bugTeaser!!!

Love teasing bugs!!

Well, finally I manage to attend my first session with "BWT- Banglore Weekend Testers". :) I was excited but at the same time I was busy with some other work too ..which was on "PRIORITY". I had to multitasking but it worth a lot..... to attend the session and to listen to others and what issues they come up. The session shoot up at 9:30 PM sharp...so appreciated the punctuality.... :)

Mission!!! Find Bugs.

AUT - Google Calender.

Scope of Testing - Exploratory....find bugs.

Brwosers - whichever available with you.....

Time Duration - 1 Hr....for testing and 1 Hr for discussion on the review of the task performed.

I started testing "Google Calender" in FF.....although I am lover of Google Chrome....but I said to myself ...its Google product ....so it should work fine in Google Chrome ...so let me check in some other browsers......I open my FF and enter the url.....and login. Got to go ===> Arrh!!my mobile rang.....it was my Brother's call from US ...so can not let it go. I very much focused on the task.....and once I am done with the call....I started sharing my issues with others in the Group. But, I said to myself its better I first finish the testing and latter discuss the issues come across. I set a target of 5 bugs for myself......as I thought to myself Google is very much stable ..they are not new in the market....so I get 5 bugs......I am very much happy but if I get more.... no problem. Well to be honest and no hard feeling for anyone....but AUT .....was very "average" ...its not that friendly I expected.

=>Some of the issues to mention - Warning message if you set a reminder for a task, it should it should be "information" message and not warning.

==> You can set reminders or create appointments for the date passed by like 10th June, 2009...it is gone...so I should not be able to create new appointment on that day.

Once the time is over for testing...part we all started discussing about the experience......

I got some things like:

==> BWT - I come across some people......whom I do not know but now we know each other

==> Others sharing their approach about testing - what was their goal? How did they do that?

==> People's opinion whether the product can be used or would you recommend the product to others.

Discussion part was really excited but as you know when you are in a Group .......everyone wants to say something or the other...so somewher we lose the connection. However, people were really coming up with their experience and some other things ...rating and all. I did mange to speak some words...... :) I did ask others to vote for and against the product.....where I could see majority people were saying that the product was "average" but they will go with it so did I.

I must confess one thing over here......I wanted the discussion to be more "constructive" and "conclusive" rather than discussing why you think like this? what made you feel so? and all. If we get a constructive discussion...it has altogether different meaning.......it would have been seriously fun but at the same time a good learning point!

On and all my experience was good but I expected more. Well, this is not the end of the world guys.......I am sure that in coming weeks we will come up strong and emerge as a strong "Group" where you get a good chance to have fun, learn new things, different perception, different approaches, startegies (if any).etc.......

I am waiting for the next session - BWT..... get me in!!!!

Best Regards,

Amit

testing is my passion!!!

Do we apply the same things while testing application in some other language. I know for the fact that you will be getting the requirement and scope of the testing. Can we apply the same things which we apply for any other application (which is in english language or the language you understand). Not really!!!

It takes more than that.....as we need to explore some basic knowledge of the language. What if there is no option for "English" in teh application you are testing..... so you can not check out what "any button", "any text box" means in English ....if its in some other language like Spanish, French, German. etc. You can at times use your gut feeling...as what all buttons is for......may be ..or may be not. Over there we need to use the power of internet..... use translators, use some same application like the one you are testing, use interpreters..... to make yourself comfortable.

Recently, I was testing one such application...so at that time I used my gut feeling...what this button for...and ofcourse translators. There are some messages which we feel that "Errors" but actually they are not....they are just informative message. I find this stuff more challenging as that of teh application which are in "English" which we all know. Its challenge, fun, learning new things....so my experience was awesome!!!!

Although in the start I had to face some problems....as it took time for me....to get the speed. But I enjoyed it thoroughly...... I must confess that!!

Best Regards,

Amit

testing is my passion!!!

http://bugteaser.blogspot.com

Does that mean that you do not exist if you don't have mail id?". :)

I feel most of you must be watching this show too....if not give it a try once. As I watch this show regularly so I know the timings too but prior to this it was being telecased at 10:30 PM so kind of I know the change in the timing.

