Consulting

Tutorials

MD Hands On with Selenium and WebDriver NEW

Alan Richardson, Compendium Developments

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 8:30am

Selenium WebDriver is an open source automation tool for test driving browsers. People sometimes find the API daunting and their initial automation code brittle and poorly structured. In this introduction, Alan Richardson provides hints and tips gained from his years of experience both using WebDriver and helping others improve their use of the tool. Alan starts at the beginning, explaining the basic WebDriver API capabilities—simple interrogation and navigation—and then moves on to synchronization strategies and working with AJAX applications.

MF What’s Your Leadership IQ? NEW

Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 8:30am

Have you ever needed a way to measure your leadership IQ? Or been in a performance review where the majority of time was spent discussing your need to improve as a leader? If you have ever wondered what your core leadership competencies are and how to build on and improve them, Jennifer Bonine shares a toolkit to help you do just that.

MG Take a Test Drive of Acceptance Test-Driven Development NEW

Jared Richardson, Agile Artisans

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 8:30am

The practice of agile software development requires a clear understanding of business needs. Misunderstanding requirements causes waste, slipped schedules, and mistrust within the organization. Jared Richardson shows how good acceptance tests can reduce misunderstanding of requirements. A testable requirement provides a single source that serves as the analysis document, acceptance criteria, regression test suite, and progress-tracker for any given feature. Jared explores the creation, evaluation, and use of testable requirements by the business and developers.

TE Innovation Thinking: Evolve and Expand Your Capabilities NEW

Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

Tue, 05/06/2014 - 8:30am

Innovation is a word tossed around frequently in organizations today. The standard clichés are Do more with less and Be creative. Companies want to be innovative but often struggle with how to define, implement, prioritize, and track their innovation efforts. Using the Innovation to Types model, Jennifer Bonine will help you transform your thinking regarding innovation and understand if your team and company goals match their innovation efforts. Learn how to classify your activities as "core" (to the business) or "context" (essential, but non-revenue generating).

TJ Congruent Coaching: An Interactive Exploration NEW

Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.

Tue, 05/06/2014 - 8:30am

We have opportunities to coach people all the time. Much of what we see as coaching is actually undercover training. Real coaching is richer—offering support while explaining options. In this interactive session, Johanna Rothman invites you to explore how to coach, regardless of your position in the organization. Teaching is just one option for coaching. You have many other options, depending on your coaching stance. You may select a counselor’s stance if you are managing up or a partner’s stance if you are a peer.

Keynotes

K1 Principles Before Practices: Transform Your Testing by Understanding Key Concepts

Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services, Inc.

Wed, 05/07/2014 - 8:30am

It’s one thing to be exposed to new techniques from conferences and training courses, but it’s quite another thing to apply them in real life. A major reason is that people tend to focus on learning the technique without first grasping the underlying principles. Basic testing principles, such as the pesticide paradox of software defects and defect clustering, have been known for many years. Other principles, such as “Test automation is not automatic” and “Not every software failure is a defect,” are learned by experience.

K4 Extreme Automation: Software Quality for the Next Generation Enterprise

Theresa Lanowitz, voke, inc.

Thu, 05/08/2014 - 8:30am

Software runs the business. The modern testing organization aspires to be a change agent and an inspiration for quality throughout the entire lifecycle. To be a change agent, the testing organization must have the right people and skill sets, the right processes in place to ensure proper governance, and the right technology to aid in the delivery of software in support of the business line. Traditionally, testing organizations have focused on the people and process aspect of solving quality issues.

K5 The Art of Testing Transformation: Blending Technology with Cutting-Edge Processes

Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.

Thu, 05/08/2014 - 4:15pm

Technologies, testing processes, and the role of the tester have evolved significantly over the past several years. As testing professionals, it is critical that we evaluate and evolve ourselves to continue to add tangible value to our organizations. In your work, are you focused on the trivial or on real "game changers"? Jennifer Bonine describes critical elements that, like a skilled painter, help you artfully blend people, process, and technology into a masterpiece, woven together to create a synergistic relationship that adds value to your organization.

Concurrent Sessions

W2 Testing Lessons Learned from Monty Python

Rob Sabourin, AmiBug.com

Wed, 05/07/2014 - 11:30am

And now for something completely different. Monty Python's Flying Circus revolutionized comedy and brought zany British humor to a worldwide audience. However, buried deep in the hilarity and camouflaged in its twisted wit lie many important testing lessons—tips and techniques you can apply to real world problems to deal with turbulent projects, changing requirements, and stubborn project stakeholders.