PSYCHOLOGY OF TESTING

Testers do many actions to find errors in the application. They learn the product, test it and provide information to improve the quality. Testing can be considered as a destructive activity while reporting the defects or failures, so it should be done as objectively and politely as possible.

Mindset of the tester and developer:

Developers synthesize code. They build up things, putting pieces together and figuring out fun and unique ways of combining those distinct little bits to do wonderful and amazing things. Testers are all about analysis. Once it has all been put together, the tester likes to take it apart again, piece by piece, this time looking for those little corners, edges, and absurdities that hide in those weird and strange interactions that come from those new and amazing ways of putting pieces together.
Testing and Reviewing of the applications are different from analyzing and developing of it. While testing or reviewing a product, testers mainly look for the defects or failures in the product. If we are building or developing applications, we have to work positively to solve the problems during the development process and to make the product according to the user specification.

Self-testing and Independent testing:

Comparison of the mindsets of a tester and a programmer does not mean that a tester cannot be a programmer, or that a programmer cannot be the tester, although they often are separate roles. In fact programmers are the testers. They always test their component which they built. While testing their own code they find many problems so the programmers, architect and the developers always test their own code before giving it to anyone. However we all know that it is difficult to find our own mistakes. It might be due to some reasons such as

a. “Parental feelings” towards their code
b. Focus on the “Positive Paths”
c. Work based on the principle of simplifying of complex scenarios
d. Inability to catch small things in big pictures
e. Lack of end-to-end & real-user perspective
f. Less experience with common bugs & application pitfalls

In some situations, developers tend to unintentionally avoid to use the application in a way that might break it. That’s because they wrote it and mostly test it in the way it should be used.

A good tester on the other hand tries to torture the application. His/her primary intention is to break it. They often use the application in a way that developers wouldn’t have imagined. They’re closer to the users than the developer and often times have a different approach to test a workflow. They imagine themselves as end users and find usability errors more easily.

Giving applications to the testing specialists or professional testers allows an independent test of the system. This degree of independence is often more effective at finding defects and failures. There are several level of independence in software testing such as:
i.  Tests by the person who wrote the item.
ii. Tests by another person within the same team, like another programmer.
iii. Tests by the person from some different group such as an independent test team.
iv. Tests by a person from a different organization or company, such as outsourced testing or certification by an external body.

Clear and gracious communication on defects  

Human beings make mistakes and sometimes get annoyed and upset or depressed when someone points them out. Testers when run a test which is a good test from their viewpoint because they found defects and failures in the software. But at the same time testers need to be very careful as how they react or report the defects and failures to the programmers. Testers are pleased because we found a good bug but how will the requirement analyst, the designer, developer, project manager and customer react.

• The people who build the application may react defensively and take this reported defect as personal criticism.
• The project manager may be annoyed with everyone for holding up the project.
• The customer may lose confidence in the product because he can see defects.

In fact tester should have a good working relationship with developers. This will not only make a tester’s job and bug advocacy process easier but will also give him the ability to exert influence on quality, promote positive collaboration and learning opportunities.