Someone asked me, “do I have a method for generating testing ideas?”. My answer; “I follow an exploratory approach to simultaneously learn, generate and execute test ideas”. This might involve exploring the product a little to learn about how it works, this will feed into questions/ideas and then I might explore some other ideas further. […]
Category Archives: Software Testing
Getting up on stage
I enjoy performing. Don’t ask me why. I can’t explain it. You could say it’s something to do with the rush, or the perception of adding value or entertainment for other people. I want to tell you a few stories about my adventures in performing. Do you want to improve your performances? I’m available for […]
Evolution of my CV
My CV has evolved a bit over the years. But there have also been a few constants too. I’ve always tried to keep my CV under 2 pages, my most recent one is 1 page with embedded links, it’s more like a portfolio. Bug Hunter Sam Connelly 2019 But here is how my CV has […]
Back on the job market
I find myself back on the job market after a break up with Campaign Monitor. I didn’t successfully pass probation. It was a mutual thing and both sides of the discussion were adult about it. These aren’t easy conversations to have and it doesn’t serve any purpose to get angry and rage quit. I am […]
Why bother testing?
As a tester, I don’t practice selling my craft very often. This blog post is an attempt to put together my thoughts when asked the question, “why bother testing?” Let’s talk about bugs When was the last time you used some buggy software? How did it make you feel? Did it cause you to swear […]
Running a Bug Bash
For any solo tester out there I recommend leading a regular bug bash/mob testing activity. It’s an activity you can run at the end of a sprint/feature dev cycle. You invite the team, get some snacks/beverages together and get everyone testing for around an hour. Setup You might want to make sure you have good […]
What is software testing?
A quick google of ‘What is software testing’ will give you 75,300,000 results but not much of an answer. On the surface level, we can surmise that it is about testing software but in reality; it’s more than that. Software testing is an activity that everyone does on some level. E.g. when you interact with […]
Response to “the end of manual testing”
This blog is a response to this blog by Michael Bolton titled “the end of manual testing”. While attending EuroSTAR in Copenhagen in 2017 I had the joy of having a good chat to Michael about this topic. Let me speak from my experiences; I’m bored in my current role and I’m looking for a new job. […]
I don’t enjoy my job
I have a few issues with my current job: I feel insanely guilty for not finding my current role to be the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. I’m contracted out to a client, and I can’t officially say who the client is but there is just so much hype around this client for supposedly […]
Agile and Stress
I was having a chat with an old colleague on LinkedIn today (Brian Osman) and we were talking about Agile. The question was, “how does Agile at Tyro differ from <Client>*?” My conclusion was that by focusing on certain “Agile” rituals an artificially high stress environment can be easily created. Here is this conversation: Bosman: […]