Knowledge Gaps and the Quest For Rapid Feedback Loops

Why do we test?

Why do we test? To gather information about the software. But we can test more than just the software, right? We can test ideas, data and even features before they are built. So, we could say, we test to gather information, information that can then be used to help the team make informed decisions. But how do we know when we have enough information, or the right information, and how do we go about doing it in the most effective way?

I’ve recently discovered some new language, and it feels like a piece I’ve been missing all my career. A seismic shift in my thinking that just makes everything fall into place. That language is feedback loops and gaps. My whole career has been about feedback loops and gaps. I honed my skills to enable me to create rapid feedback loops, be it with my exploratory testing skills or my automation skills.

While I’ve never appreciated it before I’ve been the facilitator of our gap analysis. The void between what we know, and what we know we need to know. Even what we didn’t realise we needed to know in some cases. I believe gaps and feedback loops are at the heart of a lot of testing and quality work. In this keynote I’m going to share my several examples of feedback loops and gaps within software testing and how this new framing is enabling me to better communicate my testing story, the problems we need to solve and how my skills have kept teams moving.