AB Testing

A Very Important Podcast Announcement Jan 23, 2021

Hi folks – if you are seeing this message, you are, unfortunately, missing out.

For (reasons), I recently migrated the AB Testing Podcast to Anchor.fm. I set up a redirect that worked in many but definitely not all places.

iTunes / Apple Podcasts has been slow to update the feed, and I expect a lot of custom feeds are based on that. However, I expect that feed to update imminently. This post will disappear once. that happens.

If needed, please point your podcast apps directly at this rss feed. If you have any questions, or things aren’t working, feel free to drop me a note at abtesting at angryweasel dot com.

AB Testing – Episode 131: The 2020 Year End Extravaganza Dec 07, 2020

This is our last recording of 2020, so we reflect a little on 2020 and look forward to 2021.

AB Testing – Episode 130: The Pre-Election Episode Nov 02, 2020

We talk a bit about the upcoming U.S. Election, discuss ideal team size, and then workshop some ideas on what “advanced” training for Modern Testing may look like.

AB Testing – Episode 129: Alan’s Journey to Modern Testing Oct 19, 2020

This time it’s the story of Alan – from music teacher to bicycle messenger to modern testing (and just a few steps in between). It’s another view into the origins of modern testing.

AB Testing – Episode 128: Brent’s Path to Modern Testing Sep 21, 2020

It’s origin story time. We talk about the early days of Brent’s testing career and how he found his way into the thing we now call Modern Testing.

AB Testing – Episode 127: Brent’s Hand & Alan’s Org Sep 08, 2020

Apologies for the audio issues – Brent was having technical challenges.

We cover stuff related to Alan’s growing team (and responsibilities) at Unity – plus the usual assortment of tangents.

AB Testing – Episode 126: Azure Powered Aug 17, 2020

We talk about what’s going on with Alan’s expanded role at Unity and answer (sort of) a mailbag question about bottlenecks in delivering mobile apps.

ABT 343 – Andreas Worm Aug 10, 2020

This time, Andreas Worm – aka @globalworming in our Slack group joins me for conversations, mostly about his experiences with scrum.

ABT 343 – Danny Faught Aug 03, 2020

My guest for the ABT 343 is Danny Faught. We talk about his move out of being a dedicated tester, and well as the biography he’s putting together.

Find Danny on twitter and read his blog.

AB Testing – Episode 125: P* Management and ATAOSQ Jul 27, 2020

Just Brent and Alan this week. We talk about how Program Management can help with Modern Testing and Accelerating the Achievement of Shippable Quality…

…but mostly Alan tries to explain to Brent that Product Management is different than Program Management, no matter what titles Microsoft use.

Worth reading on the topic: https://leanpub.com/agileprogrammanagement

AB Testing – Episode 124: Learning with Maaret Jul 13, 2020

Brent and Alan are joined by Maaret Pyhäjärvi, who talks with us about her role, the role of testing in general, mob programming, and a whole lot of other topics.

I hope this was the beginning of a longer conversation, and we hope to have Maaret as a guest again soon.

Maaret’s blog
Maaret’s book on Exploratory Testing
Her book on Mob Programming

The above links, and much, much more are all on https://maaretp.com – bookmark it.

AB Testing – Episode 123: Sue Loh’s Evil Plan to Save the World Jun 29, 2020

Sue Loh (@suedeyloh on twitter). Sue has a lengthy history of finding and fixing nasty performance issues across a lot of different operating systems at Microsoft, but we spend most of our time talking about her Evil Plan To Save The World

Get a copy of Sue’s excellent book, Raven, today

AB Testing – Episode 122: Julian Bucknall and TestCafe Jun 08, 2020

We are joined by the CTO of Devexpress to talk about TestCafe.

AB Testing – Episode 121: Peter Senge is Old May 18, 2020

We talk a bit about Covid (again), touch on a few random subjects, and then find time to answer a few mailbag questions.

We also now have an AB Testing Podcast instagram.

AB Testing – Episode 120: David Bishop on Metagility May 04, 2020

For this episode, we are joined by David Bishop – the author of a new book called Metagility. There’s a lot of good stuff here, and we think you’ll find it interesting.

Links for more info:

Book information – https://www.jrosspub.com/metagility.html
David’s company – https://agile-worx.com
Current course schedule – https://www.metagility.technology

ABT 343 – Melissa Eaden Apr 23, 2020

Melissa Eaden is in the hot seat this week to talk about management, leadership, modern testing, and more.

Melissa’s blog: https://testingandmoviesandstuff.blogspot.com/

Melissa on Twitter: @melthetester

AB Testing – Episode 119: Retrospectives Apr 20, 2020

We, of course, talk about working through Covid-19, but we spend most of our time talking about retrospectives.

ABT 343 – Yuliya Bagriy (aviskase) Apr 09, 2020

Yuliya Bagriy (known across the internet as aviskase) is my guest this time. We talk about her path into testing, a bit about her new role, and the origin of the alias, ‘aviskase’ – which includes a tangent on how she broke Postman.

AB Testing – Episode 118: Covid continues; and Velocity Apr 06, 2020

We talk about Covid (because every meeting does these days). And we also (sort of?) talk about velocity.

ABT 343 – Chris Kenst Mar 31, 2020

I’m joined by Chris Kenst, who talks about his path into testing, his job as an automation engineer (which he convinces me not to hate), and his work with AST.

