An interesting view into operations and resiliency on a large scale

Disaster Squad- Behind the Scenes at Xbox Live Operations Center

You can hear me in the harmony

I am a fan of Harry Connick, Jr.  The man can sing.  The man can swing.  The man has more going for him than any natural man should have.  But hey, more power to him.

I listened to his tune You can hear me in the harmony this morning and it got me thinking.

Recently I wrote a post about people who think testing is merely a supporting role.  While I certainly think most testing activities are equal in importance to other development activities, and should be considered as one within the SDLC, there is also this harmonious component that Mr. Connick, Jr. reminded me of.

So much of the art of testing and leadership is being able to accept and get really good at singing harmony.  We aren't called to be the Bono-like lead singer- with charisma, leather pants, and spotlights dripping off of us.  We are the person in the shadows, perfecting our art, contributing where we should, and taking satisfaction in helping others see their vision come to life.

I suppose this is just another aspect of the servant-leader model, but I wanted to call out a few thoughts.

I try my best to look at every single person in a way I look at a dear loved one.  They are individuals with talents, weaknesses, struggles, and joys.  They have goals. They have passions.  They deserve great things.

They are most certainly not a means-to-an-end.  They are not resources.  They are human beings- wonderfully imperfect and deserving of respect.

A definition of love that I cling to goes as follows:

Desiring the good of the other as other.

In this light, I strive to serve them (stakeholders, employees, co-workers), in the background, in the harmonies, in order to help them achieve their goals.

A further thought I had, is that, beyond this individual view, an organization is very much like a band.  Everyone has certain roles, and those roles can change over time, but the final product looks a lot like a group of people on stage putting on an inspiring show.

Think of all the people needed just to get that band on stage.  Roadies, managers, ticket-takers, sign-makers, janitors, sound and lighting engineers, and someone willing to take a risk.  MOST of the effort put forth is by those living in the shadows, living in the harmony.

Realizing these few things helps me to stay focused on what is important in testing and leadership.  I hope to be the best back-up singer I can be, and take joy in seeing the lead singer shine.

And now- Harry Connick, Jr.

Best Supporting Actor: Testing?

Recently, I've been interacting with people who seem to think Testing simply supports development efforts.  I envision Gregory Peck as Developer, walking into a fashionable room.  Nice wooden furniture, strong shadows, heavy curtains... all rendered in black and white.  I now look outside of the shot, and see Old Joe Tester holding the boom mic so that Mr. Peck may do his work- careful not to mess up the shot by being seen on-screen.

This is a dangerous conceptualization.  Testing must be thought of as part-and-parcel of the development activity.  We must fight against the temptations to think of an 'integration testing period' or an 'acceptance testing period'.

Here is a list of testing types that I think possibly could be decoupled from the activity of coding, but they are the exception, not the rule.

1. Load
2. Security
3. E2E
4. User Acceptance

I know that this is a generally non-controversial position to take, but I am alarmed at how frequently people around me take the 'test as support' view.

What are your thoughts?

Deadly Defects

Toyota settles acceleration lawsuit after $3-million verdict

Toyota Motor Corp.'s first loss in a sudden acceleration case, in an Oklahoma courtroom this week, could embolden attorneys nationwide who are looking to bring hundreds of similar cases.

Worse for the Japanese automaker, the verdict centered on the company's electronics, which have been a focus for plaintiffs seeking to prove safety defects in the company's cars.

Toyota on Friday confirmed that it had reached a confidential settlement in the lawsuit, which involved the fatal 2007 crash of a Camry. The settlement came hours after a jury assessed $3 million in compensatory damages but before the panel could levy a punitive award.

The verdict could provide a road map for attorneys seeking to hold the automaker liable for injuries and deaths.

Things can get serious in the world of Test Engineering.  Again, this points to a need for Test Engineers that can do impact analysis and risk assessment.

Testing Infinite Scenarios

I have been involved with implementing integration into a mapping service.  I am thankful we were not responsible for testing the accuracy of the third-party GIS (Geographic Information System) service itself, but only the integration of the service with our solution.

However, in testing we did notice a few problems with some of the information we were receiving.  Some of our client properties were not displayed correctly.  They were *close*, but not exact.

