QA Myth Busting #5

I can do that!

Ever heard some of the users tell you that you are redundant and that they can handle the testing themselves? It never fails to make me smile. I actually love it when I get this proclamation of QA's uselessness.

Usually the question comes in a conversation like this.

"We don't really know what you do but... testing is easy...we can do that!"

So, the first question to ask is to let them explain what will be their strategy (in their own language) for testing and they'll be more than happy to tell you about how they will test that field and this business condition and so on...and so forth. Then, you ask... what about errors? And what about limits? Can you enter phone numbers in name fields? Or, what happens when one of the systems in the chain of systems handling your query goes down? What about if you push the limits and put 1500 users on a system that is supposed to handle 1200... 

Let's face it... if testing is easy, thinking about what to test isn't. 

There is a reason your car starts when the weather is below freezing and there's also a reason your mobile phone doesn't explode when your battery has been charging for 12 days. Someone thought about it... and tested it.

Testing and quality assurance is a trade. It may not be as glorious as developing software or handling thousands of customers wanting to buy houses but... it makes it all possible reliably. It may not allow you to drive from New York to Seattle but it makes it possible without having to carry a wrench. It may but allow you to play your favourite game but it makes it possible to play it without you being killed by random events, disappearing land and  random flying objects (all seen in actual games).

Testing and quality assurance is not your ticket to have software but to have software that will be reliable.

It's true... everyone can think of what a system can do... it's what a system isn't supposed to do that's going to make it useable or a failure.