There’s No Room for Emotions in Testing—Not!

Software testing is a highly technical, logical, rational task. There's no place for squishy emotional stuff here—not among professional testers. Or is there? Because of commitment, risk, schedule, and money, emotions often do run high in software development and testing. Our ideas about quality and bugs are rooted in our desires, which in turn are rooted in our feelings. People don't decide things based on the numbers; they decide based on how they feel about the numbers. It is easy to become frustrated, confused, or bored; angry, impatient, or overwhelmed. However, if we choose to be aware of our emotions and are open to them, feelings can be a powerful source of information for testers, alerting us to problems in the product and in our approaches to our work. You may laugh, you may cry...and you may be surprised as Michael Bolton discusses the important role that emotions play in excellent testing.