2018.

https://agiletestingdays.com/community-talk-vote/

Please vote for him along with five other good speakers.
I have heard him speak and he is a knowledgable and entertaining speaker!

All the best to Ramit. 

Leia Mais…

What Next? Aug-Sep?

Few things are lined up for this year and will keep me busy! Hope to see you there :)

Aug 15: Bangalore: Workshop

bit.ly/aug15workshop

This is the first time I am doing a workshop with Jyothi Rangaiah and I am excited about this collaboration.

If you want to experience two passionate testers help you solve problems, attend our workshop - Problem Solving: A Hands-On Workshop

Link: bit.ly/aug15workshop
Just let me know if you need a discount.

Aug 30, 31: Bangalore: STeP-IN SUMMIT 2018

I will be there. It would be interesting to learn about the next wave of technology and the impact on software testing in general. Loads of activities - talks, panel discussion, testautothon, some games and good opportunity to confer!

Link: https://stepinsummit.stepinforum.org/

Sep 8th: Bangalore: Workshop with The Test Tribe community

https://www.thetesttribe.com/

The details will be updated soon. I have promised to conduct one workshop with them. Join the community and experience the #AskTribe #TestingHours and loads of community activities that are practical, engaging and thought provoking.

Sep 27, 28: Pune: Global Testing Retreat

Sshhh: I am going to launch my new book in this conference.
Link: leanpub.com/50mistakes

On 28th Sep, I have a workshop - Problem Solving Techniques for the New Leaders/Managers
Link: http://gtr.agiletestingalliance.org/workshop.html#workshop1

Exciting times ahead. More news to be updated soon :)

Leia Mais…

Mar-June 2018: How STeP-IN Forum helped me sharpen my skills

It feels good to be back on my blog and post an update on my journey for the past few months. I have been sharing few articles on my LinkedIn Pulse. You can read them here:

How learning happens - Theory vs Practicals
An instance of trying to apply what I read from the Python book and how I was failing repeatedly till I learned the lesson

Test it Out!
The joy of discovering a pattern while learning and how to test it out instead of assuming things.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't: Simon Sinek
Few thoughts from Simon Sinek's book on Leadership and Team work

Mobile App Usability and User Experience - Where does your app rank?
Check out for some key questions one might have to ask before releasing the app with respect to app usability and user experience

Superwomen: Inspiring Stories of 20 Women Entrepreneurs
This book talks about how each of the twenty women started their own business after identifying a problem they felt, needed to be solved and never looked back even after facing multiple challenges.

So I wanted to share how I am utilising STeP-IN Forum's initiatives in my learning journey.

Videos from STeP-In Forum events:
There are many videos from past events like conferences, evening talks, webinars, contests and workshops.
I love the diversity of the talks and you can view them here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/stepinforum

One of the must watch videos is this keynote by Col Prabir SenGupta.

Workshops: 
I attended two workshops conducted by STeP-IN Forum in the last two months.

May 19, 20: Web Security Testing Workshop by Rahul Verma
June 07, 08: Design Sprint Workshop by José Díaz

Leia Mais…

STeP-IN to STeP-IN SUMMIT 2018 (Audience perspective)

When I started my testing career, I used to think that what my company followed was THE process to follow. To be honest, I had no idea of why would someone even deviate from THE process. Then, I went to a meetup and there were questions. Those questions led me to more questions and my journey of learning began aggressively. I started hunting for those answers which led to more questions and the cycle has helped me grow as a person.

Then I went to a conference. I was blown away by the problems faced by people. I was silently happy that I was not alone who was facing such problems. I hesitated first but seeing others discuss, I also jumped in and asked questions. To my surprise, the speakers responded happily! And they are now my good friends. Imagine a good meet-up which usually lasts half a day with ~10 participants. Now, think of an event where participants from 20-30 meet-ups come under a single roof for 2-3 days. That's what is a conference. There will be people who have just joined the industry, veterans of the industry, some who are facing problems and want solutions, some who have tried few approaches and some others who have eliminated that problem long back. You will also meet people whom you might have seen online as an avatar(their twitter/blog/Skype id). If you think you can arrange for a quick chat with so many professionals without attending a conference, good luck!

So, talking about conferences - today I saw this post by STeP-IN Forum on my LinkedIn feed:

Call for Papers

The Call for Speakers/Papers is on. Few typical thoughts that come to our mind on seeing this:

I have never presented in any conference. There is a first time for everything. This could definitely be your first conference as a speaker.

I am not an expert in any topic. What will I present on?
No one is an expert. The more one learns, the more they get to know how less they know about the subject. So, jump in and present about your perspective of the topic. Everyone is unique and many will benefit from your experience.

I was rejected last time when I applied. Why should I try this time?
You were not rejected. Your proposal did not fit in the final scheme of things. Imagine - on a given day only 11 players can represent a team. You will get your chance soon if you are really good. You should never stop trying. Even after being an invited speaker for many conferences, my proposals get rejected. That doesn't stop me from trying.

What topics should I present on? 

Understand the theme, relate it to your experience, learning, problems, experiments and create a good proposal beneficial to your friends. Neither be too specific nor too generic. There are definitely reviewers who will help you if you let them know that you need help in polishing your topic.

I want to learn. I don't want to present. Can I attend?
Of course, you can. What better place and mindset to be in than be a active learner. There is no pressure of preparing for the talk. Though you might miss out on the excitement of presenting, interacting with the larger audience about your topic, you can learn by listening to others too!

The cost is too high for me. Should I...You must be joking. Did you see that it is roughly 5k if you register before Feb 28th.

Think about the value. I would like to quote Robin Sharma here:
"If you want to double your income, triple your learning" and if you don't invest in your learning, then don't cry when your income doesn't increase. 

I attended one conference before. It was not by STeP-IN but it was also a conference and there were only sales pitches. How is this different?

Good that you asked this question. You know what? I will be honest with you. There will be some sales pitches here as well. But the quality of the overall conference and the content of the speakers will outweigh one sales session.

How much do you get paid for this blog post?Zero money, lots of love.

Ok, I am now convinced. Where should I register?
Here - https://www.townscript.com/e/stepin-summit-2018/booking

Ajay, I want to take it one step ahead! I want to present. What will be my next step?
Submit your paper at this link - https://stepinsummit.stepinforum.org/call-for-speakers/

See you in the conference then.

Leia Mais…