He also mentions these links.

His job – https://bloomnation.com
AST – https://associationforsoftwaretesting.org
Blog – https://www.kenst.com
List of test conferences – https://testingconferences.org
Testing education resources – https://testingeducation.org
Chris on twitter – https://twitter.com/ckenst

ABT 343 – Melissa Pohlman Mar 23, 2020

343 is back with Melissa Pohlman, who has thoughts for testers, advice for managers, and stories about a whole lot more.

AB Testing – Episode 117: The Covid-19 WFH Show Mar 17, 2020

We talk quite a bit about working from home, and a bit about test coaching / consulting in the Modern Testing world.

We hope everyone is staying healthy and sane out there.

AB Testing – Episode 116: What’s the Deal with ISTQB? Mar 02, 2020

We have an in-depth discussion on the recently published Vision on the Future of Software Testing from ISTQB

AB Testing – Episode 115: Gates and Balmer and Satya (oh my) Feb 17, 2020

This time, we reflect on the Gates, Balmer, and Satya eras at Microsoft.

ABT 343 – Conor Fitzgerald: The Sequel Jan 22, 2020

Conor is back for more questions on Modern Testing. As with last time, you can follow him on Twitter (@conorfi) and read his blog here.

Intro Music from https://filmmusic.io
“Werq” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

AB Testing – Episode 114: Random Reflections and Reading Jan 14, 2020

Happy New Year! This week, we react to a 15 -year-old paper, and then somehow segue into talking about a few other papers.

Papers mentioned:

The Ongoing Revolution in Software Testing By Cem Kaner

State of DevOps 2019

An Analysis of the Effect of Code Ownership on Software Quality across Windows, Eclipse, and Firefox by Nachi Nagappan

ABT 343 – Conor Fitzgerald Jan 06, 2020

In this 343, Conor Fitzgerald and I talk about his experiences in testing, his experiences in Modern Testing, and a whole lot more.

More info:

Follow Conor on twitter: @conorfi
Read his blog

Also worth linking is Elisabeth Hendrickson’s Explore It!

ABT 343 – Perze Ababa Dec 29, 2019

In this 343, I’m joined by one of the long-time listeners and supporters of the AB Testing Podcast, the one and only, Perze Ababa.

We talk (mostly) about leading a quality culture, but as you’d expect, we take a few tangents along the way.

Perze is @perze on twitter – follow him!

AB Testing – Episode 113: The 2019 Year End Extravaganza Dec 17, 2019

We reflect on our December 2018 predictions, look back on the wonderful year of 2019, and talk a bit about what we expect in 2020.

Happy Holidays from the two of us to the three of you.

AB Testing – Episode 112: The Penultimate Potpourri Dec 11, 2019

Lots of topics this time, including CI/CD, UI automation, and ABT ulterior motives.

Notes (more to be added later):

ABT 343 – Maciej Wyrodek Dec 02, 2019

Maciej Wyrodek joins the 343 podcast to talk about his experiences with modern testing, The Unicorn Project, and various rants about the state of software testing.

Follow Maciej

On twitter – @maciejwyrodek
His blog – The Broken Test

Also mentioned:

ABT 343 – Areti Panou Nov 25, 2019

I am joined this time by Areti Panou. Listen in to hear more about her changing role, and her experience with modern testing.

Areti’s blog is unremarkabletester.com, and you can folllow her on twitter – @unremarkableqa

AB Testing – Episode 111: Oredev, DevOps, and Stuff Nov 18, 2019

We talk a bit about Oredev, some more about devops, controversies in the principles, and a bit more about Alan’s role at Unity.

ABT 343 – Dave Westveld Nov 13, 2019

Our guest is Dave Westerveld. We talk a bit about accessibility, challenges in testing LMS software, and a lot of “modern” topics.
Follow him on twitter @offbeattesting, and his blog at https://offbeattesting.com/

ABT 343 – Andrew Morton Oct 31, 2019

Our first real episode is a quick chat with Andrew Morton. Andrew is the Dev Boss at Ministry of Testing, and can be found at @testingchef on Twitter

AB Testing – Episode 110: PM, PM, and MT Oct 29, 2019

We spend most of this podcast trying to understand each other while we wind through conversations on Product Management, Project Management, Program Management and how they all fit into quality.

AB Testing – Episode 109: The MT Guide to Promotions Oct 15, 2019

Some discussion (and rants) on career maps (aka career ladders, levels, etc.) – and our experiences in how to make these fail spectacularly (and sometimes work).

AB Testing – Episode 108: Lack of Testers vs. Lack of Testing Oct 01, 2019

it’s a mailbag show, where we talk about whether or not bugs in Windows 10 are due to a lack of a test team, and how you can apply MT principles if you’re a consultant asked to write automation.

Once again, the audio isn’t awesome, but quality debugging continues.

AB Testing – Episode 107: A Plethora of Principles Sep 16, 2019

Good news: We have a new episode!
Bad News: I am doomed to never having another podcast without audio issues. My mic cable must have been lying across the speakerphone in the conference room, as it was picking up a massive amount of static. I was able to remove the static (you’ll thank me), but removing the noise also put my voice into a toilet bowl for the first 10 minutes of the podcast. There’s a little bit of static in the end, but shouldn’t be too annoying.

