Today's tip (again) comes from Christina Zaza. Tina gave an experience report recently at IWST, and in that explained that when she sits down to test, she opens everything she thinks she'll need before she starts. This helps her avoid having to wait for something to load, or having to potentially go find something when she's in the middle of testing.

"As dumb as it sounds, stopping to open additional documents and tools right when you need them actually slows down the process."

Her list of things she commonly needs includes:

• opening the application(s) she's testing


• logging into databases databases


• opening data or requirements spreadsheets (or other files)


• opening various testing tools

Today's tip comes from Christina Zaza. Tina gave an experience report recently at IWST, and in that talk she outlined some of the different ways she prioritizes her tests when she sits down to do exploratory testing:

1. run the faster tests (or quick tests) first to get them out of the way


2. run the higher risks tests (or tests more important to the business) first, since they will likely yield the most actionable results


3. group features together to reduce context switching while testing

Today's tip comes from Christina Zaza. Tina gave an experience report recently at IWST, and in that talk she outlined some of the things she does when she sits down to do some "heads down" testing:

• Block off time on your calendar


• Book yourself a conference room


• Consider closing your email and instant messenger


• Let calls go to voice mail

A credible Usability Testing Report backs up its opinions with concrete fact and relevant data. That’s why when you are performing Usability User sessions it’s important to make sure the test scenarios that you create elicit the most relevant data possible. Remember, once your users have performed this test, they are in a way tainted and performing a repeat session will require a new set of users.

It’s a real art to be able to write clear concise and helpful tests that will provide you with such data. It involves asking the right questions in the right order, and being able to frame those questions in such a way that ensures more than just a yes/no answer.

Fortunately Dennis J Gertz has 8 tips to designing good tests that will help you on your way.

I like the fact that he recommends testing the tests first before starting Usability sessions. That way you can refine and remove any part of the tests that are either too long or don’t return any useful data.  As he writes “It's no fun to find out, at a late stage in your project, that you've gathered no useful information”

I've noticed a pattern I have when it comes to tracking what I need to get done. I alternate technology, and I think I know why. First, here's the pattern:

• for a couple of weeks, I create small simple project plans for everything (OmniPlan, MS Project, Basecamp, a Google spreadsheet, whatever)


• then for a couple of weeks, I'll use my inbox as my to-do list


• then for a couple of weeks, I'll use pen and paper (post-its, notepads, whatever)

I just keep rotating through these three different methods of tracking work. I think I do it because after a period of a couple of weeks, I stop paying attention to whatever method I'm currently using. For example:

• If my desk is covered with post-it notes, I ignore them. If there's only a couple, I'll do what needs to be done to throw them away.


• If my inbox has five items, I'll clear it. If there's 80 emails, what's ten more?

You see the pattern. I think this is ok, and it's a pattern that apparently works for me - stuff gets done.

If you find you're ignoring your current method of tracking what needs to get done, try switching it up a bit and see what happens.