There is a common misconception about agile testers, that anyone in the agile team can pick the testing tasks. If so, then what makes an agile tester special? What can distinguish agile testers from other traditional testers? Do they need other skills?
To answer this complex topic, we will discuss the agile testing mindset and explain how testers offer value to agile teams.
1. Who is an Agile tester?
We define an agile tester as a professional that embraces change, interacts effectively with both technical and business stakeholders, and comprehends the concept of using tests to establish requirements and drive development.
Agile testers typically have strong technical skills, the ability to interact with others to automate tests, and extensive exploratory testing expertise.
They are willing to study what consumers do in order to better comprehend the software requirements of clients.
Who performs agile testing? The tester is a part of the team who drives agile testing. There are numerous agile testers with backgrounds in other fields. For example, a tester who is accustomed to working in an agile manner is drawn to the concept of an agile team. Other professionals, such as business or functional analysts, may share similar characteristics and perform similar tasks.
Skills are essential, but the mindset is more crucial. "Without attitude, skill is worthless." After having to hire a large number of testers for our agile teams, we have given this a great deal of consideration and discussed it with others in the agile community. Testers have a broad perspective. They view the application from the perspective of the user or customer, which indicates that they are generally customer-centric.
2. What makes an Agile testing mindset?
What is an agile team? To us, an agile team is one that consistently focuses on producing the highest quality work and product. In our experience, this requires a substantial amount of dedication, learning, effort, experimenting, and teamwork. It's not for everyone, but it's perfect for those of us who enjoy teamwork and are committed to continuous growth.
Good projects are the outcome of allowing good people to do good work. The qualities that make a tester successful in an agile team are probably the same qualities that make a tester highly valued on any team.
Agile testers do not view themselves as quality officers tasked with safeguarding clients from subpar code. They are prepared to acquire and exchange information, collaborate with the client or product owner to assist them in expressing their requirements effectively so that they receive the desired features, and offer everyone feedback on the project's progress.
Agile testers, and maybe any tester with the necessary abilities and mentality, are constantly looking for methods to improve the team's software quality production.
On a personal level, this could involve visiting local user group meetings or roundtables to learn what other teams are up to.
It also entails experimenting with new tools that will help the team better specify, execute, and automate client requirements as tests.
Agile testers, like their agile colleagues, like acquiring new skills and tackling new problems, and they are not limited to addressing solely testing difficulties. This tendency is not unique to testers; we observe it across all agile team members. Agile testers aid the developer and customer teams in addressing any potential issue. The information provided by testers can help the team determine what worked and what did not.
Creativity, openness to new ideas, a readiness to take on any task or responsibility, customer-centricity, and a persistent focus on the broader picture are all characteristics of an agile testing attitude.
Good testers have an innate sense and comprehension of where and how software may fail, as well as how to locate failures.
Testers may have specialized knowledge and experience in testing, but a competent agile tester is not afraid to join in a design debate with suggestions that may improve testability or build an elegant solution. Agile testing requires a mindset that is results-driven, skilled, collaborative, willing to learn, and passionate about delivering business value on time.
3. Agile Testing Standards
Individuals can have a significant impact on the success of a project. We would anticipate a team with more experienced and capable people to perform better than one with less talent. But a team is more than the sum of its parts. Agile values and principles encourage a concentration on the people participating in a project and their interactions and communication. A talented team guided by agile values and principles will have higher team morale and greater velocity than a talented team with poor functioning.
The Agile Manifesto's four value statements express preferences, not imperatives, and make no statements about what to do or not to do. Also included in the Agile Manifesto is a list of principles that characterize our approach to software development. Our list of agile "testing" principles derives in part from these ideas.
We believe the following concepts are vital for an agile tester:
- Continuously offer feedback
- Provide value to the client.
- Facilitate direct connection.
- Have courage.
- Keep it simple.
- Practice constant improvement.
- Adjust to change
- Self-organize.
- Focus on humans.
- Enjoy.
If you want to learn more about Agile Manifesto, consider our blog series of Agile testing principles!
10 Agile Testing Principles That Testers Should Know (Part 1)
Final thoughts
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