To my surperise I saw the main landing page of the site http://www.sachkasaamna.com/ the timings at the left bottom of the page marked with "red" color is not yet updated. As always I was just searching for any feedback/suggestion link on their website.....but on clicking on the link it shows the email id where in you can send your feedback/suggestion. Without wasting anymore time as I love this show......I thought of sending an email mentioning the things which needs to be corrected. I sent two mails but alas..........there was no reponse from them. I was just thought that they would not mail me but rather they would fix the thing on their site rather.........I opened the same page after few days.........its the same (no change). From users perspective these all things does matter a lot.......what if I am a new user and do not know the site of "Sach Ka Saamna". I open "Google" my favorite search engine....and type "Sach Ka Saamna" .....the first result is this site. I got happy.....I clicked on the link....and I found that the timings is 10:30 PM. Arr!!! looking at my watch I found that its 11:15 PM...so I make a note of it so that I can watch the show the next day. The next day I put on the "TV" at 10:30 PM and put on "Star Plus" .....but I see that at that time some other thing is coming up on the "TV" and not "Sach Ka Saamna". I face the truth....disappointed.....do not know what to do.....I put off the "TV" ...go to bed....crumbling. :( Now if this kind of user experience does not hamper the rating much....because of the large audiences but if you see 5% users missing the show because they are not updated of the show timings.

Does this 5% users matter to "Star Plus" or even for the matter "Sach Ka Saamna"?

This question is subjective one and the answer can vary......based on the users experiences. Somebody will say that check out in the newspaper, in ads, with friends.

This task is very simple and does not cost more to the site developer .....so why not to have updated information on the site?

The next time I will write this on "Rajiv's" blog to make him aware of it......as it seems that "Star Plus" does not have any problem with this.

Sach Ka Saamna - Facing the truth? What do you think that the reason behind not updating the timings? As I am clueless........... :) but I love the show.

Best Regards,

Amit

Testing is my passion!!

http://bugteaser.blogspot.com

I always wonder why other people (developers, management, client) are not able to reproduce the bug even though you have given all the steps in detail. :) I am not saying they have to but is it that difficult to make out or reproduce the bug after detail explanation. I believe its a combination of both sometime people goes for the easy way where in they just make out the bug after watching the screenshot and some people likes to backup their detail explanation with screenshot or videos. There are times when you backup your bug with screenshots/videos does not makes things clear so there Tester has to come into the picture and reproduce the bug again.

Do you use screenshots/videos because you want to make things easy for others?

Or

Do you use screenshots/videos because you like to use them?

Or

Do you use screenshots/videos because you want to backup your bug?

Or

Do you use screenshots/videos because you feel that your detailed explanation is not enough to reproduce the bug?

Do you use screenshots/videos because you feel that you can not communicate the things well?

Or

Do you use screenshots/videos because you feel that they have to be used as others are using them?

Whatever may be the reason ...I will not go into the detail. But, I would like to say its always better to have them because using them add value to your bug. There is one more reason to this ..if you can not communicate things well so its better to use them. We can argue that testers has the responsibility to report the bugs and developers has the responsibility to fix them. There are other modes of communicating like email, chat or some other modes. What if I do not use screenshot/videos and just go to my 'pal' and explain them the issue. This kind of attitude may work or may not! We have to understand one thing that the things should be transparent for the people (management, clients, and developers).

Like I said every organization has their own way to work. There are people with differnt attitude, approaches and different point of view so at times it becomes need of the hour to make some adjustments. If you are not used to it but because your company asks you to have an organized structure ....see to other side of ......its for good sake of yours. I always recommend to have screenshot/videos to backup and it becomes easy to figure out the issue too.....for the tester also.

I leave it to you guys as I have already shared my thinking with you.

Best Regards,

Amit

This incident is part of the same story..... I was reviewing/testing some site (I can not disclose the name :)) The site was good in look'n'feel, it was user friendly and easy to navigate. Arrh!! there we go I see one link which was under "Copyright" information. The link was mainly related to terms and conditions for any web portal or any site. I saw that the link is inconsistent with that of the other links on the page. It was not following the same style as the rest all link were. However, when I clicked on the link it used to redirect on the proper page where it is supposed to go. Question comes to my mind......the link is not going with the rest of the other links on this page (as per Usability point of view that needs to be changed) but on the other hand it was going or it was opening the right page (so functionally it was working fine). I somewhat confused whether this issue will come under Usability or Functionality. :( Finally, I let it go....because I do not have to categorize this as I was not reviewing/testing for any client wherein they have asked me to generate the report in the proper format. I feel good.....that I do not have to scratch my head anymore...