When I read this article yesterday, I was reminded of an anxiety I had when I tried to place myself in the shoes of those implementing and testing the GIS itself.

Apple Map flaw results in drivers crossing airport runway

As test engineers know, most test configuration matrices are massive (exponentially affected when adding new configurations), but the GIS testing poses a truly staggering challenge.  Nearly infinite scenarios.

In these times, I use my handy-dandy guide to prioritizing test cases:

1. Do an equivalence analysis (what configurations/scenarios are the same for testing purposes)
2. Do a risk/impact analysis (what happens if something goes wrong?  do people die?  is revenue impacted?)
3. Do a change set analysis (what has recently changed?)
4. Prioritize your configurations (what are the most common configurations?)
5. Prioritize your functionality (what is the most commonly used functionality?  usage statistics are very handy here)
6. Identify the complexity and time-to-test of the different configurations (prioritize complex tests lower, all other factors being equal)

However, I feel like something is missing in my list above, with regards to this particular GIS problem.

How would you approach GIS testing?

Aggregating data in useful ways

This really interesting image shows an aggregation of many famous starships in fiction, shown to scale for comparison.

Every Sci-Fi Starship Ever (not really, but close enough)

While fascinating, it also brings up that personal weakness of mine- taking the time to manually aggregate data.  If a report is not one-click away, then I avoid it.  However, I really shouldn't, as data good for assessing quality is usually hard to get.  Many of the tools we use are created with project management or development in mind, NOT QA.  (See Rally, JIRA)

I have to block time off in my calendar to go mining for data.  It takes discipline, but it is worth it.

Now- taking that data and presenting it in a meaningful way... that's a whole other bucket of beans.

Kudos to the person who put this Starship comparison chart together.  It took a lot of manual work, I'm sure, but it can be appreciated by many, and tells a story.

Ctrl + Alt + Delete was a mistake: Bill Gates

... but I must admit, I've developed some fairly impressive finger positions to do the one-handed login.

Finally:  Bill Gates admits Ctrl + Alt + Delete was a Mistake

h/t funnylifestories.com

Get your jargon straight!

An oldie but a goodie.  This is sort of the opposite of the Urban Dictionary.  This is guide comes in handy when navigating the Sea of Wordplay and Meaning in the land of Corporate Culture.

Jargon Watch

A fun fusion of gaming and career

One theme that keeps popping up in my study of user experience is that of achievement reward systems.  You look at any task you would like a user to perform, and, no matter how mundane, you reward their achievement in some way.  This can even be something as simple as a meaningless list item in a long list of meaningless list items.

Companies have flirted with using this approach in real world activities, such as teeth brushing and bike riding.

In my mind, the three most important characteristics of a successful achievement reward system are:

1. Show users what is possible to achieve (list the achievements possible, and a clear explanation of how to achieve them)
2. Show users where they've been, what they've achieved, in a way that is satisfying.
3. Make sure the achievements can be obtained at a reasonably consistent and fast pace (you don't want people getting bored while trying to achieve one thing... keep the rewards flowing)

With this in mind, I got a kick out of the following link.  It is a list of achievements toward being an expert web developer, presented like a role-playing game skill tree.  You developer yourself along this tree's branches, with the end goal of becoming the web developer you desire to become.  This page even lets you choose your character portrait and name.  Great stuff.  I hope you enjoy.

Becoming a web developer via RPG skill tree

Warren Spector's Commandments of Game Design

A wonderful list that is well worth examining.  Warren Spector is highly respected in his field, and has been involved in development of many successful games such as the Wing Commander series, the Ultima series, and the Deus Ex series.

Warren Spector's Commandments of Game Design

With regards to quality, we can take some good lessons away from this.  When we analyze a design for any type of user experience, we look for things like rewarding the user, making the goal visible, giving multiple ways to achieve objectives, avoiding unnecessary steps.

But, even more than these:  when game design meets user experience, it can be an amazing thing.  You tap into people's motivation to help them achieve their goals in a pleasant way.  Every solution should strive for this result.  It reminds me of an article I read recently where developers are bringing video-game-like-achievements into real life. 

If you can tap into people's motivations, not just their behaviors, you have created a successful user experience. 

You've gained the 'Floss your teeth' achievement!