In this episode, we take a look at Testing Principles from Aaron Hodder and Luke Liu.

AB Testing – Episode 106: Weapons of Math Destruction Aug 12, 2019

Steve Rowe is back (for the third time!) on AB Testing to take part in a discussion on ethics in data science.

Hope you enjoy.

AB Testing – Episode 105: A World of Modern Testing Jul 31, 2019

Heads up – our technical producer (me) messed up levels and microphone choice and we ended up with a little bit of bleed between microphones that ends up not meeting our normally high quality standards. The next one will be better.

For content, we talk a lot about what we’re seeing in the industry that looks and smells like Modern Testing.

AB Testing – Episode 104: Leading Quality (with Ron Cummings-John) Jul 01, 2019

We are joined by the author of Leading Quality, Ron Cummings-John to talk about his upcoming book.

More info at https://leadingqualitybook.com

AB Testing – Episode 103: The Croissants are Selenium (with Jason Huggins) Jun 03, 2019

We are joined by the inventor of Selenium, Jason Huggins. Listen in for stories about the early days of Selenium, Jason’s thoughts on our UI rants, and much much more.

Be sure to check out Jason’s latest venture – Tapster

AB Testing – Episode 102: Modern Testing takes on UI Automation May 20, 2019

Alan recently took some heat on Twitter for disliking Selenium – or more accurately, how it was being used. This episode is a discussion and expansion of why Alan and Brent both have strong feelings about the industry infatuation with UI testing.

AB Testing – Episode 101: AB…not testing? May 06, 2019

We realize during the intro, that this is the first time we’ve recorded an AB Testing podcast when neither Alan nor Brent are in a dedicated testing / QA role. What does that mean for Modern Testing?

Turns out – not that much. Listen as we discuss.

AB Testing – Episode 100: The AB Testing Fanfest Apr 15, 2019

Thanks to everyone who helped get us to this milestone episode. For episode 100, we share cast-time with all three of our listeners – who may or may not have been paid for their kind words.

AB Testing – Episode 99: Post-Modern Alan Apr 01, 2019

This episode brought to you by Practitest – https://www.practitest.com.

We spend some time preparing for episode 100, and talk just a bit more about what Alan may do next at Unity.

AB Testing – Episode 98: Stuff about Alan and a Mailbag Question Mar 12, 2019

We talk very abstractly about Alan’s new role, and dive into a mailbag question on the role of leadership in a quality culture.

This episode is brought to you by Practitest – check them out at https://www.practitest.com

AB Testing – Episode 97: Questions About Developers and Tests Feb 18, 2019

An all mailbag show where we talk about skills needed by testers today, how to get developers to write tests, and hiring.

Register for Brent’s AST webinar on Thursday – https://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/2019/01/23/webinar-building-a-data-centric-modern-quality-culture-with-brent-jensen/

AB Testing – Episode 96: Principle #8??? Jan 15, 2019

Happy New Year everyone – amongst catching up, we spend most of the time discussing and debating a potential eighth Modern Testing Principle.

AB Testing – Episode 95: The 2018 Reflection / Prediction Show Dec 25, 2018

Happy Holidays to each and everyone of our three listeners. We review and reflect on 2018, and talk about some things we think may happen in 2019. Listen all the way to the end for a cliffhanger from Brent.

Thanks again for listening – in 2019, we will hit episode 100, our 5 year podacting anniversary, and the one year anniversary of the Modern Testing Principles. We look forward to more exciting discussions in 2019.

AB Testing – Episode 94: Modern Testing meets Context-Driven Testing Dec 03, 2018

It’s the penultimate show of 2018, with a lot of (hopefully interesting) preamble on this one, but we spend a chunk of time reviewing the Context-Driven Testing Principles and how they relate to the Modern Testing Principles.

AB Testing – Episode 93: The Quality Culture Transition Guide Nov 12, 2018

We eventually talk about a model Alan built to help a team discover where they need to grow in order to build a quality culture or move towards modern testing (they’re kind of the same thing).

Some rants and ramblings also included.

AB Testing – Episode 92: Customers, Bugs, and Triangles Oct 22, 2018

We almost (but not quite) blast through the banter at the beginning, but eventually get a chance to talk a bit more about interpreting Principle #5, and dive into a James Bach talk on the Test Automation Pyramid.

AB Testing – Episode 91: Stories and Models and Things Oct 08, 2018

We answer a mailbag question, begin to dive into what attributes make up a quality culture, and talk about other stuff.
And we have a new intro.

AB Testing – Episode 90: A Lot About Nothing Sep 24, 2018

It’s almost an all tangent episode, but we do (eventually) get a chance to discuss how ML and AI are changing testing and quality, and we pay our respects to the great Jerry Weinberg.

AB Testing – Episode 89: Modern Testing Mailbag Sep 10, 2018

All mailbag episode as we answer questions about combined engineering teams, life after Modern Testing, and early project “data” samples

AB Testing – Episode 88: Testing Isn’t Dead (Testers, OTOH…) Aug 20, 2018

It’s the last of our deep-dive series on Modern Testing Principles. This time, we discuss the (sometimes controversial) principle number 7:

We expand testing abilities and knowhow across the team; understanding that this may reduce (or eliminate) the need for a dedicated testing specialist.

