Presenting Test Results with Clarity and Confidence

W12 Special Topics

5/1/2013 1:45:00 PM

Presenting Test Results with Clarity

and Confidence

Presented by:

Griffin Jones

Congruent Compliance

Brought to you by:

340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073

888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.sqe.com

Griffin Jones

An agile tester, trainer, and coach, Griffin Jones provides consulting on context-driven software testing and regulatory compliance to companies in regulated and unregulated industries. Recently, he was the director of quality and regulatory compliance at iCardiac Technologies which provides core lab services for the pharmaceutical industry to evaluate the safety of their potential new drugs. Griffin was responsible for all matters relating to quality and FDA regulatory compliance including presenting the verification and validation (testing) results to external regulatory auditors. He is currently a host of the Workshop on Regulated Software Testing (WREST). Reach Griffin at [email protected].

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Presenting Test Results

with

Clarity and Confidence

April 2013 © 2013 Congruent Compliance LLC 1

Griffin JonesConsultant

Agile / Testing / Regulatory


• Present my current working model of how to:

– clearly and confidently

– prepare and present your testing results

• This presentation covers the Who, What,

When, Where, Why, and How - plus the Traps

– of that model

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• Tell a Story

– Audience, Content, Preparation, and Practice

• Intentional Practice

–Clarity• Clearness of expression

–Confidence• Faith in one's abilities


Practice, Practice, Practice

HOW DO YOU GET TO

CARNEGIE HALL?


When are you training your dog?

You are always training your dog.

When are you presenting your

testing results?

You are always presenting

your testing results.

WHEN?

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WHO ARE YOU

PRESENTING TO?

Customers

Other Testers

StakeholdersLawyers

Executives

Auditors

Project Managers

Project Team Members

Service

Operations

Development

Partners

Sales & Marketing


WHAT ARE THEIR CONCERNS?

Is project management effective?

What is the status of the project?

Am I getting value?

Will this add value to my business?

Did they follow their

process?

What are the legal risks?

How does this influence the business model?

Am I getting value?

How should I adjust my testing?

Can I support this in the field?

Can I sell this?

How do we

coordinate?

Can I deploy it?

Is the task done-done?

Can I integrate my

stuff with theirs?

How does this

influence my concerns?

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WHAT DO

THEY WANT?!

WHEN DO

THEY WANT IT?!

Information!

Now! (you have

two minutes)

• Information based on Observation

– Otherwise it is analysis, induction, and speculation


WHAT KIND OF

INFORMATION?

• Testing is an informational function

– You are paying to Learn something

Adapted from “The Big Book of Perfect Testing” by James Bullock

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• Information is valuable if the audience uses it

– Otherwise it is entertainment

• Reduces damaging uncertainty

– (and certainty)

– About the perceived state of

three fundamental questions


WHY DOES IT HAVE

VALUE?


Adapted from “The Testing Team's Motto” by Brian Marick

Adapted from a conversation with Michael Bolton


QUESTION 1:

THE PRODUCT

How good is the

Product?

Adapted from “Rapid Software Test Management” by James Bach

and Michael Bolton

(By “good”, I mean: reduce damaging uncertainty

(and certainty) about the perceived state of …)

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QUESTION 2:

THE TESTING

How good is the

Testing?

Adapted from “Rapid Software Test Management” by James Bach and Michael Bolton

(By “good”, I mean: reduce damaging uncertainty

(and certainty) about the perceived state of …)


QUESTION 3A:

HOW GOOD IS YOUR JUDGMENT?

Testing Techniques are Endless

Avoid Ritual

Lich Stefan Schäfer

and Administration

Adapted from “Rapid Software Test Management” by Bach and Bolton


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QUESTION 3B:

RITUAL VERSUSADMINISTRATION

The correct technique is the one that best gets you the

information you need to take a better next step

than you would otherwise

Adapted from “Rapid Software Test Management” by Bach and Bolton and “The Big Book of Perfect Testing” by James Bullock

Stuck on a technique

rather than the results,

you have

descended into ritual

Unwilling to discover, embrace,

or invent whatever technique it

takes to find the information

you need, you have

descended into administration


QUESTION 3C:

HOW GOOD IS YOUR CREDIBILITY?

Why should you be happy with the testing

we did and did not do?

More T, Less BSSetup

Bug

Test

Adapted from “Rapid Software Test Management” by Bach and Bolton

Adapted from “More T, Less BS” by Jon Bach

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PREPARING TO TELL YOUR

STORY

Always be prepared

15

Model

Competent

Honest

Evidence

Control

Willing

Congruent


CONGRUENT

Equal respect for:

Self, Other, Context

Insides match the outsides

What is the best thing you could say

or do to get the result you want?

Cybernetic Focus

Blame, Placate,

Ultra-Reasonable

Adapted from “More Secrets of Consulting” by Gerald Weinberg and from conversations with James Bullock

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THEORY

Honest

Competent

Process

Model

Dishonest

Incompetent

Inadequate

Self-

Incrimination

Experts &

Heroes

Over-

Constrained

• Tests

– How do we react to criticism?

– Are we a Learning Organization? (Fifth Discipline)


HONESTTrust

Sincerity

Integrity

Truthful

Words, Actions, Documents

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COMPETENT

Speaks the Language

Understands

Technology and Context

Credible

Capable

Trained in the Industry

• Test

– Are we capable of doing good work?


Complete

PROCESSMODEL

Explainable

Logical

Practical

Reasonable

• Tests

– What problem is the model trying to solve?

– How will the model fail?

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PRACTICE

Unwilling

Out-of-

Control

Hand-

Waving

Willing

Under

Control

Evidence

Excessive

Micro-

Management

Obsessive-

Compulsive

• Test

– Do people care enough to provide sufficient resources?


WILLINGFocused

Nurtured

Given AttentionStaffed

Supported

CommittedMotivated

ResourcedPrioritized

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• Test

– Are the types and levels of controls appropriate? (prescriptive versus discretionary)


Configuration

CONTROL

Preparationand

Planning

Checking and

Testing

Preventionand

Correction

Review

Accountability

Traceability


EVIDENCE

Reconstructable

Reviewable

Contemporary

Attributable

Human Readable

RetrievableObjective

Clear

• Test

– How does specific evidence meet the criteria?

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PRESENTATION TRAPS

Too formal

Too much

preparation required

Too little content

Not knowing

the audience

Over or

under-telling stories

Not listening

and engaging

Presentation format and

content abdication

Meaning without Data, or

Data without Meaning

Not knowing your

purpose and role

Lack of practice

Clarity

Confidence

• Practice, Practice, Practice

• You are always presenting your results

• Know the concerns of your different

stakeholders

• Stakeholders want fast information, or fast

learning

– Based on observation

– Used to inform a decision


SUMMARYA …

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… SUMMARY B

• Information is valuable because it reduces

damaging uncertainty and certainty

– about the product, testing, and your judgment

and credibility

• Prepare by monitoring whether you are

Congruent

• While focusing on the six qualities of: Honest,

Competent, Process Model, Willing, Control,

and Evidence


BIG POINTSRelax - You know what you are doing

Keep it SimpleYou Practice this

all the time

Clarity

Confidence

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• “Rapid Software Test Management” by James Bach

and Michael Bolton

• “More T, Less BS” by Jon Bach

• “The Big Book of How to Do Perfect Testing” by

James Bullock

• “Surviving an FDA Audit” by Griffin Jones

• “The Testing Team’s Motto” by Brian Marick

• “More Secrets of Consulting” by Gerald M Weinberg


REFERENCES


QUESTIONS

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Thank you for attending this session.

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Griffin Jones

[email protected]


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