As always I took a screenshot of it.....put a note against it (mentioned what I felt was wrong with the site). Once I was done.....I shoot the mail as the site has a link for feedback or suggestion. I was pretty happy and sure that I will get some reponse for this. :)

The next morning I was surfing and alas!!! I got a mail....which I desperately waiting for. I was so sure that the mail would contain this and that.....so I was in own world. Once I opened the mail I was shocked :( the customer or the person who replied to my mail has made me cry (not exactly). The mail says "Thanks for your suggestion and we appreciate your efforts for the same. However, we see that the link is not proper or inconsistent with the rest of the links on that page but it is doing its job. When a user clicks on the link they get what page they are suppose to get."

I close the mail and started doing the work I was doing. Alas!!! but I can not get rid of the thing that easily......as questions were floating in my mind like anything.

Does this not come under Usability Testing?

Is it good if the formatting of the links is not proper but functionality wise they are working proper.

Was it an issue that needs some attention (it was low severity low priority bug) as per my understanding? any many more......

There have been some good amount of time has passed by......and still the page has the link with the same formatting and all.

Does Usability always comes after Functionality or is there any time vice-versa?

Best Regards,

Amit

Testing is my passion !!!!

As a human being we all have different tastes, different attitude to see a thing, differences in our opinion, different approaches, different tools, and ofcourse different way of looking at it. Usability Testing is very important in any application (desktop, web, mobile etc.) but my fellow testers will have better idea on this ....as to how much time we all get for Usability Testing. I will not confuse anybody but note down some simple questions which comes to my mind when I hear "Usability Testing"

(a) What is Usability Testing?

(b) What all tools are available?

(c) Is it that important to do Usability Testing too?

(d) How do we do Usability Testing under tight schedules?

(e) Why not ask for end user's feedback than doing Usability Testing on our own?

(f) How to read the mind of our customers when they have not provided with any specification?

the list goes on.......

I must say one thing the trend is changing and now the companies also making a note of it that they should give sufficient time and consult expert for Usability Testing. It is more important because "what looks good, sell easily..." . The application any type should be user friendly as your target audience is very important while performing Usability Testing. If you are testing any website which is for kids so obviously it should have more pictures than text but at the same time it should convey the message. If the desktop application you are testing is targetted for the audience which falls in the category above 50 then you have make sure that things are pretty clear... like text readability, font size, font color, flow of the application etc. These people wants to have things done in less clicks as they are not that user friendly with computers. So, before starting any testing for Usability the tester has to consider the following things:

(a) Application Type..

(b) Target Audience...

(c) User friendliness of the application...

(d) Navigation/Flow of the application...

(e) Requirements of the clients (if given :) )...

These days there are tools available for Usability Testing...but as a tester we have to read others mind (customers/clients/management/end user). When you do your basics right ....things will fall in place properly. A tester has to draw a plan as how they will go about it. Usability Testing is not a thing ......that it can be done at any time. You have to be well prepared with the data to justify things to developers/designers as you will be working in parallel with these people. The important aspect of Usability Testing is well prepared plan, tools used (if any), screenshots, and comparison with competitors. It is always recommended to all to do basic study first before jumping into the world .....where you will be responsible for whole look'n'feel of the application.

Consider following things which may help you to prepare you in a better way:

(a) specifications from the clients

(b) designers/developers input...

(c) user friendliness of the application..

(d) navigation of the application...

(e) color schema...

(f) consistency of the font style used.. etc...

Lastly, if you have a plan ready in advance then discuss it with your management, clients so you can ask for the time you need to carry out these tests. This way it will really help you to carry out your tests on time and make it more efficient...at the same time no compromise on the "Quality". Usability Testing is an important aspect of whole development of the application....so you need to be very careful. If this goes well then you have better chance of selling your products to more audience....which means more revenue...means more customers.....means their different views.....which is not easy to satisfy everyone. Usability Testing is no about what do you think is good or bad.....its about collection of the things like your opinion, your audience, your customers, your development/design team...these all people contribute in this. I know its not easy to satisfy everyone but if we can convince others as what do you think is good for the application...then I am sure others will agree with you.

If it is carried out in a better way then chances are more that you are coming up with good application. Usability Testing is not only about see the things as they looks...but its about how better it can look?

Best Regards,