Not too many tangents this time. Next time, we’ll get caught up on the mailbag, so if you have questions, let us know.

AB Testing – Episode 87: The One About Data Aug 06, 2018

On to the next principle in our deep dive series. Principle Number 6 says:

We use data extensively to deeply understand customer usage and then close the gaps between product hypotheses and business impact.

Note that episode 82 makes a nice listening companion.

AB Testing – Episode 86: Not the Customer’s Champion Jul 24, 2018

We’re back to discuss another of the modern testing principles.

We believe that the customer is the only one capable to judge and evaluate the quality of our product

Discussions include a brief discussion of the Kin phone from Microsoft.

Finally – if you missed it, the Modern Testing AMA recording is here.

AB Testing – Episode 85: The Community Principle Jul 09, 2018

Our dive into the Modern Testing Principles continues with a dive into principle number four:

We care deeply about the quality culture of our team, and we coach, lead, and nurture the team towards a more mature quality culture.

AB Testing – Episode 84: Stories about Changes and Nets Jun 25, 2018

On to Principle number 3 (full list at moderntesting.org).

We are a force for continuous improvement, helping the team adapt and optimize in order to succeed, rather than providing a safety net to catch failures.

As promised in the show, there will be an AMA on Modern Testing hosted by Ministry of Test on July 10. Register Here.

AB Testing – Episode 83: Accelerating the Team Jun 05, 2018

We’re back to the MT Principle Deep-Dives (which may just be medium dives).

Principle #2 says:
We accelerate the team, and use models like Lean Thinking and the Theory of Constraints to help identify, prioritize and mitigate bottlenecks from the system.

We talk about that – but of course, there are a few tangents we hope you enjoy.

Finally – apologies to everyone who had their AB Testing RSS feed reset over the weekend. We moved the web host for angryweasel.com (notice that the site now has a valid RSS cert), and the RSS reset was an unexpected casualty of the move.

AB Testing – Episode 82: Brent Talks to Alan About Data May 22, 2018

We are already taking an interlude from principle deep-dives to reflect a bit on the episode 81 feedback, and for Brent and Alan to have short (but in depth) discussion on how to get started creating actionable metrics.

We’ll be back to Modern Testing principles in episode 83.

AB Testing – Episode 81: Business Rulz! May 07, 2018

It’s time to deep dive into the Modern Testing Principles with #1 – Our priority is improving the business.

We also dive into some experiences and observations from Alan’s recent trip to STAR East.

AB Testing – Episode 80: The Mailbag returns: Modern Testing questions Apr 23, 2018

It’s a mostly mailbag show, and we talk about the role of a modern testers as a role that transitions an organization to following the modern testing principles.

AB Testing – Episode 79: The Modern Tester Goes to Testbash Mar 26, 2018

We talk quite a bit about testbash, Modern Testing, and give deeper answers to a few of the questions that came up in around the first public appearance of the Modern Testing Principles.

AB Testing – Episode 78: Digging in on Modern Testing Principles Mar 12, 2018

We don’t reiterate the Principles directly (see the Episode 77 show notes for that), we talk a lot about how we are adapting the principles slightly based on feedback and discussions with the three – and how much better the principles are for the effort.

We also discover that both Brent and Alan love to cook. Or at least they both finally realize that each other likes to cook.

AB Testing – Episode 77: The Conception of the Modern Testing Principles Mar 05, 2018

We discuss, vet, and rewrite (and not for the last time), the Modern Testing Principles. These are a work in progress, but we’re happy to share the current final form.

Listen to the podcast to hear these developed in real time.

The customer is the only one suitable to judge and evaluate the quality of our software
We apply the theory of constraints to identify, prioritize and mitigate bottlenecks from the system (and accelerate the team).
We are not the safety net for software correctness – we focus on improving the business, and not the code.
We are responsible for the quality culture of our team, and are accountable for helping and coaching the team in this regard.
We use data to deeply understand customer usage and customer pain.
Embrace continuous improvement, and help the team adapt and optimize in order to solve customer pain
We strive to reduce or eliminate the need for a dedicated testing specialist on our teams by increasing testing abilities and knowhow across the team.

AB Testing – Episode 76: Communing with Testers Feb 19, 2018

More on community, a few tangents, and a few strong opinions.

Mentioned in this episode:

Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change
Situational Leadership – Training, etc can be found here

AB Testing – Episode 75: From Spider to Starfish Feb 13, 2018

We talk about how testers (and test specialists) can use the power of community to discover what they don’t know they don’t know.

And other stuff.

AB Testing – Episode 74: Where in the World is the Weasel? Jan 29, 2018

First show of 2018, with a variety of topics that are all mostly about Modern Testing. Items of note include the State of Testing survey, podcast plans for 2018, Alan’s presentation schedule, and the usual amount of tangents.

Links:

AST Webinar (Alan presenting)

State of Testing Survey

AB Testing – Episode 73: 2017 Year in review and Predictions episode Dec 18, 2017

It’s the 2017 year end extravaganza with discussions about 2017, thoughts and predictions about 2018, and more…including…

The AB Testing Merchandise shop – http://cafepress.com/abtesting

And, sign up for Audible with AB Testing

http://audibletrial.com/abtesting

We’ll be back in 2018.

