Cutting the Ends Off the Roast

“Because we’ve always done it this way” is an answer that always needs investigating. There is a classic tale about this: A newlywed couple is settling into married life when one partner notices that the other always cut the ends off large pieces of meat before putting them in the oven. They ask, “Why?” and […]

Exploratory Testing a Long-Running Project? Switch it Up

I’m working on a couple of long-running projects at the moment. One advantage of this situation is that I’m really familiar with the projects and all of the interactions and states they can be in. One small disadvantage is that it’s easy to fall into routines when testing. What do I mean by routines? I […]

More Ways to Test – 9 Situations to Test the Strength of Your Mobile App

I was recently asked: “What else is there to test on a phone app when you’ve tested the functionality?” After giving it some thought, I came up with a brief list and thought I’d share that list with a wider audience. 1. Airplane Mode Test to see how your app behaves when there’s no network. […]

A Very, Very Lightweight Test Plan

When I first started to learn about testing, I found out about test plans. They looked impressive and professional. Many templates were available, with specific figures on how many P1, P2, and P3 defects were allowed before testing could move to a different phase, how many cycles of testing there would be, etc. They even […]

3 Ways to Give Directions to Exploratory Testers Who Are Working from Home

All developers at Atomic do testing, but I have the specialized role of “exploratory tester.” I use my knowledge and experience to find any gaps that the makers missed during their testing. I’m often working on several projects at once, so I need to focus my testing on the most critical areas of an application. […]

More Ways to Test – Nightmare Headlines

The recent furor over the Iowa caucus results where an app caused chaos reminded me of The Nightmare Headline Game, which can be a great technique to assess risk and the level of testing needed. It can also be a fun game to let a team’s imagination run wild. Maybe you’re not writing an app […]

More Ways to Test – Learning from Fairy Tales

When coming up with data to test out your app, you might get stuck deciding what to enter. We’ve all used our own name and data or the classic “asdf asdf 123.” One way to get creative with your testing is to turn to fairy tales. And there’s a concept we can clearly learn from […]

They Know My Secrets: Tales from Atomic’s Software Tester

Recently, our office dishwasher broke. Fingers pointed at me, as I have a talent for breaking things. It really wasn’t me, but it’s not surprising that I was a possible culprit, as I once managed to get myself locked inside one of the restrooms by somehow breaking the lock (don’t ask).

Lessons Learned from Atomic FC’s First Season

This summer, there was enough interest at Atomic for us to put together a soccer team to play in a local summer league. It was fun (we even had non-players turn up to support), helped bond us together as colleagues, and even provided some learning opportunities that could be used at work.

More Ways to Test – Bugs Don’t Take Vacations

Last year, I blogged about bugs I’d found when planning a vacation. As it was that time of year for the Michigan Invasion from the grandkids, I realized it was planning and bug-finding time again.

Atomic Spin

Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

By: Phil Kirkham

Author: Phil Kirkham