vodori

When you need someone to write a program, who does it? A developer that knows how to program.

When you need someone to manage a project, who does it? A person who is well-organized, shows leadership, is able to motivate, and capable of coordinating all of the different pieces.

When you need someone to design a logo, who does it? A graphic designer that understands visual principals and is able to transform and abstract concept into something visual.

When you need someone to test a product, who does it? Any one of the above when they have some free time. They’ve all worked on the project so now they should be able to make sure it works, right? Wrong.

Testing is a highly complex process just like development, management, and design. You wouldn’t think of having someone with no knowledge of a programming language write your program. The same should be true for testing-someone with no knowledge of testing should not test. So when you need someone to test a product, who does it? This is where it gets confusing.

There is no holy grail of how to become a software tester. A tester needs to be logical, inquisitive, fearless, daring, rebellious, thorough, and organized, to list a few qualities. This sounds a lot like the qualities you might look for in a developer or a project manager or a graphic designer. I told you it would get confusing.

You see, every role on a project performs some variation of problem solving. The difference is that project managers, developers, and designers all know what their problem is (deliver a website, write some code for a widget, design a logo) and the challenge is to find the best solution. On the other hand, testers do not know what their problem is. It isn’t possible to make a list of all of the defects before they are found. Based on past experience, you can describe types of defects, scenarios under which defects commonly occur, and various methods for finding defects.

Random non-tester team members often fail miserably at the job because they don’t know how to find the unknown. Finding the unknown requires going off script and it is not a linear process. It’s almost paradoxical because a good tester is simultaneously logical and irrational.

It’s not that a developer, project manager, or designer can’t be a good tester. They can-I’ve witnessed several examples first hand, but that’s not what they’ve been trained to do. Software testers have a unique role and perspective that brings great value to your team that can be easily lost when someone else “fills in.” Is that a risk you really want to take?