AB Testing – Episode 72 Dec 05, 2017

It’s the penultimate AB show of 2017. More discussions about modern testing, a bit of a preview of what’s coming up in episode 73, the role of a modern tester in code craftsmanship, and a bit on this shift-left thing.

AB Testing – Episode 71 Nov 21, 2017

In this eclectic episode, we discuss college savings plans, personal finance (wtf?), definitions of “Modern Testing”, and recap the Unity Services Test Summit (where Brent presented on moving to a data-centric culture).

Enjoy.

AB Testing – Episode 70 Nov 06, 2017

Steve Rowe is back for another visit, and he shares some of his experiences from STAR Canada, discusses logical fallacies, and we all chime in on the transition from traditional to modern testing.

AB Testing – Episode 69 Oct 16, 2017

We had a brief break in recording, but we’re back with another fun-filled fifty minutes where we take mailbag questions on the pros and cons of ISTQB certification, the impact of easy-to-create GUI tests on the testing pyramid, and whether or not you really need a data scientist.

AB Testing – Episode 68 Sep 18, 2017

We spend a chunk of time talking about a report (The State of Functional Testing), and how it aligns with modern testing. We answer a #mailbag question elaborating on the role of a modern tester, and we get to hear Brent functioning on just a few hours of sleep.

AB Testing – Episode 67: The Traditional vs. Modern Test Manager Debate Sep 07, 2017

For this episode, we shoved Brent into a time machine and asked 1990s “Traditional Test Manager” Brent to have a conversation with “Modern Testing Manager” Alan.

The usual arguments and antics follow.

AB Testing – Episode 66 Aug 21, 2017

A bit of a follow up episode with more management advice. We talk about how to give feedback to our employees and about frameworks and approaches we like for giving that feedback.

This episode brought to you by STAR Canada.

If you are thinking about attending, STARCANADA is offering 20% off your conference fees when you register with promo code “ABTESTING” by September 15—which is our biggest STAR conference discount offer! To register or learn more about the full conference program, go to their website at https://well.tc/gostarcanada.

AB Testing – Episode 65 Aug 15, 2017

It’s the AB Testing Management episode. We reflect a bit on our growth as managers and share some of the tools and philosophies that (we hope) allow us to succeed.

Some of the books mentioned include (also note the link on the right for a free month of Audible):

The Leaders Guide to Radical Management

The Manager’s Path

Radical Candor

The One Minute Manager

This AB Testing brought to you by Kobiton

Test your mobile app on real cloud based devices today! Kobiton is the complete mobile device cloud platform that allows you to test on the devices you want, when you need them. Visit k obiton.com/ABtesting to sign up for a no commitment, 15 day free trial to see the Kobiton difference.

AB Testing – Episode 64 Aug 08, 2017

We talk about Agile Testing (both the concept and the book), and how it relates to the “Modern Testing” we’ve talked about before. Also – there’s a mailbag question on Multi Armed Bandit Testing.

This episode brought to you by the folks at Techwell.

Attend Agile Dev East, the premier agile event covering the latest techniques and topics to understand the efficiency necessary for project success this November 5 through 10th, in Orlando, FL.

AB Testing listeners can use code ABTEST to receive up to $200 off their conference registration fee. Register by the September 8th Super Early Bird deadline for combined savings up to $600 off. Visit well.tc/abtesting.

AB Testing – Episode 63 Jul 18, 2017

More talk about data, CIRA (collect-inform-recommend-act), and Brent gives Alan free advice on maturing a data aware organization.

We mention the great Douglas Hubbard book – How To Measure Anything

This AB Testing brought to you by Kobiton

Test your mobile app on real cloud based devices today! Kobiton is the complete mobile device cloud platform that allows you to test on the devices you want, when you need them. Visit k obiton.com/ABtesting to sign up for a no commitment, 15 day free trial to see the Kobiton difference.

AB Testing – Episode 62 Jul 10, 2017

It’s an all mailbag show, with questions (and answers) about Model-Based testing; if testers are being (or will be) phased out – or if the role of the tester is simply evolving and expanding (and if the expanded role needs a new name); and some expansion on the Collect-Inform-Recommend-Act model.

This episode sponsored by the folks at STAR West = get 10% off of your registration by using promo code “ABPODCAST”. To learn more or take advantage of this offer, just visit https://well.tc/swabtesting.

AB Testing – Episode 61: INTP – Intermittently Normal Tangential Podcast Jun 26, 2017

It had to happen – it’s an all-tangent show! But, somehow we manage to cover a lot about technical testing, data science, tester mindset and more. Alan mentions a lot of books on this episode – here’s the list with amazon links. Steal like an artist Everybody Lies Wonderland What every BODY is saying And finally – a link to Alan’s presentation at the online testing conference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLg74w4qP0mfH7ZZ90CqdbevyvRu03xD0r&v=Xf6N5WL6QNg

AB Testing – Episode 60: #ATAOSQ – Information providers no more Jun 12, 2017

Here at AB Testing, we like this episode a lot. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.

More on modern testing, and we break down “accelerating the achievement of shippable quality” in the mailbag segment.

AB Testing – Episode 59 May 29, 2017

We are back with Rants, Rages, and Regurgitated information from the world of software engineering, and software quality.

Topics include just a bit of chat about checking and testing, and then a deeper dive into the topic of “Modern Testing”.

