OZWST to make a comeback

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It’s been over 2 years since the last OZWST, and it’s time for another.

When I first started OZWST (thanks to Brian Osman and KWST) back in 2012 I had planned on it being a yearly event, which it was… for 3 years! After a short hiatus and a move to and from New York it’s time to get it started again.

I’ll be aiming for a 2017 event but apart from that, I have nothing else sorted. Watch this space as my thoughts gather and OZWST 2017 develops.

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OZWST 2014 – What a Ride!

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OZWST 2014 is officially over… although unofficially I hope it continues on via blog posts, tweets, learning, ideas, etc, etc.

Speaking of tweets, below is a list of most of them (warning – it’s a long list, and in reverse date order).

The AST Grant Report will be developed over the coming weeks and should be published via their newsletter in the not too distant future. So please keep an eye out for that.

In my opinion it was an amazing weekend. I had a blast, learned a lot, and as an organiser feel very proud seeing, and listening to, how others have also reacted very positively to it.

Enjoy some of the tweets…

Note – I could spend hours editing a copy/paste from Twitter, but I’m not going to. My apologies for any duplicates, etc.

 

hi, the focus was product risk, automation only rated a passing mention based on the ERs presented

 

was sorry to have missed at home base in Brisbane. Looks like lots of good learning. Good on you!

 

= annual retrospective on testing methods, career & professionalism, with invaluable feedback, advice & learning

 

+1 « Sounds like great workshop. Looking forward to blog posts!

 

Was really great hanging out with you at I hope I was some value for your Meetup strategy

 

What are geometric risk analysis heuristics?

 

And thank you, random pedestrian. Your insights and experience was a highlight of the weekend for me.

 

Sincere thankyou to for letting me strongarm him into giving a lightning talk, which was awesome ego-less testers

 

was draining, challenging, enlightening & lots of fun! Blog posts coming on OZWST, risk & some new heuristics for project selection

 

Likewise, Joey. Half the fun is meeting new testers as well as new ideas.

 

Top quality ERs and discussion at this year. Has given me a lot to think about… mostly about thinking.

 

everything was under control at . Even if it looked bad, it was intentional 😉

 

Perfect way to unwind after

 

thanks Rich! And thanks for doing the mind reading challenge, it can’t have been much fun on your end!

 

I’m interested in the valley ER mate.

 

Mentally exhausted but happy as eff about Thanks all involved, it was a top weekend!

 

Really enjoyed acquiring a sense of risk through ERs, group activity, lightening talks & being out at night in the valley at Brissie

 

Really good quality opinions and information from at this year

 

What a wonderful experience at this year. Thanks Brisbane for the drinks, stationery and lollies to keep us high!

 

there is nothing quite like sandwiches with a healthy dose of the mind-reader challenge at

 

did great work to force open the doors of experience reporters’ psyche to get the hidden gems

 

provided just enough facilitation to keep things moving smoothly. Truly an art!

 

Cannot thank enough for the initiative and energy in putting on . Books will be written about you.

 

Hey, fellow brains. Everyone exited quickly so i didn’t get to say bye to everyone. Jamming with you was a real treat for me!

 

and , thanks for all your help in making this a great

 

Thanks for providing all the physical comforts during

 

Thanks to all attendees for awesome couple of days. Also , & for organising.

 

Don’t just focus on the risk of releasing, but also the risk of not releasing.

 

Lightening talks take over at Some great topics being covered!

 

Product description = “big pile of smelly poo”.

 

Mind reading at with &

 

Thanks to for the venue and food! You have both made us all here at very happy and contented 🙂

 

Using geometric risk analysis heuristics at

 

“bath yourself in the details like a sea otter”

 

We called customer support to ask about usability and financial risks. Serious test exercise at

 

“the hardest part of testing is the continued belief in failure”

 

Day1,weather was crap but was awesome. Hopefully that’s a spurious relationship. Cos Day2 weather looks great!

 

& we reel em in! « “Lots of dark fish swimming below surface that act as our muse” »

 

for being air traffic control and for being chief ideas officer 2/2 feeling totally inspired

 

From the check out day 1 has been a huge success. Big ups to for being the brains, 1/2

 

I’m one happy organiser! RT : Some very tough questions thrown s way. Great stuff, lots of thinking!

