It's All About The User: Manual Testing

I mentioned in the introduction that thinking in terms of user actions can be just as useful for manual testing as it is for automated testing. You might think that a tester exploring an application would naturally do so in terms of user actions, since they are effectively acting like a user. This is not necessarily the case, however: I find it just as easy to get caught up in the mechanics of using an application (that is, to get caught up in testing a particular dialog box, for example) when I am physically poking at it with a mouse and keyboard as when I do so through automated tests.

Certainly all those details need to be covered at some point, but keep in mind what it is your customers are trying to do. Almost certainly people aren't purchasing your application to experience the joy of interacting with a particular palette or wizard, but rather to design a user interface or draw a picture or develop their own application or draft an essay. Focus on what your user wants to do and why they want to do it and you will hit the important *how*s automatically.

Posted by The Braidy Tester at 07:30 AM  Permalink