This episode brought to our listeners by Kobiton.

Test your mobile app on real devices today! Kobiton is the mobile device cloud platform that allows you to manage the devices you own and access the devices you need. Visit kobiton.com/ABtesting to sign up for a free-trial and start testing in minutes.

AB Testing – Episode 58 May 07, 2017

Topics this time include a brief recap of episode 57, discussion on viewing a test organization as a community, and a mailbag question on dealing with budgets.

AB Testing – Episode 57: Hans Buwalda explains action-based testing May 01, 2017

This time on AB Testing, we share the microphone with automation expert, Hans Buwalda. We talk with Hans a lot about his views on test design and test automation, including action-based testing (one of the other AB testing types), as well as his upcoming talks at STAR conferences.

This episode brought to our listeners by Kobiton.

Test your mobile app on real devices today! Kobiton is the mobile device cloud platform that allows you to manage the devices you own and access the devices you need. Visit kobiton.com/ABtesting to sign up for a free-trial and start testing in minutes.

Hans Buwalda links and info below.

Personal web site: http://happytester.com
Business web site: http://logigear.com
Email: hans at logigear dot com

AB Testing – Episode 56 Apr 03, 2017

Took a while, but we’re back and ranting away. This time, we talk about the role of Test / Quality as, Accelerating the achievement of shippable quality, and, in a newly named segment called, “Alan talks about working at Unity”, Alan aswers a mailbag question about his approach to change working at Unity.

AB Testing – Episode 55 Mar 06, 2017

It’s the double-nickel episode of AB Testing. Included in today’s ramblings are:

Alan and Brent talk about graduate school, and learning in general, as well as our thoughts on Dr. Seuss’s greatest works
Our sponsor, Techwell, is offering a $250 discount on upcoming software training classes in Boston and Chicago using the promo code 17ABW – or go directly to https://well.tc/17ABW
We discuss a #mailbag question on balancing intuition with data

AB Testing – Episode 54 Feb 21, 2017

First ever AB podcast with A&B working at two different companies. As expected, Alan talks about Unity the whole time.

AB Testing – Episode 53 Jan 26, 2017

Alan’s last day at Microsoft, Tequila, and a mailbag.

Oh yeah – and this show sponsored by Techwell. Use the promo code ABTesting to get $200 off of you STAR East registration.

AB Testing – Episode 52 Jan 19, 2017

Some bad recording (but only at the beginning this time), and some big news. Listen and find out the latest on AB Testing.

AB Testing – Episode 51: 2016 Year in review and Predictions episode Dec 23, 2016

It’s our 2016 end-of-year extravaganza – if extravaganza means Brent and Alan randomly talking about their favorite software moments of 2016.

We also recorded our 2017 predictions…but audio went haywire, so we’ll have to wait for a re-hash of that topic in early 2017.

Notes!

Blogs:

– http://andrewgelman.com/
– http://dataminingblog.com

Blog Posts:

– https://knowledgetester.org/2016/09/20/generalist-specialist-t-and-pi-shaped-testers/
– http://www.dataminingblog.com/the-5-most-common-data-relationships-shown-through-visualization/

Podcasts:

– 99% invisible
– TED Radio Hour

AB Testing – Episode 50 Dec 14, 2016

It’s the Big Five-Oh for Alan and Brent. For our golden anniversary, we talk about TLAs, PMs gone wild, the Concierge MVP, and Brent takes a scrum master quiz.

AB Testing – Episode 49 Nov 21, 2016

More about TestBash, and Alan (finally) gets into specifics on Microsoft Teams. And tangents….

AB Testing – Episode 48: Alan hosts the Three at Test Bash Philly Nov 18, 2016

Live from Test Bash in Philadelphia, this is VAMP Testing with three of the three (Vernon Richards (@testerfromleic), Michael Richards (@saltygunner), and Perze Ababa (@perze)).

We discuss sessions at TestBash along with the appropriate number of tangents.

AB Testing – Episode 47 Oct 24, 2016

This episode includes a discussion of Alan’s new car (along with ideas on learning and saving), and a long discussion on Alan’s long journey to continuous delivery.

And a mailbag.

AB Testing – Episode 46: Steve Rowe discusses Data . . . and Stuff Sep 28, 2016

In episode 46, we have our very first guest, as Steve Rowe joins us for a discussion on his 3 years in a data science role (plus the usual tangents and random bits of trivia)

AB Testing – Episode 45 Sep 09, 2016

Pretty much more stuff on what it takes to become data-centric.

And weirdly, Alan gives Brent a hard time.

AB Testing – Episode 44 Aug 26, 2016

This episode is dedicated entirely to the topic of how to transition from data oblivious to a data-centric organization.

Very little Alan yelling at Brent, but a whole lot of Brent preaching goodness about how to use data to advance product quality.

AB Testing – Episode 43 Aug 17, 2016

Hey – audio is much better this time.

Episode 43 includes discussions of test generation tools, learning, and whether or not Microsoft is a good example of advancing engineering.

Don’t forget – use the promo code ABTESTING when you register for StarWest to get a $200 discount (or go to http://well.tc/starwestab)

AB Testing – Episode 42 Jul 25, 2016

First off, the audio on this episode has a few issues – we’ve taken steps to improve that in the future.