 

Some very tough questions thrown s way. Great stuff, lots of thinking!

 

Are you capturing uncertain uncertainty? the philosopher =)

 

Always test happy path, but when? And why?

 

: “(all the test ideas) come from my brain.” : “well that sucks!” :p all on good fun 🙂

 

“Lots of dark fish swimming below the surface that act as our testing muse”

 

Contagion Heuristic! Nice

 

Meta: Important to acknowledge not everything be told during the preso of an exp report, but surface in questioning

 

Inspired by the quality of questions on experience reports. If i can apply a quarter of this knowledge, I will be kicking ass

 

& bug clusters « Not # of bugs… but perhaps the list of bugs, are reasonable risk indicator. »

 

“it was the most enjoyable project but also one of the most demoralising”

 

Not the number of bugs… but perhaps the list of bugs, are a reasonable risk indicator.

 

did you just say “young things these days”?

 

telling a risky story…

 

Go !

 

Mine was the second experience report up. Almost finished with question time. Mind blown by these amazing people!

 

Word! RT : Interrogation of on his risk profile model. He is handling it like a boss!

 

Interrogation of on his risk profile model. He is handling it like a boss!

 

Liking ‘s model for communicating product risk.

 

Developer-Component history as part of risk profile. Interesting combination, a bit sensitive as well

 

Intriguing ideas about the role of surprise in risk analysis by

 

Talking user impact with

 

ER 2 kicking off with

 

A solid and well-prepared experience report turned in by at . This kid knows his stuff.

 

THANK YOU! RT : has kicked off in Brisbane at SoftEd. Great to have you all here! Happy 🙂

 

you provided a tough act to follow!

 

has kicked off in Brisbane at SoftEd. Great to have you all here! Happy 🙂

 

YES!!! “: taking on continuous deployment view of no testers needed!”

 

« Mordor, King’s Landing or Guilder? 10 maps and the fictional worlds they chart »

 

kicks off the first ER on Assessing Product Risk at  

 

risks identified when comparing other company products against the one under test! Inconsistencies found!

 

Take is away

 

is first off the ranks to talk about product risk and what it may mean

 

taking on continuous deployment view of no testers needed!

 

Theme overview by

 

Can we turn off the distracting live tweets at during ERs please? 😉

 

we have to do more than wave our hands and have vague conversations about risk

 

you guys at have ? Man. West Michigan needs a peer workshop ending in WST. 🙂

 

how do you come to a reasonable decision that the product is good enough?

 

Testing is under threat from the CI guys, but it may be justified

 

Checkin underway. Looks like everyone is missing their families. Thanks for giving up your time all!

 

We are being forced to tweet. Damn you Dave!

 

give me a wave

 

On my way to peeps 🙂

 

1 hour to lift off… 2014 in the not so sunny Brisvegas…

 

I will leave with a broken rep or mad street credit but nothing in between 2/2

 

Speaking about my experiences in communicating product risk at today. 1/2

 

« OH: “Exploratory testing is inspirational testing”» – wish I was in BrisVegas this w/e

 

Heading to !

 

Wanted to go to bed but these arm chairs and power points are so comfortable

 

food n drinks at pig n whistle right now

 

RT : 2014 kicks off tomorrow. Keep an eye on the stream yo! heading things up this year!

 

2014 kicks off tomorrow. Keep an eye on the stream yo! heading things up this year!

 

or are you referring specifically to business not getting roi on a project as a project risk?

 

e.g. releasing a product with a security flaw that causes business infrastructure to be owned? 2/2

 

so is a product’s negative impact on the releasing business not considered a product risk 1/2

 

my latest definition of product risk is “the likelihood of negative user experience\quality”. ROI is a project risk

 

hashtag already in use… follow it for all the action from this weekend’s peer conference.

 

“the likelihood of a net negative experience for the business and its customers and the magnitude of that impact”

 

2014 only a few days away… cc

 

There’s nothing like an peer conference to make me question what words\terms really mean. Current topic is Product Risk

OZWST 2014 only a few days away…

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OZWST 2014 is this weekend in sunny Brisbane, Australia (well, sunny in parts if you look at the forecast!).

