Debugging the Mind: Teaching Developers to Think Like Testers

1st October 2024
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Kat Obring's profile
Kat Obring

Founder, Director

Debugging the Mind: Teaching Developers to Think Like Testers image
Talk Description

For years now, we've been hearing a lot about the tester's mindset. While it remains as important as ever, I believe it has evolved. It has shifted from being the role of one person in the team who explores the application to find edge cases, thinking like a slightly deranged user, to a role that involves teaching this mindset to others. This includes developers, to help them write better unit and integration tests; product owners, to consider the unintended consequences of insufficiently bold ideas; and delivery leads, who may be hesitant to allocate time for proper test setup in the CI/CD pipeline.

I'll discuss how the tester role has evolved based on my experience and what I believe a modern tester needs to keep in mind to inspire their team to prioritise quality in all development activities. These days, critical thinking alone is no longer sufficient. Helping the team to move quickly while embedding quality into our processes has become more crucial than ever.

What you’ll learn

By the end of this talk, you'll be able to:

  • Gain a comprehensive understanding of how the role of testers has evolved to focus on business improvement
  • Explore the importance of viewing quality through the lens of the customer, acknowledging that customer feedback is the ultimate measure of product quality
  • Get equipped with strategies to nurture and lead a mature quality culture within their teams
Kat Obring's profile'

Kat Obring

Founder, Director

Kat Obring has over 15 years of experience helping startups and larger organisations nail their test strategy to expedite software delivery without compromising quality. She is an expert in efficient code delivery and seamless integration of testing capabilities. She has a proven track record of shortening delivery cycles using agile and DevOps methodologies. She is also a skilled framework developer, having created test frameworks for mobile banking applications using libraries like Pytest and Locust. Kat's approach extends beyond code, as she transforms teams and organisations, removing barriers between testers and developers. She helps teams integrate quality into every step of the SDLC to achieve quality delivered at speed.
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