The content includes Alan being Angry, the concept of “Feature Jam”, discussion about CDT, and a bit about data driven engineering.

AB Testing – Episode 41 Jun 20, 2016

Topics this time include Performance Reviews, Alan’s trip to the Better Software conference, the changing role of Program Management at Microsoft, and a shot out to the folks at The Testing Show.

AB Testing – Episode 40 Jun 07, 2016

It’s an(other) all mailbag show. And it’s episode 40. And it was recorded on National Donut Day – what else could you ask for?

AB Testing – Episode 39 May 20, 2016

Hey everyone… This time around, we talk a bit about Alan’s trip to Waterloo, and then we deep dive into Agile’s “longstanding and ongoing attack on the testing role”

As you can expect, it’s a fun one.

AB Testing – Episode 38 May 04, 2016

An almost all-mailbag show, Alan and Brent discuss planning semesters vs. milestones, v-teams, and managing teams vs. managing features.

AB Testing – Episode 37 Apr 18, 2016

Live, on the air, we reply to a tweet that kicks off oneofthethree.slack.com.

And then Brent (inspired by Patrick Prill aka @testpappy) asks Alan to define Quality, Testing, Test Cases, Testers, Integration Testing, and a few other terms that are difficult to define for most of the three, including (especially?) Alan.

AB Testing – Episode 36 Apr 10, 2016

It’s been two years, and 36 episodes…of the same stuff. Yet people still listen.

This episode includes some discussion of shipping every day (or at least more often than once a week), open space work areas, and what could be our own AB Testing record for tangents within a podcast!

AB Testing – Episode 35 Mar 15, 2016

We’re baaaaack. This episode covers the one time when Alan was a developer, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, balancing quality, collective ownership, and developer owned quality.

All in less than an hour.

AB Testing – Episode 34 Feb 12, 2016

Another AB Testing podcast in the books (and on the web). This time, we discuss the nature of bugs, why we don’t want our testers back; and in the mailbag session, discuss our role in backlog grooming and planning.

AB Testing – Episode 33 Jan 12, 2016

Happy new year. This blab-fest covers Star Wars, Fallout 4, straw man arguments, even more on Combined (or Unified!) Engineering, and why smart people do stupid things!

AB Testing – Episode 32: 2015 Year in review and Predictions episode Dec 18, 2015

It’s the 2015 recap show, where Brent and Alan reflect on 2015, and make some predictions for 2016…and somehow take nearly an hour to do so.

Some links from the show

Podcasts:

This American Life – Episode 403: Nummi – http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/transcript
Freakonomics Radio – http://freakonomics.com/radio/freakonomics-radio-podcast-archive/
Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me – http://www.npr.org/podcasts/344098539/wait-wait-don-t-tell-me
Good Job Brain – http://www.goodjobbrain.com/
Total Soccer Show – http://totalsoccershow.com/

Blogs:

A Seasoned Tester’s Crystal Ball – http://visible-quality.blogspot.com/
Michael Larsen – http://www.mkltesthead.com/
Leadership Freak – https://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/
“The Post Alan Found” – http://www.agilezilla.com/generalizing-specialist/

May be others I missed – but post them in the comments!

AB Testing – Episode 31 Dec 05, 2015

This episode includes a quick rant on tecking vs. chesting (or something like that), moving from predictive to adaptive, and the mailbag is back with a discussion on combined engineering.

AB Testing – Episode 30 Nov 20, 2015

This episode is all about “stuff Alan and Brent did” – or at least it started that way until we start rambling. Quick recaps of the Strata conference, Eurostar, Redfin, and Riot all find their way into our discussion.

AB Testing – Episode 29: LIVE from the Redfin HQ Nov 10, 2015

From the offices of Redfin in Seattle, Washington, Brent and Alan deliver the first ever AB Testing roadshow. Sound isn’t fantastic, and the content, as usual, isn’t very original, but I’m sure one of us said something that will raise your eyebrows.

Thanks to Evan and everyone else at Redfin for hosting us, feeding us pizza, and letting us yak aimlessly on a Friday afternoon (and for giving us the recording).

AB Testing – Episode 28 Sep 25, 2015

Yet another installment of AB Testing (including what I think is a world record for AB Testing release velocity).

This episode includes another rant from Alan about dumb things people do at Microsoft, a long tangent on Alan’s music background that has no relevance whatsoever, and some discussion on upcoming public appearances from Brent and Alan – including the first ever AB Testing Roadshow.

AB Testing – Episode 27 Sep 04, 2015

In their patented pattern of pure randomness, Alan and Brent talk about the context-driven school of testing, the video music awards, upcoming test conferences, and pointy-haired managers!

Errata: Lessons learned…came out in 2001 (not 2003 as Alan guessed on the show).

A link to Ioana’s awesome CAST talk is here

AB Testing – Episode 26 Aug 10, 2015

Recorded in downtown Bellevue, WA…Alan and Brent talk about a talk – and Alan asks Brent questions from a sample ISTQB test.

AB Testing – Episode 25 Jul 22, 2015

Discussions include Agile, Alan’s new job, developer testing, and we go to the mail bag (maaaiilll baaaaaag) for a quick discussion of Tension Metrics.

AB Testing – Episode 24 Jun 30, 2015

A trip report from STAR Canada; some discussion of whether or not test is dead (or if being dead is dead), and a trip into the mailbag to talk about monolithic test systems.