The theme…

Experiences in Acquiring a Sense of Risk:

Testing is about reporting the truth about a product. But that truth must speak to our clients concerns about risk. So how do we come to a sense of risk? This is a vital subject, because it not only relates to our ultimate mission, but also our prejudices which lead us to test more in one area than another. A sense of risk can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are no formulae that tell us how to judge risk. It is a heuristic and narrative process. We are interested in experience reports (ER) about large and small ways that you have done it. Does it emerge just from bugs? From reputation? From periods of time not finding bugs? A risk analysis exercise may also be acceptable instead of an experience report.

The above is in reference to product risk. I.e. How do you come to understand if the product is good enough?

The attendees…

  • Richard Robinson (Facilitator)
  • James Bach (Content Owner)
  • David Greenlees (Logistics)
  • Angela Baird
  • Dean Mackenzie
  • Kim Engel
  • Alister Scott
  • Joey Corea
  • Anne-Marie Charrett
  • Sigge Birgisson
  • Margaret Dineen
  • Rita Manning

Thanks again to both Software Education (venue) and the AST (catering).

Sure to be a fabulous couple of days.

AST & Software Education Helping the Testing Community Downunder!

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Once again, I must say a HUGE thank you to both The AST and Software Education for their help with OZWST 2014.

The AST has been kind enough to provide a Grant which will take care of the catering for the two day Peer Conference.

Software Education has been kind enough to provide a venue and various logistics coordination that go along with that.

It’s important to note that both of these organisations don’t HAVE to do the above. Sure, there will be intangible benefits for them, but nothing direct. Obviously I’m stoked that they both do these sorts of things, otherwise OZWST probably wouldn’t exist, at least in its current form.

Watch this space for a final list of attendees and what I look to produce from the Peer Conference in June.

OZWST 2014 Theme

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The OZWST 2014 theme has been determined…

Experiences in Acquiring a Sense of Risk:

Testing is about reporting the truth about a product. But that truth must speak to our clients concerns about risk. So how do we come to a sense of risk? This is a vital subject, because it not only relates to our ultimate mission, but also our prejudices which lead us to test more in one area than another. A sense of risk can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are no formulae that tell us how to judge risk. It is a heuristic and narrative process. We are interested in experience reports (ER) about large and small ways that you have done it. Does it emerge just from bugs? From reputation? From periods of time not finding bugs? A risk analysis exercise may also be acceptable instead of an experience report.

As previously updated, James Bach will be joining us in Brisbane as Content Owner, along with Richard Robinson as Facilitator. The final attendee list will be announced once it has been finalised.

Software Education have kindly offered the use of one of their training rooms which is sure to be a great location for some stellar debate!

OZWST 2014

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It’s been a little quiet around here lately but that’s all about to change… OZWST will be back with a vengeance in 2014!

We’ll be heading north to the Sunshine State for 2 full days of Peer Conference magic in Brisbane (aka Brisvegas). Software Education have kindly agreed to host us (thank you very much!) for the event and we’ll once again have a very special international guest as Content Owner…

James Bach will be visiting Oz and has kindly offered some of his valuable time.

Details of the chosen theme will be published soon.

14/15 June 2014 are the dates… so if you’re interested in attending (limited space) please note these and get in contact with me ASAP. My contact details can be found here.

OZWST 2013 is done!

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Well, OZWST is over for another year.  It was a fantastic couple of days at Google HQs in Sydney, Australia.

More details will be shared soon, along with a full AST Grant Report in the coming weeks.

For now though, I’ll share a picture of our wonderful attendees…

IMG_20130804_163913

L-R: Rob Sabourin, Ale Moreira, Erik Petersen, Kim Engel, Scott Griffiths, David Greenlees, Paulo Lai, Rajesh Mathur, Mark Tolfts, Richard Robinson, Lee Hawkins, Anne-Marie Charrett, Andrew Dempster. Absent from photo was Dean MacKenzie.

Photographer was a special guest all the way from Sweden who joined us on day 2; Henrik Andersson.

Watch this space!