And Alan fixed the bug that was hiding the media bar on the blog site.

AB Testing – Episode 23 Jun 05, 2015

It’s Alan’s 20-year anniversary at Microsoft…and he has a new job. We also talk preview Alan’s talk on A/B (with the slash) testing at Better Software, and attempt to get through some mailbag items without getting too distracted (we failed).

AB Testing – Episode 22 May 18, 2015

In this episode: Iterative is not Agile, Brent’s version of the penny game, and a short discussion of AB Testing vanity metrics.

…and probably other stuff too.

AB Testing – Episode 21: Dysfunctional Central Organizations May 04, 2015

Rants and soapboxes are back. This episode also includes a discussion of central organizations, why they fail, and how they can work. And other fun stuff too.

AB Testing – Episode 20 Apr 09, 2015

It’s our twentieth podcast, AND – it’s our one year anniversary show. We talk about logical fallacies, generalists, and a whole lot of other random topics.

AB Testing – Episode 19 Mar 24, 2015

In this episode, Alan and Brent talk about dashboards, scorecards, buzzwords, soapboxes, and Alan’s appearance on another podcast. Also included is yet another installment of silly things people do at work to incur the wrath of Alan.

AB Testing – Episode 18 Mar 02, 2015

Brent has a new job! We talk about what Brent does, discuss interviews, and what test specialists actually (may?) do.

And other stuff.

Here’s the link for the Data Science in the Cloud e-book mentioned in the podcast.

AB Testing – Episode 17 Feb 05, 2015

Eventually….Brent and Alan discuss their thoughts on the future of the Program Manager role at Microsoft. The journey there, as always, is interesting and perhaps even entertaining.

AB Testing – Episode 16 Jan 20, 2015

We’re back for our first episode of 2015…where we talk about almost nothing, but do manage to discuss management styles, holocracy, and what we did with our holiday break.

AB Testing – Episode 15 Dec 19, 2014

In our last podcast of Twenty-Fourteen, Brent and I talk about Generalizing Specialists, Specializing Generalists, and weird things Alan sees at Microsoft (and other random topics that pop up along the way).

Happy Holidays everyone

AB Testing – Episode 14 Dec 09, 2014

We’re back! Topics this week include:

Heroes vs. Teamwork
Not Invented Here Syndrome
Bean Counters
The Mailbag
And the completely bizarre story of Brent’s first days at Microsoft

AB Testing – Episode 13 Nov 13, 2014

If only you could hear what we left on the editing room floor…

Instead, Alan and Brent talk about GTAC, meetings, and bring back the mailbag.

AB Testing – Episode 12 Oct 27, 2014

This episode includes discussions on peer feedback, the “Skill and the Will”, Alan’s favorite author, Steven Johnson, Not-Invented-Here, and learning organizations.

AB Testing – Episode 11 Oct 14, 2014

Alan and Brent are back. In this episode, they discuss interviews, data driven engineering, knowledge sharing and the usual grab bag of tangents and random topics related to software and software quality.

AB Testing – Episode 10 Sep 26, 2014

After a long break, Brent and Alan are back with Episode 10. This week, A & B talk about what changed at Microsoft this summer, what they think is going to change next, and talk a bit about the latest IOS bug.

Note: the audio is a little wonky this week. Long story, but it will be fixed in the future.

AB Testing – Episode 9 Jul 09, 2014

Last episode of the summer! Alan talks about git, roles of testers, and we talk about what may (or will) change while Alan is taking a long, long break.

AB Testing – Episode 8 Jul 09, 2014

And…we’re back. this episode covers Brent’s IRRs, Agile Testing, and, as usual, a wide variety of tangents and rants.

AB Testing – Episode 7 Jun 16, 2014

In this “all-mailbag” episode, we talk more about change (specifically some changes in engineering approaches we see at Microsoft, including changes in the way we lead and manage people), and a variety of related (and not-so-related) rants.

Enjoy.

AB Testing – Episode 6 Jun 03, 2014

Alan and Brent are back. This time they talk about work item tracking, QOS & QOE, the World of Warcraft guide to running v-teams, and Alan’s upcoming extended vacation.

AB Testing – Episode 5 May 19, 2014

Brent and Alan are back! In this episode, they discuss Alan’s trip to STAR East, the perils of automation, some ideas on leadership, and how not to tell your team that you’re “Agile”.

AB Testing – Episode 4: Leading Change, Learning Organizations, and Test Zombies Apr 28, 2014

In this episode, Brent and Alan discuss Alan’s upcoming trip to the STAR East test conference, and a bit about using Kanban for chores.

And then comes a question / statement about estimation that’s worth every minute.

AB Testing – Episode 3: Dashboards, Documentation, and Dumb manifestos Apr 14, 2014

In this installment, Alan and Brent talk about Alan’s trip to Florida, data driven engineering, and estimation. And Brent claims that he “hates the Agile Manifesto”.

AB Testing – Episode 2: What AND Why Apr 07, 2014

In this episode, Brent and Alan talk about change management and the difference between Predictive, Iterative, and Adaptive software development models.

And Testing!

AB Testing – Episode 1: Introductions Apr 03, 2014

Episode 1 – Two Software Testing veterans from Microsoft decide to start podcasting.